Why I Support Jay Inslee for President
As a clean energy entrepreneur who’s worked for many years in environmental and progressive politics, I’m supporting Governor Jay Inslee for president in the Democratic primaries. And I hope my friends who care about social, economic and environmental justice will consider his candidacy.
In a field of more than a dozen (20?) Democrats — many of whom are better known, nationally identified with progressive causes and wouldn’t be yet another straight white male president — why Jay Inslee?
Well, for starters, here are four reasons:
First: Governor Inslee has made Climate Change the central cause of his campaign.
Second: Lifting Governor Inslee into the top tier of presidential candidates will put Climate Change at the top of America’s agenda.
Third: Governor Inslee can beat Donald Trump and become a great President.
Fourth: Governor Inslee is a consistent, courageous progressive, fighting for social, economic and environmental justice.
1. The Only Climate Change Candidate
If we don’t solve climate change, we won’t be able to solve anything else — and civilization as we know it won’t be around much longer anyway.
Climate change is simultaneously a threat to civilization and a threat to the entire progressive project to make the future just and fair for everybody. Unless we defeat climate change, our future will be dealing with a series of ongoing crises that bankrupt our governments and crowd out space for other progress. We won’t be providing for health care and education if we have to replace the entire storm water and freshwater systems of our country.
Whatever urgent issue we care about, climate change is part of the problem and must be part of the solution.
As we’ve seen with Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters magnified by man-made inequalities, communities of color and low-income people from every background suffer most from the consequences of climate change. When we think about how the Trump Administration’s isolationism, Exhibit A is its withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. When we cope with the crisis of refugees in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa we must keep in mind that climate change is driving millions of the world’s poorest people from their homes. And, when we wonder how our own children and grandchildren can get and keep high-wage jobs with promising futures, we need to remember that, as Governor Inslee says: “Climate change is not more important than the economy; climate change is the economy.”
That is why it is so essential that Governor Inslee is totally committed to combating climate change — and has a multi-decade record of working on the issue. And now he has the most detailed plan to overcome climate change of any presidential candidate.
I had the opportunity to speak with him at an event before he declared his candidacy and he said that if he were to run that it would be to make sure he had done everything he could to defeat climate change.
Governor Inslee understands how to defeat climate change sector-by-sector — a vision for how our economy, our energy system, our built environment and our way of life must change. Long before the Green New Deal, in 2007, he wrote a book, Apollo’s Fire, about the economic opportunities in saving the planet. He takes a holistic approach to Climate Change, encompassing environmental justice and economic inclusion. As President, he will work with frontline, low-income, communities of color and indigenous communities that are bearing the brunt of extreme weather, helping to recover regions impacted by climate disasters, air and water pollution, and toxic wastes.
Known as “the greenest Governor in the country,” Jay Inslee is the only candidate who has run a government that has shown that climate change policy can build businesses, create jobs and grow the economy. Under his leadership, Washington State has pumped millions of dollars into clean energy research, promoted the use of electric cars and ferries and encouraged communities to develop solar farms. The result: Washington is second only to California in its rates of electric vehicle adoption and renewable energy generation.
The new Washington state clean electricity legislation is probably the best in the country with very thoughtful use of carrots and sticks to reach 100% clean energy.
Gov. Inslee’s plan to get to 100% clean energy would catapult the clean energy sector. This plan is bold, ambitious and achievable — and it’s built on the results that Gov. Inslee has delivered in Washington state. It is the most detailed plan yet from a candidate — and it would be great news for clean energy jobs across the country.
I don’t think the other candidates deeply understand how the world must change to defeat climate change yet. Climate is one of many issues to them — not the issue they will hit the ground running to address in their first 100 days. In contrast, if Inslee were nominated and elected, he would have a clear mandate to make Climate Change his Job One on Day One.
2. It Matters to Have Governor Inslee on the Debate Stage
At this stage of the campaign, the question is who will be present on the stage during the debates and in the news media’s coverage, not yet who will be the presidential nominee.
Now is the time to advance an issue and an agenda that are urgent for America’s future — combating climate change — but still under-represented in the political process.
To be sure, Governor Inslee faces formidable obstacles. Governors don’t get the same air time as senators who make the evening news during a big legislative battle. And there are other candidates who have been running for President for years, who are in the national spotlight as Senators or have become celebrities because of their personalities, not their policies.
And so that is all the more reason to make sure that Governor Inslee also has a platform. We need to help him build a strong enough campaign by summer 2019 to be on the debate stage starting in June. To do that he needs 65,000 donors or 1% in the polls consistently. (Donate now at JayInslee.com)
Believe me, it matters. It is likely that climate change won’t have as deep an advocate as Governor Inslee if the climate movement doesn’t boost him onto that debate stage and sustain his campaign. Joe Biden didn’t even mention climate change during his announcement speech. So, if we ask where we can make the most difference on climate during the primary, it is by helping Governor Inslee. Other candidates have been running for president for years and will already be on that debate stage.
