What Went Down At The CNN Democratic Debate

As Sanders and Clinton spar over who is better suited to tackle climate change, one name keeps coming up: President Obama. As FiveThirtyEight contributor Dan Hopkins has written, Clinton supporters like Obama a lot more than fans of Sanders do. Among those who supported Obama in 2007, Clinton won 55 percent, compared with 44 percent for Sanders.

Obama “deserves our appreciation, not our criticism,” Clinton said about the president’s Paris climate accord. She later said that “he has done an incredible job” against long odds. Clinton has allied herself with the president often during the debate, a savvy strategy in a climate in which Obama’s approval rating is climbing among all Americans — and is especially high among Democrats.

Sanders attacks Clinton for supporting “fracking,” which he has said he would ban. The environmental implications of fracking are complicated. On the one hand, fracking has driven a huge natural-gas boom that has helped the U.S. shift away from burning coal and reduce its carbon emissions. On the other, low natural-gas prices have hurt the growth of carbon-free energy sources such as wind and solar.