Tag Archives: Green New Deal

Harris-Walz: The heroes we need for a clean energy economy

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This post is part one of a weekly series on the environmental stakes of the 2024 Presidential Election by DFLEC Vice Chair Matt Doll. If you have a friend or relative who supports environmental protection but is on the fence about their presidential vote, you might find this series useful for info or inspiration!

On August 7, 2022, Kamala Harris took perhaps the most important action any Vice President has ever taken in history, a procedural vote that made history for our nation and our planet. On that day, after nearly 16 hours of debate, Harris cast the tie-breaking vote in an evenly-divided Senate to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, the greatest climate action law in U.S. history. The $891 billion Act has unleashed massive investments in affordable clean energy, sustainable buildings, and resiliency across the nation.

Few laws in our history have been as positive as the IRA for our public health, our economy, and our national security. Clean electricity isn’t a pipe dream – wind, solar, geothermal, and energy storage are cheap, reliable, widely available, and advancing all the time, helping to liberate states and communities from the need to burn poisonous, costly fossil fuels.

The IRA is helping to unleash clean sources on a tremendous scale, and future generations will thank us for it. But it’s only the beginning, not the end, of our efforts to fight climate change and build a sustainable economy.

There is no better team than Kamala Harris and Tim Walz to carry the work forward.

Kamala Harris didn’t merely vote for a good policy. She led the pack on clean energy advocacy in the Senate, sponsoring the Climate Risk Disclosure Act, which focused on market-based solutions to climate change, and the Climate Equity Act, which promoted a fully effective clean energy transition for the U.S. economy. During her first Presidential campaign, Harris unveiled a plan to convert America’s electrical grid to carbon-free sources by 2030, a goal that is both achievable and highly beneficial for our climate.

As Vice President, Harris has traveled the country listening to ordinary Americans about their needs for clean energy and good jobs. She’s shaped the policy of the Biden Administration for the better, securing investments to help families access cheaper power and help workers get good union jobs in the rapidly growing clean energy industry.

Plenty of politicians say they care about about cleaner energy, but very few have shown as much intelligence, courage, and foresight on this issue as Kamala Harris. She doesn’t just talk the talk – she walks the walk. She’ll not only continue the Biden Administration’s sensible energy work, but expand them.  

Tim Walz has likewise built a strong record as a clean energy hawk. Under his tenure, Minnesota set a standard of 100% clean electricity by 2040, created a state green bank for clean energy projects, and has made tremendous investments in wind, solar, and geothermal power. Minnesota Democrats achieved these wins with only a one-seat majority in the State Senate, because they and Governor Walz understood that climate action can’t wait – and because they listened to the voices of ordinary Minnesotans who called for action.

Not for no reason is the Harris-Walz ticket endorsed by leading climate organizations including 350 Action and the Sierra Club. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz understand that our country and our planet need us to act urgently now, and that it will benefit our economy to do so. None of what they’re proposing on energy is radical – it’s simply necessary to protect our future.

I won’t waste many words on Harris’s opponent, who is either deceptive or stupid enough to claim that climate change is a hoax or that wind turbines cause cancer. But the contrast is clear: his return to the White House would spell dark days for our planet and catastrophe for our health and the competitiveness of our economy.

There is only one team on the ballot with the record, experience, and vision to advance an energy future that works for all Americans and protects our planet, and that’s Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.

Learn how to get involved with the Harris-Walz campaign at https://kamalaharris.com/

Matt Doll works in environmental advocacy and has served on the board of the DFL Environmental Caucus since 2019. He lives in Saint Paul.

Black and Latino neighborhoods pay more for energy despite far lower emissions – read all about it

Climate Change, Social Justice

This is a story about pollution in a place far far away from Minnesota. Chicago. But the story is familiar to any one following environmental issues in Minneapolis.

Adam Mahoney (pictured above) at Grist writes:

Tucked into the city’s Southwest Side, the once-industrial corridor is now a part of the region’s quickly growing warehouse and logistics network. What does that lead to? Air pollution. More diesel air pollution than anywhere else in the country, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. What that doesn’t lead to: well-paying jobs. Nearly 45 percent of children and 30 percent of adults live in poverty. In addition, there’s the lethal combination of over-policing and incarceration, compounded by the area’s racial makeup — 67 percent Latino and 30 percent Black. It’s also home to the Cook County Jail, the largest jail in America.

But in this seemingly dismal setting, there has emerged a great success story. According to a recently published peer reviewed study,

Residential energy use represents roughly 17% of annual greenhouse gas emissions in the United States… Legacy housing policies and financial lending practices have negatively impacted housing quality and home ownership in non-Caucasian and immigrant communities. Both factors are key determinants of household energy use… We estimate energy use and emissions of 60 million household to clarify how energy efficiency and carbon emissions vary by race, ethnicity, and home ownership. We find that per capita emissions are higher in Caucasian neighborhoods than in African-American neighborhoods, even though the former live in more energy-efficient homes (low energy use intensity). This emissions paradox is explained by differences in building age, rates of home ownership, and floor area in these communities. In African-American neighborhoods, homes are older, home ownership is lower (reducing the likelihood of energy retrofits), and there is less floor area per person compared to Caucasian neighborhoods. Statistical models suggest that historical housing policies, particularly “redlining”, partially explain these differences….

Mahoney brings the paradox to Chicago’s Southwest Side:

Chicago’s 60623 zip code illuminates this. The average resident in the zip code emits the least amount of greenhouse gases out of all the city’s 67 zip codes, according to the study. Households in the community are also extremely energy efficient. In comparison, the average resident in the city’s affluent, majority-white Near North Side emits 2.8 times more greenhouse gases than those in the Southwest Side community. Homes in 60623 are also 1.5 times more energy-efficient than those on the Near North Side.

This is where social justice and addressing climate change meld into Green New Deal-esque policies. Click through to read all about Black and Latino neighborhoods pay more for energy despite far lower emissions, and lets see if we can apply some of this information here at home.