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Over the last few weeks, Tim Walz has shown how deft a communicator he is. The Minnesota governor and Democratic nominee for vice president showed the power of a simple message by pushing forward the idea that former President Donald Trump and his allies were just plain “weird.” His rhetoric about the Republican ticket spread like wildfire on social media as he seemingly auditioned to be Kamala Harris’s running mate.
Now, as he and Harris launch their campaign in earnest, environmental advocates are hoping he’ll use his straight-talking to get more Americans on board with climate action — even if his environmental record is mixed.
“As governor, Tim Walz has made huge strides to address the climate crisis,” said Stevie O’Hanlon, Sunrise Movement’s communications director. “He has done this by pitching climate action as a way to make people’s everyday lives better, create good-paying green jobs and invest in making communities stronger.”
During his time as governor, the former teacher and school principal has adopted strict emissions standards for cars and ushered in legislation that will see Minnesota’s electricity generation be carbon-free by 2040. But he has also faced criticism from some environmentalists who argue that the agricultural industry has too much influence over state officials.
Earlier this summer, a coalition of environmental groups called People Not Polluters said the agencies and regulators in Walz’s government suffered from what they termed meaning they were “routinely” siding with “polluters, not people,” having approved a controversial Enbridge oil pipeline in 2020 and failed to address pollution in private wells.
“Governor Walz didn’t create this problem, but he needs to fix it. Instead, it is getting worse on his watch. So the Legislature needs to hold hearings,” Minnesota environmentalist Don Arnosti told the MinnPost in June 2024.
Reflecting on Walz’s time as a congressman from 2007 to 2018, the League of Conservation (LCV) gave his voting record a 75 percent on its scorecard, which analyzes how Congress votes on issues such as energy, climate change, and worker protection.
Despite this less-than-sparkling congressional scorecard, most major environmental organizations have fallen in line behind the Harris-Walz ticket, given his stronger record as governor. Ben Jealous, the executive director of the Sierra Club, trumpeted Walz’s experience.
“The Harris-Walz ticket is one that understands the fight before us, isn’t afraid to tackle climate change head-on and will continue to build upon the legacy of the Biden-Harris administration moving forward,” Jealous said.
Coral Davenport, of The New York Times, wrote that if Harris and Walz win the election in November, Walz “would bring the most substantive record on climate of any incoming president or vice president since Vice President Al Gore.”
At a time when the world needs the United States to up its climate ambition, advocates say that his record might prove to be invaluable.
This story by Alex Robinson was originally published by Corporate Knights and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.
