Home Current Washington Governor Announces Presidential Bid With Focus on Climate Change

Washington Governor Announces Presidential Bid With Focus on Climate Change

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Washington Governor Announces Presidential Bid With Focus on Climate ChangeWashington governor Jay Inslee announced Friday that he will enter the already crowded 2020 Democratic presidential field, citing the “existential threat” of climate change as the primary motivation for his run.Inslee, who represented Washington in Congress for 20 years before becoming governor in 2012, sought to differentiate himself from the eleven other Democrats in the field by emphasizing his commitment to addressing climate change.“I’m Jay Inslee and I’m running for president because I’m the only candidate that will make defeating climate change our number one priority,” Inslee said in his announcement video released Friday> VIDEO: This is our moment, our climate, our mission — together, we can defeat climate change. That’s why I’m running for president. Join OurClimateMoment today https://t.co/zg8ILGyk0Z pic.twitter.com/pUZVxyzfc5> > — Jay Inslee (@JayInslee) March 1, 2019Inslee, who authored a book about climate change eleven years ago, plans to capitalize on the recent elevation of climate change as a top issue for Democratic voters and highlight his lengthy record of advocating for government investment in renewable energy and stricter environmental regulations. His presidential announcement comes after the majority of 2020 Democratic presidential contenders have endorsed the Green New Deal, a sweeping policy proposal that calls for transitioning the entire American economy to renewable energy within ten years.When asked whether he supports the Green New Deal, Inslee tacitly endorsed the broad concept but did not address the specifics of the resolution introduced last month by representative Alexandria OCasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.).“We should do what I said we should do in my book: a major industrial transformation to decarbonize the U.S. economy that will result in millions of new jobs and greater prosperity,” he told Vox. “Unfortunately, no movies were made of my book [laughter] and it didn’t capture people’s imagination in 2007.”“So no, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this approach. I think it’s necessary and suitable to the times,” he continued. “It’s a major reindustrialization of America and we should talk about it in these terms. We need to build things again, all around the country. We’ve got to get communities involved in that. I think the youth movement on this is fantastic.”Inslee’s first campaign event will take place Friday afternoon at a solar energy company and he will appear on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” on Sunday.