Anyone who watched the second presidential debate likely noticed a certain well-dressed man with a vigorous enthusiasm for clean energy steal the spotlight.

At the last debate Americans across the nation and party lines discovered Ken Bone, a town hall participant who posed the question of how our nation can satisfy our energy needs in an environmentally friendly fashion.

Bone became an overnight sensation, a man who viewers crowned the real winner of the previous presidential debate. Due to this exposure, Bone’s social media presence has grown vastly from seven Twitter followers to over 248,000 in the matter of a week.

The midwestern, coal plant operator has also been the subject of countless memes on social media being compared to a “Guess Who” character and the antagonist of “Toy Story 2” to name only a few.

He has also been featured and discussed on several primetime comedy shows including “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” “The Daily Show” and “The Ellen Degeneres Show.”

The world came dangerously close to overlooking Ken Bone but was saved thanks to a last-minute wardrobe malfunction.

In an interview with the New York Times, Bone told reporters he had originally planned on sporting an olive suit to the debate but was forced to change clothes after ripping his pants.

If there’s one thing we all know, no girl ever wants to debate with a fool who went and ripped his pants.

Many of us are aware of Ken Bone and the joke he has become through Facebook and Twitter, but finding ways to implement clean energy sources without taking away jobs from the hard-working people in the fossil fuel industry has been an issue that has plagued the country and countless presidential campaigns.

The concept of climate change as a result of fossil fuel emissions has many politicians split as to what’s the best course of action. As far as our presidential candidates are concerned, one sees it as an imminent threat while the other believes it to be a hoax invented by the Chinese. Bonus points if you can figure out which one is which.

Politicians aren’t the only ones weighing in on this issue. Celebrities are getting into the mix including Leonardo DiCaprio who has his own foundation dedicated to combating environmental issues like climate change.

The whole concept of climate change seems to make us all uncomfortable, like Bill O’Reilly at an Earth, Wind & Fire concert.

Many of us hesitate to form an opinion on climate change because one day we hear the science is clear while the next we see politicians say the experts are overreacting.

Until those in power accept climate change as a valid threat, attempts at addressing the problem will remain half-hearted and unsuccessful.

One thing does remain clear and that is you have a voice. This November we are given the privilege of voting thanks to those who have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice their lives for our freedom.

We are given the opportunity to have a say in how those in Washington decide to tackle, or ignore, climate change.

Regardless of how this apocalypse of an election turns out, it was nice seeing someone on the debate stage with genuine care for the real issues as opposed to the usual pessimism and shallow insults.

Reporter Taylor Huff can be reached at 270-745-6011 and [email protected].