Author: Aman Azhar Published: 8/29/2024 Inside Climate News
Politics: What’s at stake for the climate
Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, a Democrat, is up against Republican and former Governor Larry Hogan in Maryland’s U.S. Senate race.
Maryland’s climate challenges—among them worsening heatwaves, intense storms and flooding, sea level rise and coastal erosion—are adding new risks to residents’ health, property and lives. The way out of these worrying trends, advocates and experts say, is to keep the state on a clean energy and emissions-free track.
Maryland’s upcoming U.S. Senate race will be critical in deciding its climate future.
On the one end is Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, who clinched the Democratic nomination after defeating three-term U.S. Rep. David Trone in a contentious primary. Born and raised in Prince George’s County, Alsobrooks, 53, will be the state’s first Black senator if Marylanders elect her on Nov. 5.
She faces Republican Larry Hogan in the general election. Hogan, a moderate two-term governor and business owner, led the state from 2015 to 2023. He has politically distanced himself from Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, since 2016; Trump nevertheless endorsed Hogan earlier this year, citing his party’s need to take control of the Senate. In March, Hogan told Axios he will caucus with Republicans if elected, but it remainsunclear whether he will vote against the party line, particularly under a Trump presidency.
Harris Stirs Hope for a New Chapter in Climate Action
Author: Marianne Lavelle Published: 08/18/2024 Inside Climate News
Vice President Kamala Harris walks on stage during a campaign rally at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas on Aug. 10
Although President Joe Biden already has cemented an unmatched legacy of climate change action, Vice President Kamala Harris raised the bar the moment that she entered the presidential race on July 21.
Those who care about the climate are now considering new possibilities based on Harris’ past actions: What would she do to hold Big Oil accountable? How could she push climate policy further, especially to address historic injustice? Would she be able to advance international cooperation, building on the progress made in her travels to Africa and Asia as vice president?
A new candidate has invigorated the climate movement—with some groups that have never before endorsed presidential candidates declaring support for Harris soon after Biden passed her the torch. They point to her history as a former California attorney general who took on oil companies, the environmental justice work she has focused on in the Biden administration and the historic nature of her candidacy as a woman of color. Her appeal only increased when she selected her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who implemented a $2 billion climate spending program in the state and signed a law to make the state carbon-free by 2040.
The Future of the Inflation Reduction Act
Author:Kristoffer Tigue Published: 08/20.2024 Inside Climate News
In Wisconsin Senate Race, Voters Will Pick Between Two Candidates With Widely Differing Climate Views
While Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin has warned that climate change threatens “our very way of life,” GOP challenger Eric Hovde compared clean energy tax credits to “corporate welfare
ST. PAUL, Minn.—Democrats kicked off their national convention in Chicago Monday. But today, Vice President Kamala Harris will be 80 miles north, in Milwaukee, as she makes her third visit to Wisconsin since becoming the Democratic presidential candidate last month.
While Wisconsin has often been a key pathway to the White House, it could play an even bigger role than usual this November as Democrats fight to keep their slim majority in the Senate. The elected representatives Wisconsinites choose this year could have major policy implications not just for the state but nationwide, including in the fight to slow climate change.
That’s because Wisconsin is one of seven battleground states where Democrats hope to hold onto their Senate seats in ultra-competitive races. (The other six are Arizona, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Ohio and Pennsylvania.) If Democrats lose just one of those states, it could set up a divided and gridlocked government even if they retain the White House.
If Democrats lose both the White House and the Senate, that could also mean the reversal of hard fought gains on pro-climate policy—namely, the hundreds of billions of dollars in clean energy tax credits via the Inflation Reduction Act, which former President Donald Trump vowed to repeal if he’s elected.
“We are the battleground state,” Sen. Tammy Baldwin declared during a July rally for Harris in Milwaukee.