I really do think his presence on the debate stage will make a difference. I do because his passion on climate is real. Recently millions of students around the globe walked out for a Climate Strike inspired by Greta Thornberg. Inslee was there too with the youth activists in New York City. He visited Paradise, California where climate-fueled wildfires burned down an entire community. The same can’t be said for the other Democratic presidential candidates. All the major candidates skipped the climate strike.
And, just as Governor Inslee cares about climate change, so do voters. Now that wildfires have ravaged California, drought has killed crops in the Farm Belt, and hurricanes have flooded New York, New Orleans, and other coastal cities, people across the country care about extreme weather and its ultimate cause: climate change.
These events help to explain why likely Democratic primary voters see climate change as a top issue alongside healthcare, according to a survey conducted by CNN. According to the CNN poll, a near unanimous percentage of Democratic voters (96%) say it at least is very important a presidential candidate supports “taking aggressive action to slow the effects of climate change.” This has not always been the case but right now acting on climate change may be one of the top issues that unifies the Democratic Party.
3. A Credible Candidate Who Can Beat Trump
Campaigns are about creating the conditions for the possible from what previously seemed unlikely. At this stage in the 1992 election Mario Cuomo was at 26% in the polls and a little known governor from Arkansas was at 1% or less. Once Governor Inslee is on the national stage, voters will see him for what he is: a credible candidate and a potential President who can beat Donald Trump and lead the nation to meet the challenges of the 2020s and beyond.
In the presidential campaign, Governor Inslee can contrast growth in Washington State with gridlock in Washington, D.C. With his leadership, Washington has led the nation in job growth, overall personal-income growth and overall economic growth. This record makes Governor Inslee uniquely qualified to counter Republican attacks on the Green New Deal and to refute the false choice between combating Climate Change and creating jobs.
That is one reason why Jay Inslee wins elections. He has been elected to the State Legislature and elected and re-elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and as Governor. Serving as Chair of the Democratic Governor’s Association in 2018, he led the party to pick up seven Governorships, including Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Nevada, New Mexico, Maine, and Kansas.
4. A Courageous and Principled Progressive
In addition to leading the way on Climate Change, Jay Inslee has a solidly progressive record on major issues of social and economic justice. At important moments, he has done the right thing, regardless of whether it was risky or unfashionable.
As a U.S. House member from rural Washington, he voted for the assault weapons ban in 1994, despite representing a “red” district as a Democrat. He knew it might cost him his seat and he was right. He took the loss in the next election, regrouped and ran again four years later and won.
In 1999, he bucked the Clinton Administration and Wall Street to vote against the repeal of Glass-Steagall. This regulatory rollback contributed to the devastating financial crisis by allowing commercial banks to engage in risky activities.
In 2002, he voted against the resolution for war in Iraq despite his caucus leader in the U.S. House at the time supporting the war.
In 2005, he voted against bank-friendly stricter bankruptcy laws. Unfortunately, this measure passed, and it significantly harmed homeowners during the financial crisis.
These four votes, in particular, split some Democrats at the time but Inslee always ended up on the progressive side of the vote — showing intuition about how some ideas can unfold in a bad way.
Overall, as a member of Congress, he had a 90–100% voting record with women’s rights organizations, unions, civil rights groups, tax fairness groups, retiree groups, peace groups, environmental groups and more. On the other hand, he had a 0% voting record with the anti-immigration groups and a 0% record with right-wing think tanks. In yet another badge of honor, he was rated F by the NRA.
Similarly, as Governor, he has led a successful experiment in progressive governance. With his leadership, the Legislature has raised the minimum wage, expanded paid family leave, invested in infrastructure and established in-state net neutrality.
And Inslee isn’t naïve about whether Republicans are going to suddenly roll over and become docile cooperators. A core plank of his agenda is to get rid of the filibuster in the U.S. Senate that has been used to stop a progressive agenda for decades, including “cap-and-trade” legislation to address the climate change.
To return to where I began, I never thought that I would be supporting a white male in the Democratic primary. Women, and in particular women of color, carry the Democratic Party and the progressive movement. They are owed the mantle of leadership in my view. But the choice I have right now is to think about who I first want to see as president because of the agenda they will implement.
After scanning the field of candidates, I believe that Governor Inslee is best equipped to defeat Donald Trump — and combat climate change.
Still to be determined is whether Inslee has the chops to build the campaign necessary to win the primary. I believe that whomever wins the primary must have the unified support, ample resources and technical know-how needed to defeat Trump in the general election. And that is why it is important that I support Inslee now to help get him on that debate stage and give him the best possible shot at winning.
That’s why we should give Jay Inslee his “moment” to make the case for his presidential candidacy — and the priority of combating climate change.
It matters.
Tom Matzzie is Founder and CEO of CleanChoice Energy. A renewable energy provider and solar developer. Prior to his life as an entrepreneur Tom led campaigns for progressive causes and organizations including MoveOn.org Political Action. Tom was an early innovator in online political campaigns.
