Republican activist says party ‘deserves to lose’ if it fails to address climate crisis

Benji Backer, executive chairman of conservative climate group, calls question on crisis in debate historic' but laments answers

Republicans deserve to lose" electorally if they can't show they care about the climate crisis, according to the head of a conservative climate organization that put forward a rare question on the issue to GOP candidates in Wednesday's televised debate.

The Republican presidential hopefuls, minus Donald Trump, were asked at the Fox News debate what they would do to improve the party's standing on climate policy by Alexander Diaz, a young conservative who is part of the American Conservation Coalition (ACC), a youth conservative group that pushes for action on the climate crisis.