Lisa Friedman, a veteran reporter about climate change and environmental policy, says that covering climate change issues during the Trump administration has been a real challenge. “I often feel like I’m just writing the obituaries for environmental and climate change policies,” she added. Friedman notes that the Trump Administration has spent the bulk of the first three years in office ‘’undoing” the climate change policies and agreements of previous administrations. She says, although currently the Trump Cabinet seems to have been purged of outright climate change deniers, that deregulation of climate issues still remains the norm. Even though climate change is a global issue, the United States under the Trump presidency has tended to become more isolationist in its approaches. Climate change, however as a political issue, is not dead, according to Friedman. She believes that it will be a vital part of the policy debates in the 2020 Presidential Election. Candidates will debate both climate change generally and the Green New Deal proposed by several new members of the House of Representatives. Friedman will be the featured speaker on Tuesday, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. in the Baker Center Ballroom at Ohio University. She will speak about “Covering Climate Change in the Age of Trump.” Friedman’s lecture is the fourth installment of the “Challenging Dialogue” series created by Ohio University President Duane Nellis. The series provides an outlet for constructive conversations about hot global and national topics.