As Donald Trump accuses Kamala Harris of waging a “war on American energy,” some advocates are urging the vice president to embrace a strong climate message at the Democratic National Convention this week.
Harris will have a significant opportunity to present her key platform when she accepts the Democratic party’s presidential nomination on Thursday evening. Many hope that climate change will feature prominently in her speech.
“There’s a moment here, and we think she’s got to seize it,” said Saul Levin, legislative and political director of the progressive advocacy group Green New Deal Network.
Harris’s candidacy has generated excitement within the climate movement, with numerous environmental groups, including Levin’s, endorsing her presidential run.
At a meeting on Wednesday, influential climate advocates like Senator Ed Markey, former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Gina McCarthy, and renowned environmental justice scholar Robert Bullard encouraged climate-conscious voters to support Harris.
However, Harris has yet to release an official plan to address the climate crisis. Unlike Joe Biden, who made climate change a central issue in his 2020 presidential campaign, Harris has so far only mentioned the topic briefly on the campaign trail.
While climate change has been discussed during Democratic National Convention events, it has not yet been a primary focus.
“It’s a bit of a bummer that it hasn’t gotten more time,” said Cassidy DiPaola, spokesperson for the Make Polluters Pay Campaign, which focuses on climate accountability.
Kamala Harris For PresidentHarris may find it challenging to make bold climate commitments amid Trump’s attacks. At a recent campaign stop in Pennsylvania, the former president labeled Harris a “non-fracker,” although she has distanced herself from previous support for a fracking ban, which has disappointed some climate advocates.
Trump has also repeatedly claimed that Harris wants to ban red meat and “get rid of all cows.”
In response, Harris acknowledged enjoying the occasional cheeseburger but suggested that Americans should be encouraged to adopt a lower-carbon, healthier diet.
Despite pressure from the right, some climate advocates have expressed their unwavering support for Harris, regardless of how much she discusses climate change.
“Whether or not this issue is in the speech tomorrow night, we know Vice President Harris is an environmental champion,” said Michelle Deatrick, chair of the Democratic National Committee’s Council on the Environment and Climate Crisis. She emphasized that Harris’s record speaks for itself.
Recent polling from the progressive group Data for Progress and the environmental organization Climate Power shows that a strong majority of U.S. voters prefer Harris’s approach to climate.
This indicates that focusing on climate is “good politics,” said Stevie O’Hanlon, spokesperson for the youth-led environmental justice group the Sunrise Movement.
“Climate is one of the issues where voters trust Harris the most over Trump,” O’Hanlon said. “To capitalize on that, she needs to talk about it.”