Seventh Generation, which is known for eco-friendly home products such as tissues and toilet paper, is getting political with an open letter urging President Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Joe Biden to highlight their climate change plans in Tuesday's presidential debate.
"We've got less than 10 years now to really limit the amount of warming that we see to less than a degree and a half," CEO Joey Bergstein told Cheddar. "If we don't move right now to take action, generations to come are going to be paying for our inaction."
Despite mixed messages from the White House on whether the president accepts the scientific consensus around climate change, Bergstein said he wants to hear about concrete plans rather than more squabbling over the science.
"The debate is not about the science. The science is really clear," Bergstein said. "Really the discussion at this point and time has to be on how do we lead ourselves out of the crisis that we've found ourselves in right now."
Specifically, he'd like to hear both candidates outline their plans for adopting clean and renewable energy, creating green jobs and infrastructure, and helping the communities that are most likely to see the biggest impact from climate change.
This isn't the first time Seventh Generation has made a political statement around a major television event. The company ran a 60-second commercial following Trump's State of the Union address earlier this year framing climate change as this generation's greatest challenge. The video is intercut with audio from a 1943 address by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Since then, the company has launched a campaign called "Vote for the Future" that is pushing younger voters, in particular, to inform themselves about climate change issues in the election.
"It's all about making sure that you understand where each of the candidates stand on these really critical issues," he said. "It's not just about the federal election, but it's at the city level, the state level, and at the national level that we really need to know what changes are these candidates going to stand for, how are we going to move forward, and educating yourself is absolutely the first step."
The campaign also includes resources such as information on how to vote from home, a tool for developing a voting plan, and information on candidates' climate positions.
