Why Harris & Walz Are the Leaders We Need Right Now
The climate crisis is no longer a distant issue—it's unfolding every day in real-time, impacting our communities, homes, and health. The Biden-Harris administration brought climate action to life, and Harris/Walz are prepared to take those efforts even further. The Biden-Harris administration succeeded in passing two landmark bills, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), that dedicated hundreds of billions of dollars to protecting us and the world from climate change. That can be contrasted with the Trump administration, who removed the U.S. from the Paris Agreement and wasted four years denying climate change.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invested $66 billion in sustainable transportation, $7 billion in EV charging, over $50 billion in making our infrastructure more resilient to droughts, heat, and floods, and $65 billion in the electric grid. Totaling over $188 billion to mitigate climate change and safeguard against its impacts.
Vice President Harris cast the deciding vote to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, which allocates over $370 billion to fight climate change. This major investment aims to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 1 billion tons, or 20% of 2023 levels, by 2030. It will also push electricity production to reach up to 80% sustainability, doubling the deployment of wind, solar, and battery technologies. These efforts are expected to generate 330,000 new jobs. Since its passage, private companies have invested more than $265 billion in clean energy, with 75% of that investment benefiting counties with below-median incomes.
An August NY Times article described Governor Walz as “one of the nation’s most forceful advocates for tackling climate change.” The article noted that “in 2023, Mr. Walz signed a law requiring Minnesota to get all of its electricity from wind, solar and other carbon-free sources by 2040, eliminating the climate-warming pollution generated by coal and gas-fired power plants. That law came amid a legislative session in which Minnesota Democrats, working with Governor Walz, pushed through nearly 40 other climate initiatives, including tax rebates for electric vehicles, and expanded access to E.V. charging stations. In June, he signed a law to streamline the permitting of renewable electricity projects.
We are still not on track to a 50% reduction in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, although the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law have brought us within striking distance of it. Unfortunately, the U.S. is now the world’s largest producer of crude oil. Politically, Americans remain more concerned about the price of gasoline, home heating oil, and natural gas, than about the long-term consequences of carbon emissions.
We will need to do more to push the U.S. to meet its greenhouse gas emissions commitments and lead the world in helping finance global reductions in emissions. But we are much better off with Harris and Walz in the White House than with climate deniers like Trump and Vance who will pull us out of international efforts to stop climate change.
Most recently, Hurricane Helene ripped through the southeastern United States, unleashing a fury of destruction that Appalachia rarely sees. With entire communities submerged, homes destroyed, and millions without power, 227 people have lost their lives, and hundreds more remain missing as the full extent of the damage is still being assessed.⁴ In response, the Biden-Harris administration swiftly approved major disaster declarations for both Florida and North Carolina, allowing them to receive critical funding for recovery efforts. FEMA was positioned to aid these efforts, with over 1,500 personnel and resources deployed to the region even before the storm made landfall.⁵
As recovery efforts for Hurricane Helene were still underway, another Hurricane Milton struck, leaving a trail of destruction across an already devastated region. Milton went from a tropical depression to a Category 5 hurricane in less than 48 hours, becoming the fourth strongest storm ever recorded in the region.⁶ While, thankfully, not as severe as originally predicted, it still unleashed significant devastation, particularly due to the unprecedented number of tornadoes it spawned. Once again, the Biden-Harris administration responded swiftly, deploying over 8,000 federal personnel to manage both the recovery from Helene and the aftermath of Milton. This rapid mobilization highlights the administration’s commitment to protecting vulnerable areas when disasters strike.
Alternatively, Trump’s track record on climate disasters was often marked by a lack of empathy and a partisan approach that undermined national unity. From his slow response to Hurricane Maria in 2017, which left Puerto Rico without aid for weeks, to his withholding of federal funding from North Carolina during Hurricane Dorian in 2019, Trump consistently put politics over the American people. His administration’s decision to divert $44 billion in FEMA funding during an active hurricane season only compounded these failures, leaving vulnerable communities in greater peril.⁷
Adding to this pattern, 82 Republicans recently voted to shut down the government, a move that would have halted all federal disaster recovery efforts, including FEMA’s life-saving work. If they had succeeded, vital federal aid would have been delayed, leaving communities already devastated by Helene and Milton to fend for themselves. This dangerous use of federal disaster relief as a political tool is precisely what we cannot afford as climate disasters become more frequent and severe.
Tim Walz has been clear in his endorsement of ambitious climate goals, including reaching 100% clean energy by 2040 in Minnesota and aiming for net-zero emissions by 2050.⁸ While Kamala Harris hasn’t laid out detailed climate change plans for her 2024 campaign, her consistent backing of green initiatives, from environmental justice work to holding polluters accountable, shows that she’s committed to advancing bold climate policies. As California’s Attorney General, Harris took on Big Oil, prosecuting companies like ExxonMobil for misleading the public about climate risks and filing criminal charges against Plains All-American Pipeline for their role in a significant oil spill.⁹
Recently, her stance on fracking has raised concerns. While she no longer supports a full ban on fracking—an issue that many environmental groups find problematic—those same groups believe she is far more open to phasing out fracking than a leader like Donald Trump, whose "Drill, baby, drill" approach dismisses the urgent need for climate action.
Together, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz represent a future-oriented leadership that views climate action not just as an environmental necessity but as an economic opportunity to create millions of green jobs and build a sustainable future for all Americans. It’s time to elect leaders who will take the urgent, decisive action needed.
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