Kamala Harris crushed former President Donald Trump in the debate last week. On issues like choice, support of small business, immigration, and foreign policy, the vice president articulated a vision aligned with the majority of American voters. Great. But one critical issue didn’t get nearly enough airtime: our choice in November will determine whether the United States leads—and benefits from—the economy of the future.
The outcome of this election will determine whether the United States continues its role as the undisputed global juggernaut of the innovation economy. As climate change reshapes global markets, American businesses have been presented with an economic choice of historic proportions. They can choose to lead the world in the acceleration of clean technologies, which are creating new jobs in rapidly evolving fields while reducing costs and increasing profits for business owners. Or, America can surrender that opportunity to its greatest competitors.
Harris’s plan, graded by economists as an accelerant to our economy, keeps America on a high-growth trajectory as the global leader in technology and innovation. It is clearly better for the pocketbooks of Americans than Trump’s plan to return to the economy of his childhood, one that boosts the allies of the politically powerful at the expense of middle-class Americans. When you’re talking about jobs and business, you’re always talking about the future. America is an innovation heavyweight, fertile soil for new ideas, new companies, and new solutions. That’s one of the main ways we lead the world.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks on the administration’s investments in climate action in Charlotte, North Carolina, on April 4.
ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images
Harris supported massive progress in reasserting American economic dominance and its leadership in the climate transition. As vice president, she played a decisive role in the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the most significant clean energy investment in American history. The IRA has allocated nearly $346 billion toward climate solutions and resilience, creating 330,000 jobs across nearly every state in the country, lowering household energy costs, and spurring a manufacturing boom in the process.
Meanwhile, Trump’s take on climate innovation would be comical if it didn’t have such serious implications for the health of the American economy. His dismissive comments about windmills and polar bears cover a complete lack of interest and knowledge about the real world of business. He is a fake businessman. Bottom line, the climate transition is going to happen with or without America leading it. But if Trump has his way, he will revoke the very policies that position America to lead the global clean energy economy.
America, under the Biden-Harris administration, is already starting to reap the rewards of the climate transition. Looking ahead, the global opportunity for the continued development of clean energy technologies is worth around $650 billion a year by 2030 and clean energy manufacturing jobs are set to double to 14 million in the same time frame.
Yet, Trump’s plan would torpedo these advancements. For someone who talks so much about China, it’s baffling that Trump would support America surrendering the next great technological revolution to the People’s Republic. Positioning itself to dominate the market, China is electrifying its total energy usage at 10 percentage points per decade, nine times faster than the rest of the world. It has increased solar generation by 35 times and wind by nine times over the past decade. If America steps back from the transition, China will dominate critical mineral supply chains, clean energy manufacturing jobs, solar module manufacturing, and more.
Finally, the energy transition doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s intertwined with another huge technological revolution: artificial intelligence. AI requires massive amounts of energy, and relying on fossil fuels for that energy will devastate the planet. We must dramatically expand our renewable energy capacity to power the data centers that will enable us to own the AI revolution. Trust me, China is not waiting to build out the solar and wind installations needed to power their data centers. If we are to lead and benefit from the dual revolutions of AI and clean energy, we need a leader like the vice president who understands the complicated practicalities and trade-offs of the real world. This isn’t blackjack. The economic stakes have never been so high as they are today, with American business facing an unprecedented opportunity to embrace the innovation economy and safeguard growth.
American voters have a clear choice when it comes to the economy: We can opt for the failed vision of a casino owner who has declared bankruptcy multiple times. Or we can choose Kamala Harris, a leader committed to a competitive, innovative, and prosperous economy. Harris is a candidate with the vision to lead America into the future. This choice won’t come again. It’s up to us.
Tom Steyer is the co-executive chair of Galvanize Climate Solutions, a climate-focused global investment firm delivering capital and targeted expertise to accelerate climate solutions.
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.
