Days after President Joe Biden quit the presidential race, some of the most high-profile names in the U.S. climate movement gathered for an online fundraiser in support of Vice President Kamala Harris's fledgling campaign, where they highlighted Harris's past far-left positions.
The event—which organizers said raised more than $100,000 for the Harris campaign—signals that powerful climate NGOs, which pull in millions of dollars in donations every year, are ready to throw their full weight of support behind the sitting vice president. During the July 25 fundraiser, the Washington Free Beacon learned, speakers endorsed Harris thanks in large part to her support for the trillion-dollar Green New Deal and green energy subsidies, and her opposition to fossil fuel fracking.
The fundraiser was held even as the Harris campaign sought to walk back many of the policies highlighted by the speakers and run closer to the center on energy issues. The campaign, for example, said Harris no longer supports banning fracking or certain provisions in the Green New Deal. The vice president is giving a high-profile speech next week in Pennsylvania, the second-largest natural gas-producing state in the country.
According to a readout of the event obtained by the Free Beacon, Leah Stokes, a cohost of the fundraiser and a consultant with climate firm Rewiring America, began the call by noting that Harris established an environmental crimes unit as San Francisco district attorney and, as vice president, oversaw funding for electric school buses, and spearheaded plans to clean lead pipes. She lamented that environmental activist and actress Jane Fonda, former State Department climate czar John Kerry, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg couldn't make the call.
"The climate movement alongside environmental justice leaders and folks working in the clean energy industry are all behind Kamala Harris. It’s amazing to see our movement coalesce behind Harris," Stokes said in a statement after the call. "When it comes to the planet, the stakes of this election could not be higher. Kamala Harris is the climate leader we need in the White House."
Fellow cohost Saad Amer, a United Nations environmental consultant, said on the call that Harris would be able to push "real goals, aggressive goals" to slash U.S. carbon emissions in half by 2030. He emphasized that Harris backs hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer funding to be earmarked for climate programs.
"Vice President Kamala Harris has taken Big Oil to court and won," added Roishetta Ozane, an environmental justice activist who founded the Vessel Project. "She's championed a Green New Deal and said she wants to make polluters pay."
In addition to Ozane, activists Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Stephan Nicoleau similarly pointed to Harris's past support for the Green New Deal during the call. And Sen. Ed Markey (D., Mass.), who coauthored the Green New Deal, joined the fundraiser to also note Harris's support for the legislation and label her a "climate warrior" for wind, solar, electric vehicles, and green energy tax breaks.
Johnson and Donnel Baird, the founder of the green energy firm BlocPower, meanwhile, underscored Harris's opposition to fracking. In addition to vowing to end fracking during her 2020 presidential campaign, Harris sued the Obama administration in 2016 for opening the door to offshore fracking off the coast of California.
Other speakers included Gov. Jay Inslee (D., Wash.), whose failed 2020 presidential campaign largely focused on climate issues; prominent environmental activist Bill McKibben; Abigail Dillen, the president of climate law firm Earthjustice; and Ning Mosberger-Tang, a member of the eco-focused nonprofit League of Conservation Voters' board of directors.
The fundraiser was organized by Give Green, a platform dedicated to raising money for Democrats with strong records on climate policies. Give Green was founded by leaders of the 501(c)(4) affiliates of League of Conservation Voters and Natural Resources Defense Council. Both groups didn't respond to requests for comment.
Days after the event, many of the fundraiser's participants circulated a letter formally endorsing Harris as "climate, environment, and energy leader, community member, and concerned and active citizen." Kerry, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former interior secretary Sally Jewell, former White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy, and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams were among the hundreds of signers.
"Kamala Harris understands that a clean environment—clean air, water, beaches, lands, and oceans—is a key part of who we are as Americans," the letter stated. "She has supported ending new offshore oil and gas drilling, keeping our National Parks and protected areas free from mining, and strengthened environmental enforcement against polluters."
"We know that protecting our planet for ourselves and future generations requires the kind of bold leadership that Kamala Harris has demonstrated her whole life. We are proud to support her and be in the fight against climate change with her," it concluded.
The Biden-Harris administration's tenure has been a boon for the climate movement, which has stacked up a laundry list of wins, largely in the form of billions of dollars in government spending both indirectly and, in many cases, directly benefiting environmental NGOs and climate firms. The $739 billion Inflation Reduction Act alone includes large swaths of funding for green energy development and environmental justice projects.
The emphatic support from groups represented on the fundraising call last week, that is, may be attributed, in part, to self-interest.
Stokes's Rewiring America, in one example, was founded in 2020 and has since advocated for a rapid electrification of the residential sector and transition to green energy sources, Fox News reported. The group's founders all have personal financial stakes in green energy ventures, some of which have received federal funding, and the group has carved out a role advising White House policymaking.
More, environmental groups backing Harris have raked in hundreds of millions of dollars in donations while promoting the Biden-Harris climate agenda. The League of Conservation Voters, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Earthjustice have collectively reported revenue of $1.2 billion since 2021, a 23 percent increase compared to the three prior years, according to tax filings reviewed by the Free Beacon.
And the Environmental Protection Agency has awarded dozens of environmental groups with massive grants for environmental justice programs. The NDN Collective, a Native American climate group whose leader Jade Begay spoke at the fundraiser for Harris last week, is listed as a partner on two such EPA grants worth $50 million each.
The Harris campaign didn't respond to a request for comment.