Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris’ newly-announced running mate, has pushed aggressive climate and green energy policies during his tenure as governor.
In 2023, Walz signed a law requiring that 100% of energy produced or acquired by the state must be carbon-free by 2040, a timeline that is even more aggressive than California’s 2045 deadline to reach 100% green energy generation. Major environmental groups — including the Sierra Club, Climate Power and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Action Fund — have already come out in favor of Walz, calling him a “climate champion” and implying that he will pursue policies that transform the American economy by pushing it away from using fossil fuels.
“Governor Walz has never seen a California-style energy policy that he didn’t try to emulate in the state of Minnesota. First and foremost, that’s what’s on the table,” Isaac Orr, the vice president of research at Always On Research, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “He pretends to be this affable Minnesota dad who wears buffalo plaid, and it’s a bait and switch, and then you get the most progressive policy possible … If you thought the Biden-Harris administration was bad, the Harris-Walz administration will be worse.”
