- Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris has a history of fighting for environmental justice and supporting the Green New Deal, energizing climate activists.
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The announcement that U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-California) will be the Democratic nominee for vice president sparked the expected flurry of interest in her record — and supporters of aggressive action to fight climate change will find a lot to like. Harris has introduced and co-sponsored a number of environmental justice bills — including the Climate Equity Act last week — to support low-income communities most impacted by pollution, building on the “environmental justice unit” she created in 2005 as San Francisco’s district attorney to take polluters to court.
Harris was an early and enthusiastic supporter of the Green New Deal, and said during the primaries last year that she would be willing to eliminate the Senate filibuster in order to pass it. Her climate proposal as a presidential candidate, most of which has now been embraced by Joe Biden, called for $10 trillion in public and private funding to move the U.S. to a carbon-neutral economy by 2045, primarily by requiring new buildings and transportation to adhere to stricter emissions and energy-efficiency standards. It’s no wonder climate activists are excited.
In Other News: Eco-friendly Fashion, Racial Equity
Here are 11 lesser-known eco-friendly fashion brands (and another one that held its annual fashion show in a greenhouse). Black entrepreneurs are building a mentor network from within. A sustainable thermal packaging startup just raised a $31 million Series C. A timely update on advancing racial equity through investing found a significant increase in shareholder activism. Australians are turning beer into renewable energy. Morgan Stanley is launching its own version of the “genius grant” for innovators working on social and environmental risks.
Levity Break
