Now that Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris has selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate for this November’s election, the midwestern politician’s energy policies are in the spotlight.
No surprise, Walz is a big proponent, just like Harris, in pushing for clean energy initiatives.
But Walz may try to accelerate that transition even more with what he calls his “green grid” agenda.
"The decision by the Harris campaign to select Walz suggests a focus on climate-forward youth voters who could determine outcomes in closely contested swing states,” said Kevin Book, managing director of research with ClearView Energy Partners LLC, in an email to Cowboy State Daily.
“That said, we would note again that campaigning is one thing and governing is another,” Book said. “Just as the exigencies of an energy war in Eastern Europe led the Biden administration to adopt a considerably more pragmatic stance on fossil fuels than the one pitched in the 2020 campaign, end-user cost concerns and re-election pressures could constrain the transition aspirations of a first-term Harris-Walz Administration.”
Walz’s energy policies in Minnesota have been ambitious.
During his tenure as governor, Walz placed his state on track to transition to "clean" energy even faster than California, which for decades has been at the forefront of efforts to tackle climate change.
In 2023, Walz signed a law requiring Minnesota to generate or buy all its electricity from wind, solar and other carbon-free sources by 2040.
That strategy aligns with federal efforts during the Biden administration to eliminate climate-warming pollution from coal and gas-fired power plants.
Walz, who was first elected governor in 2018 and won re-election in 2022, has pushed through nearly 40 other climate initiatives in the Minnesota Legislature.
This year he signed into law a bill to speed up permits for renewable energy projects.
Thumbs Down
But how will Walz be received in Wyoming?
Coal, oil and natural gas industries are huge economic drivers in the state of Wyoming, so it’s not a surprise the Cowboy State isn’t friendly to his “green grid” goals.
“Horrible for Wyoming, horrible for America,” said Travis Deti, executive director of the Wyoming Mining Association, a trade group that represents mining companies in the state like bentonite, coal, rare earths, trona and uranium.
“Vice President Harris had the opportunity to choose a governor who understands the importance of energy development in Gov. Josh Shapiro,” said Pete Obermueller, president of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming.
Shapiro is the top executive of Pennsylvania, a swing state in this November’s presidential election that has a huge energy industry and was a finalist in the running to become Harris’ running mate.
Shapiro has offended some within both the Democratic and Republican camps with his stance on energy policy and fracking, a sensitive issue in a state with major coal and gas industries.
As Pennsylvania’s attorney general, he won praise from environmentalists for going after fracking companies over the harmful impacts of shale gas production, and more recently for proposing a “cap and invest” program to reduce industrial carbon emissions.
Yet these environmentalists also criticized him for partnering with the state’s fossil fuel industries and promoting the use of fracked natural gas.
‘All We Need To Know’
Obermueller is not supportive of the Walz selection because the candidate has pushed anti-oil and gas policies.
“That says all we need to know about where a President Harris will be on issues important to Wyoming’s economy,” wrote Obermueller in a statement to Cowboy State Daily.
Members of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming produce 90% of Wyoming’s oil and natural gas, generating more than $5 billion in annual economic activity and employing more than 18,000 people.
Harris has a history of challenging and opposing oil companies.
As attorney general of California, she sued multiple major oil and gas companies over pollution.
This is one of her hallmarks.
Harris has brought lawsuits against fossil fuel companies, prosecuted a pipeline company over an oil leak and investigated Exxon Mobil Corp. for allegedly misleading the public about climate change.
Harris also recently reversed her position on banning fracking to produce energy from fossil fuels, a move analysts says is to possibly garner support from swing state Pennsylvania where fracking is a big part of its energy economy.
Aggressive On Oil
A potential Harris presidency is viewed as being more aggressive than Biden in confronting oil companies on pollution and addressing environmental justice.
She’ll also likely stay the course on Biden’s environmental policies that have impacted Wyoming and have prompted Gov. Mark Gordon to dig in his heels and threaten litigation.
Gordon has hired law firms to fight the administration over Biden’s plans to end coal leasing on public lands with the Bureau of Land Management by 2041, and the Environmental Protection Agency’s rules and regulations that impede the state’s ability to mine coal and sell the valuable commodity to utilities to fuel power plants.
Energy analyst Book wrote that the selection of Shapiro from a fossil-producing state like Pennsylvania might have run “the risk of repelling climate activists.”
“Walz’s home state does not offer that complication,” Book said. “The addition of Walz to the Harris ticket does not change our broader outlook.”
He also said there’s no reason to believe a Harris-Walz administration would ease up on Biden’s push to end fossil fuels.
“We still expect a Harris administration to continue Biden-era efforts to electrify transportation and reduce the carbon intensity of the grid,” Books said. “If Trump’s lead in the polls already was giving some Biden appointees reason to update their resumes and head for the exits, the naming of a new boss who is likely to bring her own 'old hands' may have accelerated departures, thinning the ranks of administration decision-makers.
“And if Biden people were leaving out of concern Harris people might replace them, the prospect of Walz people replacing Harris people could compound this dynamic.”
Pat Maio can be reached at pat@cowboystatedaily.com.
