Over the last two years, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has transformed his state into one of the most aggressive leaders on climate change in the country, maintaining a positive approval rating despite his embrace of progressive energy policies that have come under attack in red, and even purple, states across the country.
As Kamala Harris’ pick for vice president, Walz has climate change-minded organizations, ranging from traditional environmental groups to clean energy developers, convinced that he would bring the practical experience necessary to address the difficult problems emerging from the energy transition.
Billions of dollars in funds to usher in the clean energy transition sit snarled up by a host of problems, ranging from arduous permitting processes to long lines to connect to the grid and political resistance to wind, solar and electric vehicles. If the Harris-Walz ticket wins the presidency, the pair will need to address these issues for the Inflation Reduction Act and infrastructure bills to actually have their intended transformative effect.
“There’s a lot riding on the next administration in terms of upholding the opportunities and investments that are currently available under the IRA,” said Mel Mackin, the state policy director at sustainability advocacy group Ceres, which works with companies and brands like Amazon and Coca-Cola. “The fact that he has this background and has been a leader on climate and clean energy is very exciting. If they are successful, it’s a good indication that there will continue to be important policy work done on climate and clean energy.”
The Sierra Club, the Sunrise Movement, Al Gore, trade association Advanced Energy United, and policy wonks at the Institute for Progress, the more centrist Third Way and Progressive Policy Institute were among the many others to share similar statements — groups that haven’t always agreed on how to transition away from fossil fuels.
Sen. Joe Manchin, whose federal permitting reform bill moved out of committee with surprising bipartisan support last week, also immediately endorsed Walz as “the real deal,” calling him the person most likely to “bring balance back to the Democratic Party.”
As governor, Walz has signed laws to expand energy charging infrastructure, provide apprenticeships for clean energy jobs, and commit the state to carbon-free electricity by 2040, a goal more ambitious than California’s infamous pledge to do so by 2045. (Those are just three of more than 40 climate initiatives touted by his administration.)
He also helped hire Pete Wyckoff, one of the Senate staffers instrumental to the passage of the IRA, to help lead implementation for this raft of legislation in Minnesota.
“The implementation of that work remains ever critical, and the work the governor has been able to do in Minnesota to take that funding, harness it for good, and harness it towards building that progress, really sets him up to bring that forward thinking vision to his role as the vice president,” said Mahyar Sorour, a member of the Sierra Club’s policy team.
Even more important than the ambitious carbon-free energy commitment is what came after it, according to clean energy developers: a transformative permitting reform bill signed into law in June of this year, one of just a few similar laws across the country. (Michigan, California and New York are among those states that have previously passed some form of permitting reform legislation.)
“The states that are establishing these lofty climate and clean energy goals will not be able to realize them if they can’t get clean energy onto the grid,” Mackin said. “Minnesota is one of the first few states to move on adopting permitting reform, and they did it really well.”
However, despite Walz’s popularity with the climate coalition, the Harris campaign did not reference his climate record in its announcement.
Climate change is rarely a top priority for any large group of voters. And Republicans have taken every opportunity to tear apart Democrats’ agenda on climate, making the so-called Green New Deal a bogeyman and even poking fun at lawmakers who drive hybrid vehicles.
Walz himself often discusses climate through an economic, agricultural or environmental lens, framing the changes caused by global warming as a job creator and an opportunity for the state to build resiliency, Sorour, who is from Minnesota, noted.
In 2020, he lowered himself into the Minneapolis sewers for a tour to make a point to voters about the need to fix the city’s water infrastructure, discussing economic, safety and climate needs as intertwined.
He also appears sensitive to the more politically charged environmental policy proposals out there.
“I’m going to tell you what my pro tip of the day is: If you want to run for governor, don’t propose a gas tax and don’t build a power line,” he told Time last year. “Both of those things are incredibly personal to people and they’re counterintuitive, even though you need to get them.”
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Anna Kramer is a reporter at NOTUS.