CBS "Face the Nation" interviews during 2018: on Energy & Oil

Bernie Sanders: No more debate on climate change; it's here & costs $100Bs

SANDERS: Well, what Congress should do is move aggressively in listening not only to this report from the Trump administration but from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which tells us that climate change is already doing irreparable harm all over this planet. What Congress has got to do is take Trump on, take the fossil fuel industry on, and transform our energy system away from fossil fuel, to energy efficiency and sustainable energies like solar and wind.

Q: The report estimates knocking as much as 10% off the size of the U.S. economy by the end of this century because of related costs.

SANDERS: The debate is over about the reality of climate change and the incredible and costly harm it's going to do to this country. We are talking about hundreds of billions of dollars in damage that we're going to have to pay for.

Joe Neguse: Comprehensive solution for planetary crisis, climate change

JOE NEGUSE (D-CO-2): I think we're a big tent party.

Q: But he's a more progressive voice within it.

NEGUSE: Of course. And there are also many other voices. I am a progressive Democrat and believe that we should be bold in pushing for some really comprehensive solutions around some of the pressing public policy challenges that we face: climate change and the planetary crisis being the best example perhaps. But we are a big tent party. We are inclusive. We are diverse. I think that's a good thing. So I appreciate his voice just as I do the voice of many, many other leaders in the party who are all stepping up to the plate at a really critical time for our democracy.

Marco Rubio: Climate change is reality, but we're a country, not a planet

RUBIO: Climate & sea level rise, these are measurable things. So it's not even a scientific debate. At some point, it's just a reality debate. You can measure whether sea levels are higher than they used to be, warmer than used to be and the like. As a policymaker, the fundamental question is, what can we do about it? And if, in fact, humans are contributing to that, what public policy can we pursue that does not destroy your economy and can be effective.

Q: Are there are mitigation efforts you can take with greenhouse gases?

RUBIO: The increases come from the developing world and in other places. We're not a planet, we're a country. The debate has not been always about whether or not it's human contribution. It's about whether the public policies that are being advocated would be effective, in light of the fact that in other places carbon emissions continue to grow.

Mike Bloomberg: America should be big part of climate solution

BLOOMBERG: If the government is not going to do it, we all have a responsibility. I'm able to do it. So, yes, I'm going to send them a check for the monies that America had promised to the organization as though they got it from federal government.

Q: $4.5 million dollars this year. Will you do the same next year?

BLOOMBERG: Hopefully, by then, President Trump will have changed his view.

Q: President Trump has been a huge critic of this Paris climate change accord.

BLOOMBERG: Yes, but he should change his mind and say, "look, there really is a problem here, America is part of the problem, America is a big part of the solution," and we should go in and help the world stop a potential disaster.

Mike Bloomberg: If some countries do right thing on climate, we all benefit

BLOOMBERG: Look, it's dangerous to keep doing what we're doing. If everybody would do the right thing, yes, it would be better. But if some people or some countries do the right thing, we all benefit from that.

Q: But the criticism is that industrialized nations aren't living up to those pledges.

BLOOMBERG: I can't speak for other nations. All I know is that America, I believe, will meet its commitment by 2025 to reduce greenhouse gasses by an agreed amount. And if we do it, hopefully, other countries will do it as well.

Q: Do you feel like you're filling a leadership gap?

BLOOMBERG: This is what the American public say they want to do. You have got companies and states and individuals all agreeing to step in, report to the United Nations what our progress is, fulfill our commitment to fund part of it.