Speaker 1: Joining us now is Tom Steyer, a co founder of
Speaker 1: Galvani's Climate Solutions. Tom, great to have you back. Thank
Speaker 1: you so much for being with us. What are you
Speaker 1: hoping to hear from Harris's campaign, given that we haven't
Speaker 1: heard so much in terms of how she differs from
Speaker 1: President Biden.
Speaker 2: Well, what I'm expecting to hear Lisa, and hoping to
Speaker 2: hear is that her agenda around the economy is going
Speaker 2: to be about opportunity. Then in fact, she understands that
Speaker 2: America is the land of opportunity and it gives every
Speaker 2: of the chance to do the most, and that is
Speaker 2: exactly what drives this economy, what makes our capitalism capitalistic
Speaker 2: economy so strong. At the same time that I expect
Speaker 2: her to continue most of the policies of the Biden
Speaker 2: Harris administration.
Speaker 3: So she will continue on this electrifying the grid. What
Speaker 3: more do you expect if she were to win, that
Speaker 3: they can add on to what Biden did. When it
Speaker 3: comes to the Inflation Reduction Act.
Speaker 2: Well, I think to a large extent, it is going
Speaker 2: to be about implementing the Inflation Reduction Act, which is
Speaker 2: really two things. It's not just about the grid, it's
Speaker 2: about deploying the existing technologies when solar batteries, evs, but
Speaker 2: it's also about innovating and creating the next generation of
Speaker 2: energy related companies and technologies. So that second part is
Speaker 2: absolutely critical. We're seeing deployment happen spurred by the IRA,
Speaker 2: but very much driven by private money. What we need
Speaker 2: to see is new companies solving some of the problems
Speaker 2: around energy in ways that work for consumers and companies.
Speaker 3: Well, when it comes to that competition and if you
Speaker 3: think climate is existential, why not let the cheap Chinese
Speaker 3: evs into the United States.
Speaker 2: I'm square. Here's my answer for you. Look, I am
Speaker 2: a huge believer in trade. I believe that the benefits,
Speaker 2: the dispersed benefits to American consumers of trade are huge
Speaker 2: and important, and we've all enjoyed them for a long time.
Speaker 2: And it's theoretically true too. What is true is that
Speaker 2: the Chinese economy is doing something strange. They are leading
Speaker 2: them manufacturing of almost every clean energy product wind, turbine,
Speaker 2: solar arrays, batteries, evs. But what's also true is they're
Speaker 2: by far the biggest polluter in terms of carbon emissions,
Speaker 2: and they're using their carbon emissions to try and drive
Speaker 2: their economic program of leading this energy transition to pull
Speaker 2: their very weak economy out of the ditch. So, in fact,
Speaker 2: the idea that they should be charged for their emissions
Speaker 2: that are about a third of global emissions makes very
Speaker 2: good sense to me, and we're doing it in not
Speaker 2: direct way, but it's actually a way that turns out
Speaker 2: to be pretty fair.
Speaker 3: The other big issue, not just national security when it
Speaker 3: comes to China, but the other big political issue in
Speaker 3: the election is who's going to win the union vote.
Speaker 3: How does Kamal Harris strike that tone the fact that
Speaker 3: they want to see more evs in the road. But
Speaker 3: actually this unnerves a lot of rank and file of
Speaker 3: those labor unions in places like Michigan, which is critical
Speaker 3: to Democrats maintaining the White House.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, But let's take a step back, if we could, Henry,
Speaker 2: which is this We've all listened to Elon Musk and
Speaker 2: Donald Trump talk about their attitude towards organized labor and
Speaker 2: labor unions. In fact, they've been sued over what they
Speaker 2: said on Twitter. So the truth is, it's not a
Speaker 2: choice between Kamala who is a very strong union person,
Speaker 2: and a blank person. It's someone who clearly is anti
Speaker 2: union and an anti working person. And that's been a
Speaker 2: long history over decades of where mister Trump has gone
Speaker 2: and where he's likely to go. So yes, it's absolutely
Speaker 2: clear that Michigan. Obviously, the UAW has a huge sway
Speaker 2: in Michigan and they're a really important part of the
Speaker 2: Democratic coalition. But the truth is that the person who
Speaker 2: supports working people and who supports organized labor is definitely
Speaker 2: Kamala Harris. And to go any other way is to
Speaker 2: ignore the facts of this week, let alone the last
Speaker 2: two decades.
Speaker 4: And Tom, you're painting quite a dichonomy between the two candidates.
Speaker 4: And I just wonder in your conversations with not just
Speaker 4: investors but portfolio companies that want to do clean technology,
Speaker 4: if there's a sense that they're holding back on investing
Speaker 4: because of the uncertainty of the race, and it might
Speaker 4: continue to do so if it is a Trump presidency.
Speaker 2: Well, I think when we talk about the possibility of
Speaker 2: a Trump presidency, let's break it down into two things.
Speaker 2: One is what's going to happen in the United States
Speaker 2: of America. And I think that to a very large extent,
Speaker 2: when it comes to the deployment of the existing technologies.
Speaker 2: They're just cheaper. You know, if you look around the
Speaker 2: world last year, so twenty twenty three of new electricity generation,
Speaker 2: eighty six percent of it was renewable. They're not doing
Speaker 2: that to be nice. They're doing it because it's a cheaper,
Speaker 2: better deal. And those lines have crossed and there's nothing
Speaker 2: that mister Trump can do to change the economic forces.
Speaker 2: What is really important from the standpoint of addressing the
Speaker 2: climate crisis more broadly, is this. This is obviously a
Speaker 2: global issue. It requires global cooperation and American leadership. That
Speaker 2: is something that a Trump and administration will never do.
Speaker 2: I mean, they famously withdrew from the Paris Accords. He's
Speaker 2: talking about getting out of NATO, let alone cooperating with
Speaker 2: the UN efforts around climate. So from the standpoint of
Speaker 2: the American economy, we're going to continue to deploy I
Speaker 2: think that's baked in the cake, just because it's a
Speaker 2: better deal. Texas has tripled its solar since twenty eighteen.
Speaker 2: And that's the state where they love to say how
Speaker 2: bad renewables are, but they're a bigger win producer and
Speaker 2: producer than California.
Speaker 1: Tell me Jeff about thirty seconds. Do you think that
Speaker 1: Musk's friendship with Donald Trump will ensure that there will
Speaker 1: be a friendly environment for electric vehicles even though Trump
Speaker 1: gets since the office. No.
Speaker 2: I think that mister Trump doesn't really have policies and
Speaker 2: he doesn't have friendships. So whatever he said on said
Speaker 2: this week, that's something that will change over time because
Speaker 2: they don't even have a platform. They literally don't have
Speaker 2: a platform because they don't have policies. They just have
Speaker 2: instincts urges, and pensions.
Speaker 1: Tim Styer of Galvanized Climate Solutions, who really appreciate you
Speaker 1: coming in as always, thank you for being here.