Despite natural disasters, conventions dedicate little time to environmental issues

The Midwest is suffering from an “exceptional” drought, wildfires devastated Colorado Springs and suburban Seattle and a hurricane drenched the Gulf Coast during the Republican National convention.

Yet experts tell the Sydney Morning Herald voters consider the economy and jobs to be more important than the environment.

Former Democratic presidential candidate and environmental activist Al Gore skipped the DNC in favor of spending the week in New York, according to Breitbart.com. Energy Secretary Steven Chu also did not speak at the convention, instead President Obama assigned Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to speak about energy policy.

However, TomKat Center for Sustainable Energy creator Tom Steyer did speak in Charlotte, and took several shots at Mitt Romeny, according to GreenTechMedia.

Last week’s Republican National Convention in Tampa Bay was also short on environmental speakers, one of whom was Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, according to Esquire.