As Harris considers choosing her vice president, climate groups say they are ‘all in’ on the campaign

As Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign gains momentum, many environmental groups say they are “fully prepared” to help her win the White House.

Groups such as the League of Conservation Voters (LCV), the Sierra Club and the NRDC Action Fund have already endorsed his campaign.

Tiernan Sittenfeld, LCV’s senior vice president of government affairs, told ABC News her organization is eager to support Harris’ campaign and said she believes the focus now should be on “building on the progress” of the current administration.

“I think instead we need to build on the progress that has been made – the progress of the Biden-Harris administration on climate and conservation has been truly historic, and it’s clear that there’s much more to do,” Sittenfeld said. “And we know that Vice President Harris is committed to doing just that.”

Other environmental organizations, such as the Sunrise Movement, which is known for representing young voters, are pushing Harris to push her climate policy further than President Joe Biden did during his term.

“You have the opportunity to win the youth vote by turning the page and differentiating yourself from Biden’s policies that are deeply unpopular in our country,” several youth groups wrote in a statement. letter to Harrisciting in particular the approvals of new oil and gas projects under the Biden-Harris administration.

Climate advocacy groups hailed several key accomplishments, including Harris’ tiebreaking vote to pass the Lower Inflation Act of 2022, a signature policy that the Biden-Harris administration is calling the the largest package of climate policies and spending in U.S. historyAs California attorney general, she also investigated fossil fuel companies, including Exxon Mobil, following allegations that they misled the public about the climate change risks of burning fossil fuels.

As Harris considers who she will choose as vice president, the climate and environmental records of the leading VP candidates will likely be part of the evaluation process.

“We very much hope that she will choose a running mate who shares her commitment, who will focus on these issues, who will take a whole-of-government approach, including to addressing the climate crisis, as the Biden-Harris administration has done over the last three and a half years,” Sittenfeld said.

Here are where Harris’ four leading running mates stand on some of the most important climate and environmental issues:

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper has implemented a series of policies in response to the negative impacts of climate change on his state after it was devastated by hurricanes and severe flooding early in his term.

During his two terms as governor, Cooper signed executive orders establishing greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals for the state — aiming for a 50 percent reduction by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050. He also ordered a reduction in energy use in state-owned buildings and increased the number of zero-emission vehicles registered in the state.

Cooper has also made environmental justice initiatives a priority during his tenure, creating the Governor’s Environmental Justice Advisory Council last fall.

Cooper testified before the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources in 2019 to urge Congress to take action on climate change, highlighting the devastation his state suffered from Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and Hurricane Florence and Tropical Storm Michael in 2018, in addition to periods of severe flooding over the years.

“Like many places in our country and around the world, we are beginning to feel the negative impacts of climate change on our communities and our economy,” Cooper said. “Scientists have found that climate change is making weather more erratic. It’s making storms bigger and more powerful. It’s making heavy rains and drought more intense.”

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has largely avoided talking explicitly about climate change in his public remarks and favors what his administration calls a “balanced” approach to energy, using a mix of fossil fuels and renewables. reports have speculated that Beshear’s energy strategy and mixed record on environmental issues may be a response to Kentucky’s position as one of the nation’s largest coal-producing and consuming states and as a Democratic governor in a largely Republican state.

Beshear says Kentucky becoming “the electric vehicle battery capital of the United States” is one of his “Notable achievements“As governor, he highlighted $8 billion in investments in two battery manufacturing plants that he said created 7,000 jobs. He also signed legislation that made $30 million in state funding available for a new natural gas pipeline in the western part of the state in 2022, calling the project a boon for economic development in the region.

“When world-class companies look to locate here, they need world-class infrastructure to meet their needs. I am pleased to stand alongside these other leaders to announce that this is exactly what we will do by building this line,” Beshear said in a statement at the time. Press release.

As governor, Beshear declined to apply for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program — making his state one of the few, and the only one with a Democratic governor, to do so — with his administration arguing at the time that some of Kentucky’s larger cities were better positioned to apply.

Earlier this year, he veto A Invoice It would make it harder to shut down decommissioned coal plants in the state, writing that it was “inconsistent with Kentucky’s energy policy” and would delay new energy projects and “jeopardize economic development.” His veto was overridden by the Republican-led state General Assembly.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro

Gov. Josh Shapiro has highlighted the economic benefits of expanding alternative energy sources in a state where natural gas production plays a major role in the economy. Pennsylvania is the second-largest producer of natural gas in the country, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Like President Biden, Shapiro highlights the job-creating potential of many of his climate and energy policies. $400 million of federal EPA funding to reduce pollution from industrial sources and create clean energy jobs.

Shapiro has faced criticism from some environmental groups for working with natural gas companies to develop climate and pollution monitoring programs in the state. Shapiro has promoted He also developed his own plan to put a price on carbon that he said would reduce the state’s emissions and customers’ energy bills. He also updated the state’s energy standards to attract more investment in renewable energy.

The standard requires the state to obtain 50% of its electricity from a variety of energy sources, including solar, wind, small nuclear reactors, fusion and hydropower by 2035, according to the website for his budget projectA report from the PennEnvironment Research and Policy Center found that Pennsylvania ranked 50th in new renewable energy since 2013.

Governor Shapiro was Approved by Pennsylvania Conservation Voters when he ran for reelection in 2022, with the group citing his investigations into oil and gas companies and his work enforcing environmental laws as state attorney general.

Arizona Senator Mark Kelly

Senator Mark Kelly has served on several committees that deal with climate and environmental issues in the Senate, including the Energy Committee. & Natural Resources and the Environment and Public Works Committee. He has spoken openly about the need to address climate issues impacting his home state, such as extreme heat and drought.

He credit claimed for securing $4 billion in Inflation Reduction Act funding for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to help Colorado River Basin states manage drought. He and Arizona Sen. Kristen Sinema also co-sponsored the Growing Climate Solutions Act to facilitate farmers’ participation in climate programs.

Kelly cited his experience as an astronaut as one of the reasons he wants to fight climate change, saying that from space he has seen how fragile Earth’s atmosphere can be.

“We are seven and a half billion people and we live on an island in our solar system. Make no mistake, we have nowhere to go and between my first flight and my fourth, a decade has passed and I have seen changes on our planet,” he said in a statement. Appeared in 2020 on “The View”, specifically mentioning deforestation in places like the Amazon.

“We have to find a way to move from fossil fuels to more renewable energy. I think we have about 10 years to do that, but we can’t keep waiting,” he added.

He was endorsed by the League of Conservation Voters in 2020 and 2022 and has a lifetime approval rating of 93% from the organization.