GLAAD has documented Vice President Kamala Harris’ LGBTQ record, including her policies and promises to reverse climate change. VP Harris’ full LGBTQ record is available on GLAAD’s Kamala Harris Accountability Tracker, as well as the Biden-Harris Administration’s Accountability Tracker. Climate change is a top issue for LGBTQ voters according to GLAAD’s poll.
Climate change and its effect on the LGBTQ community:
According to the findings of a report by The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, climate change “exacerbates existing disparities among individuals and communities.” LGBTQ people, specifically same-sex couples:
- Face greater risk “to the negative effects of climate change” compared with non-LGBTQ individuals.
- Disproportionately live in coastal regions or areas at risk due to climate change.
- Are more likely to live in areas with poor infrastructure and access to vital resources.
- Are more likely to be “overlooked in local and national relief efforts,” especially in communities where religious-affiliated organizations often.
In examining the report, Legal Planet cited “extreme weather events” such as 2005’s Hurricane Katrina as proving not only deadly and costly to affected communities, but also on the LGBTQ people who lived within them:
- LGBTQ people and families “were often overlooked in local and national relief efforts” they noted. “Some LGBTQ families faced separation during resettlement. Many more people struggled to apply for relief aid, especially because churches and religiously affiliated organizations so often provided the relief.”
A recent research brief from The Trevor Project shows that climate change is also a leading concern for LGBTQ youth. Drawing data from The Trevor Project, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency revealed that 93% of LGBTQ youth worry about climate change in some capacity (55% “frequently,” and 38% “sometimes”).
Harris’ climate change record includes:
- Creating an environmental justice unit, among “the first environmental justice units of any DA’s office in the country,” during her time as San Francisco’s district attorney.
- Holding former President Trump accountable for his offer to Big Oil if they donate to his campaign. Said Harris at a campaign event: “As district attorney, to go after polluters, I created one of the first environmental justice units in our nation. … Donald Trump stood in Mar-a-Lago and told Big Oil lobbyists he would do their bidding for a $1 billion campaign contribution.”
- Encouraging and empowering young people to vote. Speaking about the Biden-Harris administration, Harris said: “Because young voters showed up [in 2020], we have made so much progress, historic progress, on everything from gun violence prevention to taking on the climate crisis.” Harris committed to earning the vote of young Americans.
- Embarking on a month-long multi-state “Fight for Our Freedoms” college tour to encourage students to fight for their rights, including LGBTQ equality and the pursuit of policies to curtail and reverse the threat of climate change. Speaking at Reading Area Community College, in Pennsylvania, one student asked what the federal government can do to create effective policies to combat climate change in impoverished communities. In response, Harris called climate change “a threat to us as a species,” and noted the importance of helping at-risk communities. “And when you bring up, in particular, communities of color, low-income communities, immigrant communities, you will not be surprised — many people here — to know that you see some of the, for example, worst air quality districts in our country are in those communities. You will not be surprised to know that those communities are the ones that are dealing with the fact that lead pipes are still delivering toxic water to the babies of those communities, which is resulting in health issues and … an impact on learning ability.”
- Hosting a small business roundtable with more than three dozen Black and Hispanic small business owners and entrepreneurs. “At this table, we have entrepreneurs, small-business owners who are working in the area of space, technology, addressing the climate crisis and understanding the — the opportunities that exist there in terms of growing a clean energy economy and growing a workforce that has the skills and the ability to lead, where we can be unburdened by where we have been. The leaders at this table have shown grit and creativity in terms of pulling together their resources to grow an idea into something that actually benefits communities and all of society. And the work that, then, we are going to do coming out of this meeting is to continue to then grow our administration’s focus on what we can do to support you.”
- Discussing climate change with out content creators Ebony and Denise Nunez (Team2Moms). Asked their daughter Olivia, “What are adults doing to help stop climate change because my future depends on it?” In response, Harris noted that the Biden-Harris administration set aside $370 million to address climate change and emphasized the need to invest in electric vehicles to lessen the country’s dependence on fossil fuels.
- Acknowledging violence against LGBTQ people as a root cause of migration to the U.S., in meeting with President Alejandro Giammattei of Guatemala. Harris said: “We are looking at the issue of poverty and the lack, therefore, of economic opportunities; the issue of extreme weather conditions and the lack of climate adaptation; as well as corruption and the lack of good governance; and violence against women, Indigenous people, LGBTQ people, and Afro-descendants,” said Harris. “And we want to work with you to address both the acute causes as well as the root causes in a way that will bring hope to the people of Guatemala that there will be an opportunity for them if they stay at home.”
