Tim Walz Is One of the Nation's Most Forceful Climate Advocates

Kamala Harris' running mate's climate agenda for Minnesota has been among the most ambitious in the country

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/tim-walz-forceful-climate-advocate-1235075485/

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who has just been tapped as Kamala Harris’ running mate, has quietly become one of the country’s most aggressive advocates for taking action on climate change. Under his leadership, Minnesota has adopted some of the most ambitious climate policies in the nation — including a law he signed in 2023 that requires the state to generate all of its electricity from renewable sources by 2040. During that legislative session, Walz and state lawmakers pushed through at least 40 other climate-related initiatives.

Under the clean-electricity law, Minnesota is on track to transition to clean-energy sources even faster than California, which is often seen as America’s trailblazer when it comes to climate action. It’s also more ambitious than a requirement that President Biden tried to include in his landmark Inflation Reduction Act.

“Governor Tim Walz’s unwavering commitment to bold action led to the biggest thing our state has ever done to address the climate crisis, and we have been proud to partner with him on many initiatives to reduce dangerous pollution and protect our Great Outdoors,” said Conservation Minnesota Voter Center Executive Director Paul Austin. And Walz has become more of a climate advocate — establishing a climate change subcabinet within his administration in 2019 and announcing a plan in 2022 to increase sales of electric vehicles to 20% and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030.

And two weeks ago, in his latest action, he welcomed a $200 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reduce climate pollution in the state with new equipment for farmers, food waste prevention, peatland restoration and electric vehicles. Walz has been hailed for his skills at communicating the need for climate policies and renewable energy initiatives. “The surest way to get people to buy in is to create a job that pays well in their community,” he told Time magazine recently. “All of us are going to have to be better about our smart politics, about bringing people in.”