On climate, a short riff grows in Chicago
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Photo illustration: Maura Losch/Axios. Photos: Allison Joyce/AFP, Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
There's a striking consistency in the way Kamala Harris and Tim Walz offered just glancing references to climate change in their DNC speeches.
Why it matters: The framing in the context of "freedom" could preview their strategy for the balance of the short campaign.
Driving the news: Harris' speech very briefly touched climate in a much wider riff on what she called "fundamental freedoms at stake" in November.
- It's the "freedom to breathe clean air, and drink clean water and live free from the pollution that fuels the climate crisis," she said.
- That's the same construction that Tim Walz used a night earlier, when he said the election is about "freedom."
- He didn't even mention climate but tucked in the allegation that Republicans want corporations "free to pollute your air and water."
The big picture: Convention acceptance speeches aren't designed as wonky policy blueprints.
- But climate was muted in Harris' address even compared to other policy areas.
- My colleague Zachary Basu saw "ruthless triangulation" in her speech.
What they're saying: Bloomberg explores why Harris only gave climate a quick cameo.
- "While climate activism could energize young voters, it also risks alienating potential supporters in the gas-rich swing state of Pennsylvania, said Kevin Book, managing director of the Washington consulting firm ClearView Energy Partners LLC," they report.
What we're watching: Whether this "freedom" framing remains the strategy.
- I also expect the campaign to stitch low-carbon energy into their wider economic message, focusing on swing state investments flowing under the 2021 infrastructure law and the IRA.
Yes, but: Fighting climate change did get some love in earlier speeches and videos on the DNC's final day.
- Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and Rep. Maxwell Frost both focused on it.
What's next: With the convention over, Reuters notes the ticket is about to face much more policy scrutiny.
