With President Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 presidential race, Vice President Kamala Harris seems likely, though not guaranteed, to secure the Democratic presidential nomination.
As Vice President, Harris cast a decisive vote in the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden administration’s signature achievement on climate change.
As Yale Climate Nexus contributor Barbara Grady previously reported, “The Inflation Reduction Act, the most far-reaching climate law in history, is driving the U.S. economy’s transition to clean energy and clean transportation—International The Energy Agency, the U.N. intergovernmental body's Panel on Climate Change and others say the world must reduce emissions of heat-trapping gases to levels scientists say is needed to avoid the most catastrophic and irreversible climate chaos.
Harris has made clear throughout her career that she sees climate change as a major threat. Speaking at the 2023 United Nations Climate Summit in Dubai, she told leaders that “across our world, communities are suffocated by drought, washed away by floods and devastated by hurricanes. Wildfire smoke clouds our skies.” Turning dark, rising sea levels threaten the lives and livelihoods of millions of people. The urgency of this moment is clear. The clock is no longer ticking, it is ringing.
According to the New York Times, if elected president, Harris is “widely expected to work to protect the Biden administration's climate achievements.”
By contrast, Trump falsely called climate change a hoax. During his presidency, Grady reported, “he overturned approximately 100 environmental regulations and withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement. He reduced the size of the EPA and required that the words “Climate Change” be removed from its website. ” word. During this campaign, he has repeatedly said that one of his top priorities is to increase oil and gas production and free up more public lands to “drill, baby, drill.”
If Trump wins a second term, he and his allies have said they would aim to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act and shrink the size of the EPA.
What is the 2025 plan? Trump, climate and a second term
“Plan 2025” is a 992-page conservative plan for Trump's second term that calls for eliminating the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, dismantling the National Weather Service, repealing Biden's clean energy subsidies, and eliminating National Flood Insurance plan.
It also calls for drilling in the Arctic and cuts to government agencies' climate change efforts. This includes the United States Agency for International Development, which the authors write “should end its war on fossil fuels in developing countries and support responsible management of oil and gas reserves as a necessity to end painful poverty and open economies The fastest way”. – End foreign aid. ”
For more on Trump’s climate record, read this article.
Kamala Harris and climate change
Here's an overview of Harris' views and actions on climate change, drawn from news and White House reports.
She linked extreme weather to climate change.
- “Every day, around the world, the impacts of the climate crisis are evident. We are seeing it in real time,” she said in a 2023 speech. “Across our country, we're seeing communities suffocated by drought, washed out by floods, and devastated by hurricanes.” White House
She supports a Green New Deal, a carbon fee and increased government spending on climate change.
- As a 2020 presidential candidate, her climate plan “called for $10 trillion in additional spending over ten years.” New York Times (bonus link)
- “Harris also called for a 'climate pollution fee' that would 'make polluters pay for spewing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere,' and she said her administration would increase enforcement and prosecution of fossil fuel companies.” ABC News
- As a U.S. senator from California, Harris is a co-sponsor of the Green New Deal, which calls for a Roosevelt-style overhaul of the economy to accelerate the transition from fossil fuels to clean technologies. The Green New Deal has yet to be enacted.
She has integrated climate change into foreign relations.
She connects climate change to justice.
- As Vice President, “Harris advocated for $20 billion for the EPA's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, designed to help disadvantaged communities facing climate impacts.” Grist
She is a fan of heat pumps. Heat pumps use electricity to heat and cool homes and are seen as a key way to reduce climate pollution.
- “I have a lot of respect for the people who put them together and put them up,” she said in a 2022 speech. The White House
She often links lower energy costs to renewable energy. Key quotes:
- “On average, homes that switch to electric heat pumps can save up to $500 per year on their energy bills. Since heat pumps don't burn oil or natural gas, they also mean cleaner air in your home. The White House
- “As well as reducing costs and creating jobs, this investment will help us tackle the climate crisis.” White House
- “By helping families pay the upfront costs of home energy efficiency upgrades, we also lower energy bills, lower home costs, create jobs, and combat the climate crisis. It’s all connected. The White House
She noted that investments in renewable energy can create jobs. Key quotes:
- “Across the country, we’ve created more than 175,000 new clean energy jobs. So far. There’s more to do. White House
- Her Women in Sustainable Economy initiative aims to provide job training for women in climate-smart industries. white house
She said she supports and is inspired by young climate activists.
- “These young leaders are guiding our nation’s response to climate change. As they told me, their work is driven by their hope and determination. Hope, because they know we still have time to make changes. Their determination It's the determination to correct course,” she said in 2023.White House
She has been an opponent of fracking.
- As a 2020 presidential candidate, she also favored a ban on fracking, which Mr. Biden has opposed. Fracking is a technique that injects water and chemicals underground at high pressure to extract hard-to-recover oil or natural gas. NEW YORK The Times (complimentary link)
- As California Attorney General, she “challenged federal approval of offshore fracking off the California coast.” New York Times (bonus link)
She challenged polluting companies.
- As California’s attorney general, “she investigated whether ExxonMobil lied to the public and its shareholders about the risks climate change posed to its business and whether such conduct may have constituted securities fraud and violations of environmental laws, but the case did not did not result in prosecution.” New York Times (bonus link)
- “Harris received an $86 million settlement from Volkswagen for installing emissions-cheating software in its vehicles and investigated ExxonMobil over its climate change disclosures. She also Sued Phillips 66 and ConocoPhillips over gas station environmental violations, resulting in $11.5 million settlement She also led a criminal investigation into an oil company that was found guilty in connection with the 2015 Santa Barbara oil spill. Grist was convicted of nine criminal charges.
- As San Francisco district attorney, “Harris created an environmental justice unit to address environmental crimes affecting San Francisco's poorest residents and prosecuted companies, including U-Haul, for violating hazardous waste laws. Harris later Her environmental justice unit was claimed to be the first of its kind in the country, but an investigation found that it had filed only a handful of lawsuits, and none against Grist, a major industrial polluter in the city.
We help millions of people understand climate change and what to do about it. Help us reach more people like you.
