Vice President Kamala Harris’ promotion of domestic fossil fuel production in Tuesday night’s debate rankled some environmentalists who hoped instead to hear a bolder climate vision from the Democratic nominee.
But some prominent voices in the climate movement are willing to give the vice president some leeway in her political tactics in a campaign that pits her against an opponent they view as abysmal for the planet.
“The most important thing we need to do for the climate is make sure we defeat Donald Trump, and I think Kamala Harris is running a damn good campaign,” said Lena Moffitt, executive director of Evergreen Action.
“I hope and expect that everyone following this election recognizes how stark and how clear the choices in this election are,” said David Kieve, president of the green group EDF Action. On climate change, “one candidate gave a very clear answer on the stakes at hand in the climate crisis and what she’s going to do about it, and the other spewed a bunch of nonsense.”
Environmentalists weren’t all enamored by Harris’ remarks about fossil fuels Tuesday night after she boasted about record fossil fuel production on her watch.
In an apparent attempt to inoculate herself against former President Donald Trump’s persistent attacks on her energy record — including her former support for a ban on the oil and gas drilling process known as fracking — Harris rebuffed Trump’s claims as she touted oil production during the Biden-Harris administration.
“I will not ban fracking,” Harris said Tuesday. “I have not banned fracking as vice president of the United States.” She pointed to her tiebreaking vote on the climate law known as the Inflation Reduction Act, “which opened new leases for fracking.”
The United States has seen “the largest increase in domestic oil production in history” during the Biden-Harris administration, she said. “My position is that we have got to invest in diverse sources of energy so we reduce our reliance on foreign oil.”
‘Missed a critical opportunity’
Those were troubling comments to some climate advocates who hoped to hear more from Harris about her plans to crack down on fossil fuel emissions.
“Harris missed a critical opportunity to lay out a stark contrast with Trump and show young voters that she will stand up to Big Oil and stop the climate crisis,” Sunrise spokesperson Stevie O’Hanlon said in a statement. “Harris spent more time promoting fracking than laying out a bold vision for a clean energy future.”
The biggest risk for Harris is that she “alienates young voters who she desperately needs,” O’Hanlon said Wednesday in an interview. “Young people who are Harris’ for the taking were feeling demoralized last night because we want a president who will fight for our generation and take on one of the greatest crises of our country that we face.”
Harris’ performance on the debate stage was “very presidential, but she needs to be bolder on climate change,” said Michael Greenberg, founder of the climate activist group Climate Defiance.
“If you’re going to call it an existential threat, you shouldn’t brag about increasing production of the thing that causes it,” Greenberg said.
Environmental advocates across the spectrum generally agree they’d like to see the vice president drum up voter enthusiasm by leaning into her record as an environmental champion and making the contrast between her and Trump on climate crystal clear.
“I love that she pointed out that Donald Trump calls climate change a hoax,” said Pete Maysmith, senior vice president of campaigns at the League of Conservation Voters. “ I also thought it was really important that she related the climate crisis to people’s everyday lives.”
Asked about climate change policy Tuesday night, Harris began her answer with a jab at the former president.
“The former president has said that climate change is a hoax, and what we know is that it is very real,” Harris said. She touted her role in the Biden administration’s passage of a sweeping climate law packed with clean energy investments.
Trump didn’t answer the question about how he plans to tackle climate change.
“I thought [Harris’] answers were appropriate given the sort of bizarre uniqueness of trying to debate a guy who says they’re eating dogs in Ohio and that he still has concepts of a health care plan,” said Brett Hartl, chief political strategist at the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund.
“We’re still very supportive and comfortable with how she’s approaching things,” Hartl said of Harris, calling Trump a “complete disaster” on “every single environmental issue.”
Overall, said Moffitt of Evergreen, Harris did a “phenomenal job” and “wiped the floor with Donald Trump.”
When it comes to climate, “that’s what I wanted to see, because there was only one candidate on the stage who even believes that climate change is real,” Moffitt said. “Donald Trump thinks climate change is a hoax and would double down on fossil fuels in a way that would cost Americans hugely, both with their pocketbooks and many with their lives.”
