Tim Walz, Democrat's VP Pick Welcomed As Climate Champion By Green Advocates 🌎
Kamala Harris’s running mate boasts a strong record on climate policy and green energy as Minnesota governor, The Guardian, Aug 7, 2024.
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Tim Walz, tapped as Vice-President Kamala Harris’s running mate on Tuesday, may not be a household name, but the Minnesota governor is well known as a climate champion in green advocacy circles. “Like Vice-President Harris, Governor Walz knows that climate change is the existential threat of our time,” the Sierra Club executive director, Ben Jealous, said in a statement. “The Harris-Walz ticket is one that understands the fight before us.”
Walz has forged a robust climate record during his two gubernatorial terms, most notably by signing one of the strongest green energy bills into law last year.
The policy requires Minnesota to eliminate carbon from its electricity generation by 2040, obtaining 100% of its utilities from carbon-free sources. Only a handful of states are requiring the switch to carbon-free electricity to occur at such a rapid pace. “This law, even more ambitious than similar measures in traditionally progressive states, showcases the kind of forward-thinking leadership our country needs to address the worsening climate crisis,” said Cassidy DiPaola, communications director for Fossil Free Media, a non-profit pushing for the swift transition away from fossil fuels.
The climate victory came during a legislative session in which Minnesota Democrats and Walz worked together to pass dozens of other green policies. Among them: a bill meant to streamline energy permitting that Walz signed in June. “This is a measure that will help protect our environment and get the clean energy projects that are going to help fight climate change in motion,” he said. During his tenure, the governor has also funded clean energy career training and allocated $2bn to natural resources, climate and energy projects in a bill that has been compared to the Inflation Reduction Act.
In 2019, he formed a climate crisis sub-cabinet and advisory board within his administration and, three years later, unveiled a plan that aims to slash planet-heating emissions in half by 2030 and boost the share of electric cars on Minnesota roads to 20%. “This issue will transcend whoever’s elected,” Walz said at the time. “This issue is not going away. It needs to be addressed.” Also among Walz’s climate accomplishments: boosting Minnesota’s mass transit, including by championing a new Amtrak rail line, between the Twin Cities and Chicago, which came online in May... Read More,
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/07/tim-walz-climate-change-policy-environment
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