In an article published by the Los Angeles Times about Kamala Harris having environmental chops, it is led by remarks made by a local who is certainly well-known in the pages of Condor Call, UCSB’s Daily Nexus and various national news outlets.
“I’m ecstatic — I couldn’t be more thrilled,” Leah Stokes, an associate professor of climate and energy policy at UC Santa Barbara, said on July 22.
“Kamala Harris is a climate and environmental justice champion, and she has been for over two decades,” Stokes said. “We have a real shot to not just win the White House and have a climate president again, but also to secure strong majorities in the House and the Senate and have an opportunity to pass more climate legislation.”
Four leading environmental, clean energy and climate organizations — the Sierra Club, League of Conservation Voters Action Fund, the NRDC Action Fund, and Clean Energy for American Action — endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for President.
Another well-known name in these pages is Ben Jealous, Sierra Club Executive Director.
“From prosecuting polluters as California’s Attorney General to authoring bold climate legislation that would become central to the landmark Inflation Reduction Act, she has worked for decades to combat the climate crisis and protect our health and future,” said Ben Jealous said, adding, “I have had the distinct personal privilege of calling Kamala Harris a dear friend for more than 20 years, but it will be an even greater honor to call her Madam President.”
Harris has said the president should hold fossil fuel companies accountable for misleading the public about climate change. In a 2019 interview with Mother Jones, she said: “Let’s get them not only in the pocket book, but let’s make sure there are severe and serious penalties for their behaviors.”
Indeed, she secured $50 million in settlements from lawsuits against Chevron, BP, Conoco-Phillips and other oil companies during her tenure as attorney general, and led an investigation into Exxon Mobil’s history of misleading Americans on the climate crisis. In 2017, she signed a letter opposing the expansion of offshore drilling along the California coast, stating that the expansion would “line the pockets of oil companies.”