Harris prioritizes climate action

Vice President Kamala Harris has for years made the environment a top concern, from prosecuting polluters as California’s attorney general to sponsoring the Green New Deal as a senator to casting the tiebreaking vote as vice president for the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, the largest climate investment in U.S. history.

As she runs for the White House, Harris is widely expected to try to protect the climate achievements of the Biden administration, a position that could resonate with voters during a summer of record heat. A clear majority of Americans, 65%, wants the country to focus on increasing solar, wind and other renewable energy and not fossil fuels, according to a May survey by the Pew Research Center.

Last year, Harris flew to the United Nations global climate summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where she told world leaders that “the urgency of this moment is clear. The clock is no longer just ticking, it is banging. And we must make up for lost time.”

That was a subtle reference to former President Donald Trump, who made the United States the first and only country to withdraw from the global Paris Agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions. (The United States subsequently rejoined under President Joe Biden.) The Republican nominee in the current race for the White House, Trump has indicated that he would again pull back from the global fight against climate change if he is elected in November.

“Around the world, there are those who seek to slow or stop our progress, leaders who deny climate science, delay climate action and spread misinformation,” Harris said at the summit. “In the face of their resistance and in the context of this moment, we must do more.”