- Backing efforts to address greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. “Climate change has real and lasting impacts on our environment, public health, and the economy,” said former California Attorney General Kamala Harris. “California has been a national leader in fighting to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and I am proud to join this effort to preserve and protect our natural resources for future generations to come.”
- Defending President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan (2015) which aimed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions significantly by 2030. “Power plants emit pollutants that contribute to climate change,” said Harris, “and, left unchecked, those pollutants harm our natural resources and pose a grave threat to public health.”
- Collecting penalties from oil companies “over leaking underground storage tanks,” and holding Volkswagen accountable for their emissions scandal.
The Biden-Harris administration’s climate change efforts:
- Announcing $4.3 billion in grants from the Environmental Protection Agency to address climate change and pollution. Funded efforts will “include decarbonizing freight, installing geothermal systems, and capturing fugitive methane emissions.” The EPA hopes these efforts will reduce “greenhouse gas emissions up to 971 million metric tons by 2050.”
- Promoting transportation methods that use clean energy, such as electric vehicles. In January 2024, the Biden-Harris administration announced new actions to bolster the country’s EV charging network, and tax credits to ensure the affordability of EVs. According to the White House, “EV sales have more than quadrupled, with more than four and a half million EVs on the road.” In March 2024, the EPA introduced new rules aimed toward reducing emissions by 50% by 2030 and making EVs more affordable.
- Pledging $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund at U.N. COP28 climate summit in December 2023. According to Reuters, “the fund, with more than $20 billion in pledges, is the largest international fund dedicated to supporting climate action in developing countries.”
- Establishing the U.S.-Brazil Partnership for Workers’ Rights, a global initiative and the first of its kind to offer a commitment to workers’ rights. “The Partnership for Workers’ Rights will aim to expand this bilateral cooperation with additional partners. … We will use the vehicle of advancing workers’ rights to address … ending worker exploitation, including forced labor and child labor; increasing accountability in public and private investments; the clean energy transition; technology and digital transitions, including the gig economy; tackling workplace discrimination, particularly for women, LGBTQI+, and marginalized racial and ethnic groups.”
- Meeting with leaders of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate and highlighting areas his administration is focusing on to keep “a 1.5°C limit on warming within reach.”
- Updating the Montreal Protocol on Substances by signing the Kigali Amendment. In what President Biden called “a historic, bipartisan win for American manufacturing and global climate action,” the amendment is expected to “avert upward of 0.5 degrees Celsius — almost 1 degree Fahrenheit — of warming by the end of the century.”
- Signing the “Executive Order on Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability” into law. According to the Columbia Law School Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, the EO aspires toward clean energy, zero-emission vehicles, low-emission construction materials, and “net-zero emissions” from buildings and “federal operations.”
- In honor of Pride month in 2021 and each year since, a Pride flag was raised over the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Energy for the first time. Secretary Jennifer Granholm tweeted: “Throughout the Department of @ENERGY, members of the LGBTQ+ community are our neighbors, friends, family, and colleagues, and world-leading scientists. Regrettably, still today, they are underrepresented in our workforce, in the broader scientific community, and face discrimination across our country. We’re humbled by the triumphs of the trailblazers that came before, and at @ENERGY we’re fighting to ensure that the clean energy future we’re striving for is an equitable one.”
- Restoring The Paris Accord, one President Biden’s first actions upon taking office to combat climate change. The Paris Accord was initially drafted in 2015 to combat climate change, but former President Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement.
Harris’s position on climate change:
“The climate crisis is a threat to us as a species and this planet that God gave us to live on. And we need to take this issue seriously and understand that the clock is not just ticking, it is banging. And on this issue, there are things we as human beings can do to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, to help communities deal with extreme climate experiences so that they are not … facing peril.”
Harris’ campaign has been endorsed by leading environmental organizations, including the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) Action Fund, NRDC Action Fund, the Sierra Club, CE4A Action (Clean Energy for America), and Green New Deal Network. In addition, over 350 climate activists signed a letter endorsing Harris. “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,” they wrote. “We are proud to support her and be in the fight against climate change with her.”
GLAAD’s Voter Poll shows:
- The environment and climate change are a leading concern. Twenty-one percent of respondents indicated it is one of the two most important issues candidates must address.
- Fear that Republican control of the White House and Senate, as well as a conservative-leaning Supreme Court, could have “lasting implications for generations to come” (86% likely).