Summary
- Many young climate activists see Kamala Harris as stronger on environmental issues than Joe Biden.
- The Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act was the largest investment in climate action in US history, but young environmentalists want to see more.
- They cited Harris’s prosecution of oil companies and his sponsorship of the Green New Deal as reasons they favored him.
President Joe Biden may pass the United States’ most significant climate legislation, but many young environmental activists say they see Kamala Harris as stronger on the issue.
Representatives of 11 organizations dedicated to raising climate change concerns among young voters said Harris’ record of going after big oil companies as a prosecutor and his sponsorship of the Green New Deal as a senator made him a more attractive candidate than Biden. its ecology wins.
“He has a history of holding Big Oil accountable in a way that we haven’t been able to do in the last four years,” said Aru Shiney-Ajay, 26, executive director of the Sunrise Movement, which is calling for government intervention. to address climate change.
A coalition of 19 progressive environmental and social justice organizations, including the Green New Deal Network, the Sunrise Movement, It confirmed Harris this week but had not previously made an endorsement for Biden.
The Biden administration’s record on climate issues has been relatively strong: the Inflation Reduction Act, the largest investment in climate action In the history of the United States, approximately $370 billion has been devoted to environmental protection efforts. And Infrastructure Investments and Labor Law including investments in clean energy, electric vehicle infrastructure, public transit and climate resilience.
But several young climate activists between the ages of 16 and 29 said the expansion of the fossil fuel industry during Biden’s presidency has overshadowed those successes.
Oil companies saw higher profits and US oil exports were higher under Biden than under President Donald Trump. This was reported by Reuters. Biden also confirmed Willow oil drilling project Construction continues apace in Alaska Mountain Valley Pipeline in Virginia and West Virginia.
“I’m disappointed to see this current administration approving so many fossil fuel projects despite its claim to leadership on climate,” said Keanu Arpels-Josiah, 19, an organizer with a youth-led international climate group. By Greta Thunberg.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
Dana Fisher, director of American University’s Center for Environment, Community and Equity, said young voters are ignoring Biden’s climate work — they just want to see more.
“Young people know it’s not enough because they understand how serious the climate crisis is,” Fisher said.
He added that several youth climate leaders told him in the spring that they were dissuading their members from voting in the presidential election.
“I said, ‘Are you kidding me?’ Don’t you remember what happened in 2000?” Fisher said, referring to the razor-thin margin that decided that year’s presidential election. “It certainly wasn’t, because if they were alive, they were like diapers. When you’re young, it’s hard to look far.”
After Biden dropped out of the race, Fisher said the younger climate activists she spoke to were more likely to vote.
Harris’ younger supporters highlighted the settlements he secured as California attorney general Chevron, BP and ConocoPhillips on their handling of dangerous substances.
“Biden is more moderate in his policy approach, while Kamala is not afraid to take on environmental and climate policy in a grassroots way, particularly on pollution,” said Iris Zhan, 20, a youth consultant. board member at the Global Youth Stories and Research Lab, which engages young leaders in climate and environmental justice research.
Harris brought up this early career work in some of his primary campaign speeches.
“As district attorney, I created one of the first environmental justice units in our nation to go after polluters,” he said. said July 22 in Wilmington, referring to his time as District Attorney of San Francisco, Delaware. “Donald Trump stopped at Mar-a-Lago and told Big Oil lobbyists he would do their bidding for a $1 billion campaign contribution.”
Harris’ background in California also resonates with some young environmentalists.
Zanagee Artis, 24, co-founder of the climate justice organization Zero Hour, said that while California regularly experiences the effects of the climate crisis — droughts, heat waves, wildfires — it “can be of great value to empathize with young people who are struggling” for climate justice. it’s hard.”
Young activists pointed to Harris’ climate platform at the time 2020 presidential campaignAlso: At the time, he pledged to invest $10 trillion in climate action over 10 years and set a goal of transitioning to a 100% clean energy economy by 2045.
“I want him to be able to set that bar and not just fall for what the Biden administration is doing,” said Natalie Bookout, who will turn 18 in October and leads the Charlotte, North Carolina, area of the Sunrise Movement.
Heather Hargreaves, deputy executive director of campaigns at Climate Power, a communications organization that focuses on electing climate leaders, said there may be a “knowledge gap” among young people about what President Biden has done in the last three years.
A spokesman for Harris’ campaign said he plans to build on climate legislation in the Inflation Reduction Act, but did not respond to questions about his appeal to Biden with young environmentalists.
The spokesman, Harris, however, clarified this He said in 2019 he would ban fracking if elected president no longer supports such a ban.
“He doesn’t want to turn off people in fossil fuel-producing states,” Fisher said. “He’s not going to end up with as progressive a platform as he did in California. However, will he be more progressive than Biden? I expect him to be.”
Harris has secured the endorsements of dozens of environmental groups and more than 350 others leaders of the environmental movement.
Stephen Perkins, 29, chief operating officer of the American Conservation Coalition, which mobilizes conservationists around environmental issues, said even members of his group “appreciate hearing from young elected officials” like Harris.
“They understand that these elected officials have more skin in the game in the climate conversation,” he said.
59% of adults aged 18-29 surveyed a recent Pew Research survey said that dealing with global climate change should be a top foreign policy priority – a higher share than any other age group surveyed.
Harris has only been running for president for less than two weeks, so he has yet to get into the full details of his climate platform.
“We have plenty of time,” Fisher said.