On the campaign trail for the 2020 election, Democratic presidential candidates, including then-U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, outlined in detail their plans to combat climate change, with Joe Biden even vowing to halt land use on federal lands Drilling for oil and gas.
Now, a month into her tenure as her party’s presidential nominee, Harris has been even more vague — mentioning climate change only in passing, yet not laying out concrete plans to reduce climate-altering emissions or noting that fossil fuel production is accelerating global warming. aspect role.
On July 23, Harris proudly told campaign staffers in a reference to the oil and gas industry, “As a [San Francisco] To go after polluters, I created one of our country's first environmental justice departments. Donald Trump stood at Mar-a-Lago and told big oil lobbyists that he would give them $1 billion in campaign donations as they demanded.
The focus on her record as a prosecutor could indicate how her climate agenda will differ from that of the Biden administration, which is focused on incentivizing companies and government officials to expand renewable energy. Climate experts say Harris is expected to continue implementing most of Biden's ambitious initiatives to combat climate change and accelerate the transition to a clean energy future, but her approach could be more aggressive.
According to the party platform adopted by the Democratic National Convention:
“Looking ahead, Democrats will continue working to incentivize investment in transmission upgrades and new lines and the manufacturing of grid components needed to support growth. Improve and expedite environmental review and clean energy permitting processes; and further expand clean energy development on public lands.
Last month, the Republican Party released its platform at its convention in Milwaukee, which made no mention of climate change. Trump has repeatedly stressed that if he wins back the White House, he intends to “train, baby, train.” Recently, he took his stance a step further, publishing a post on Truth Social attacking efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, writing “Net zero will be dead on day one!”
Biden's climate agenda largely includes “more carrots than sticks” – focusing on incentives to promote clean energy production and renewable energy use rather than taxes and regulations that punish the fossil fuel industry – Jeff 350 Action North America Director Jeff Ordower, global environmental advocacy group, told Capital & Main. Since the start of Biden's term, businesses have announced $900 billion in investments in clean energy and manufacturing, drawing praise from the administration.
O'Doyle said Harris is likely to adopt a more stick-heavy strategy given her record as California's attorney general, which has included prosecuting major oil companies for their groundwater impacts, ranging from ConocoPhillips to Phillips 66 and BP receives multimillion-dollar settlement. As the state's top prosecutor, she also investigated ExxonMobil's climate change revelations and sued Volkswagen for using emissions-cheating software in its cars. She also secured a criminal prosecution against an oil company stemming from the 2015 spill off the coast of Santa Barbara.
As a U.S. senator, she supported the Green New Deal and sponsored an ambitious package of legislation to replace school buses with electric models, reduce lead and other contaminants in drinking water, and require the White House and Congressional Budget Office to adopt environmental measures. The bills failed to pass, but many of the proposals were later adopted by the Biden administration.
As Vice President, Harris is credited with playing a key role in advancing environmental justice initiatives such as the Justice40 Initiative, which seeks to ensure that 40 percent of benefits from federal climate and clean energy investments flow to disadvantaged communities. As for other Biden priorities, such as prosecuting civil rights cases related to environmental pollution, the administration has been less successful, largely due to opposition from states like Louisiana and Alabama. So far, Biden has no nominee to lead the new Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, which was created two years ago.
But activists hope to see Harris take a tougher stance soon. “She's a hammer,” environmental activist Vinise Miller-Travis told E&E News. “That’s what environmental justice voters always want: law enforcement, fair law enforcement.”
Colin Reese, political director at Oil Change International, said Harris could be “stronger” than Biden on climate policy, pointing to her efforts as a prosecutor and lawmaker to crack down on the oil and gas industry.
Some in the oil and gas industry also expect her to take a more aggressive stance on fossil fuels. Tom Sharp, director of licensing intelligence at market research firm Arbo, told industry publication Hart Energy that Democrats may halt pending legislation to undo Biden's ban on LNG exports. pointed out that Harris was considered less “tolerant”.
Doubts about Harris' true stance on fossil fuels stem in part from her shift in stance on fracking, which she vowed to ban in 2020 but now opposes such a ban.
“Unless the vice president says otherwise, we have to believe she remains committed to everything in her 2019 policy plan and every policy she co-sponsored as a senator,” said Chet, CEO of refining company U.S. Fuels and Petrochemical Manufacturers. Chet Thompson said.
This article was originally published by Capital and Main as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism partnership to enhance coverage of climate stories.
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