Climate litigation activists are getting their hopes up that Harris will take a more antagonistic and aggressive stance toward energy producers.
As the now-presumptive Democratic nominee for president, Vice President Kamala Harris is already attempting to walk back her past anti-energy rhetoric to win over voters in energy-producing states like Pennsylvania. [emphasis, links added]
Most recently, Harris’ campaign reversed her antagonistic stance towards fracking – which she made on the record repeatedly as a candidate herself – stating that she does not support a nationwide ban on the well stimulation technique that has been proven over and over again through the years to in fact be safe.
Notably, Harris plans to campaign with her new running mate – whoever that is – starting next Tuesday in Philadelphia.
E&E News pointed out that, in anticipation of her tour, Harris may be taking a lesson from Pennsylvania governor and potential VP pick Josh Shapiro, who has formed alliances with the energy industry and its workers by collaborating with the sector, rather than demonizing it:
“As governor, Shapiro has embraced the state’s role as an energy powerhouse. He formed a high-profile alliance with a big driller and steered the state out of a regional cap-and-trade program. That has unions and other allies of the fossil fuel industry pretty satisfied.” (emphasis added)
The Wall Street Journal pointed out similar phenomena, arguing that Harris’s flip-flop is likely a reflection of diverging views between far-left activists in California and swing voters in “must-win” states:
“Kamala Harris performed her first big political backflip of the presidential campaign on the weekend, reversing her support for a ban on fracking for oil and gas. Her election conversion is political damage control, but would she continue the Biden Administration’s regulatory siege against fossil fuels?” (emphasis added)
Now that Harris has backtracked on a major issue like hydraulic fracturing, the vice president has opened the door to revisit other anti-energy commitments that have created a divide in the Democratic Party – like if she still supports a ban on any new oil and gas infrastructure and if she would still be in favor of repealing the filibuster to pass the Green New Deal, of which she was an original co-sponsor.
Harris will also need to clarify whether she would fight to prolong the Biden administration’s pause on natural gas exports backed by wealthy anti-energy donors (recently revoked by a U.S. District Court Judge), a move that both Democratic Pennsylvania senators criticized. Governor Josh Shapiro also stated the pause “needs to be brief.”
Where is Harris on the LNG Pause, Climate Litigation, and the Green New Deal?
Climate litigation is another polarizing matter where Harris’s stance has changed over the years – or, at least, continued to be really confusing to most reasonable people following the issue.
Back in 2019, she flubbed on the topic during the presidential race, when she claimed that during her time as California Attorney General she “sued ExxonMobil.” This categorically false claim was lambasted by pro-litigation activists and fact-checkers alike.
Harris did, however, allegedly launch an investigation into energy companies in January 2016, according to a “person close to the investigation,” after her staff met with private environmental attorney Matt Pawa to discuss a campaign.
By March 2016, Harris was working with other Democratic attorneys general in a coalition called the Green 20 to investigate energy companies – an effort that fell apart within the first few months.
Before Harris’s officially stated interest in climate litigation, however, a longtime member of her staff was involved in the Rockefeller-backed plot to “take down” American energy producers.
Janill Richards – the California Supervising Deputy Attorney General and Coordinator of Global Warming Initiatives – was a presenter at the La Jolla conference, where activists, lawyers, funders, and academics kickstarted the effort to bring legal action against American oil companies.
Now, litigation has made its way to Pennsylvania, where it has proven to be a divisive issue among Democrats.
While Bucks County has filed a lawsuit and Allegheny County is mulling one of its own, numerous labor and manufacturing associations have spoken out against suing companies for global phenomena they manifestly did not cause.
Interestingly, Governor Shapiro has yet to weigh in himself on the merits of litigation.
During the 2020 campaign, the Biden-Harris ticket said they “strategically support” climate lawsuits. But, apart from siding with the plaintiffs on a technical, procedural matter last year, such support has otherwise yet to materialize.
Now is the time for Harris to clarify where she really stands on the issues. Will she continue to support climate lawsuits against American industry (and its labor workforce) as a presidential candidate? And if so, how far will she go?
Activists Don’t Buy the Harris Flip-Flop
In the meantime, pro-litigation activists aren’t wasting any time getting their hopes up that Harris will take a more antagonistic stance against energy producers than the Biden administration, even though she hasn’t publicly opposed any of the president’s energy stances – such as greenlighting the Willow Project – as vice president.
For example, cofounder of 350.org and anti-LNG activist Bill McKibben posted on X that Harris “may get the chance to lead us forward on climate and a dozen other challenges.”
Additionally, Jamie Henn, the co-founder of 350.org and the Director of Fossil Free Media, wrote in a blog for Common Dreams that Harris is “perfectly positioned to prosecute the case against Big Oil”:
“From a new perch in the Oval Office, Harris could throw the full weight of the White House behind the prosecution of Big Oil’s climate lies [sic.]. That could include everything from further empowering the Federal Trade Commission to go after the industry’s price gouging to appointing a new attorney general (perhaps one that’s already suing Big Oil) to lead a new lawsuit on behalf of the Department of Justice.” (emphasis added)
Numerous other anti-fossil-fuel advocates including Oil Change International, the Sierra Club, and Climate Defiance have supported Harris’s bid for president in hopes that she will act in a more “aggressive” manner towards fossil fuel companies, with one activist group counting on the idea that they’ll be able to effectively pressure Harris to adopt their anti-energy agenda after she wins the election. Politico reports:
“Aru Shiney-Ajay, the executive director of the Sunrise Movement, said the pivot highlights that Harris ‘has moderated,’ but that it’s up to climate activists to show politicians that movements — and voters — will be behind them if they back more ambitious solutions.” (emphasis added)
Bottom line: Vice President Harris faces an uphill battle to establish credibility on key energy issues, and now is the time for her to clarify where she really stands.
Only time will tell whether she ultimately sides with wealthy California activist donors or blue-collar energy workers in Pennsylvania and other swing states.
Read more at EID Climate
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