Beto O’Rourke during Davenport tour.
Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke toured flooded businesses in Davenport Monday afternoon.
“As we just saw in Davenport and in the other side of the state up against the Missouri, climate change is here. It is real,” O’Rourke said. “It is taking lives. It is taking property.”
Earlier this month, O’Rourke called for reconstructing and fortifying river
levees, part of his plan to deal with the effects of climate change.
O’Rourke also met privately yesterday with union members who work at Arconic, an aluminum rolling mill in Davenport. The Steelworkers are resisting proposed benefit reductions, including a shift to 401k plans rather than a pension system.
“A reminder again that we are all in this together, facing some really tough challenges for this country,” O’Rourke said.
O’Rourke made his comments to about 250 people during a town hall meeting in Davenport last night. He’s speaking in Tipton this morning. This evening, he’ll be in Des Moines for a town hall meeting that’ll be broadcast on CNN at 8 p.m.