Inslee runs on climate change

WEST DES MOINES, IOWA — It’s a blistering hot day in the picnic shelter in Tower Park in this suburb of Des Moines, and an older couple set their lawn chairs down in the shade.

“He sure looks the part,” the man says to his wife. “Sure does. What state is he from?”

The governor of the state of Washington is not a well-known figure in Iowa, but that makes Jay Inslee all the more determined in his quest for the Democratic presidential nomination. He dives into the sweating crowd with gusto — “Hi, I’m Jay! Great to see you!” — leaning over to shake hands with six women at a picnic table.

Inslee indeed looks the part. Tall and silver haired, the former high school athlete, six-term congressman and two-term governor campaigns with an energy and enthusiasm that belies his 68 years. And beyond his political experience, Inslee has a card up his sleeve that he thinks can distinguish him from the crowded 2020 field.

“I am unique among the candidates,” Inslee said. “I will make defeating the climate crisis the No. 1 priority of the United States. It will be the organizing principle of my administration.”

Inslee says the climate change issue is the reason he decided to run for president.

“I’m in this race because I decided on my last day on earth I want to be able to look at my three grandchildren and tell them I did everything humanly possible to save them from this degraded world they’re going to be coming into if we don’t act,” he said.

He sees defeating climate change as a moral obligation, but he also sees it as a chance for the United States to reorganize and invigorate the American economy around the issue, saying, “Today the fastest growing sector of job creation in the United States is clean energy jobs.”

Inslee uses a hockey quote to buttress his argument that Americans need to act now to take advantage of the new, green economy: “It’s kind of like what Wayne Gretzky said — don’t skate to where the puck is. Skate to where the puck is going to go.”

To that end, Inslee’s climate change plan is specific:

• Phasing out coal-based electricity in the next 10 years.

• Stop selling diesel and gasoline powered cars by 2031.

• Eliminate fossil fuels in the electrical grid system by 2025.

Inslee says that in order to achieve these goals he is the only candidate who wants legally binding clean energy requirements and has, as he says, the ability to get it done.

“We need somebody," he said, "with the gumption to look in the eyes of the CEOs of the oil and gas industry and say: ‘You need to stand down. You’ve had your time. We are not going to allow you to make America a sacrificial zone to CEO bonus plans in the oil and gas industry.' ”

Inslee calls 2019 a tipping point for action.

“We now understand both the urgency in this matter and at the same time recognize the economic potential," he said.

Inslee rails against the Trump administration’s approach to climate change.

“I get damn mad when I hear about the vice president saying there’s no problem with carbon pollution or the climate crisis," he said. "Wake up and smell the carbon dioxide, Mike Pence! We have more pollution today than at any time in human history.”

And, in a phrase reminiscent of Montgomery Scott from the original "Star Trek" TV series, he tells the Tower Park crowd he was tired of science deniers: “You cannot negotiate with the laws of physics, and Donald Trump cannot argue with the laws of thermodynamics!”

On other issues, the former high school football and basketball star points to his record as governor as an indication of what he would also like to do as president: “We are radical in Washington, I admit this. We have some radical beliefs. We believe that women should be paid the same as men.”

He also advocates for a higher minimum wage, a public option in health care, and paid family leave.

On other issues:

Abortion: “We need a civil rights law for the entire country that protects all women’s reproductive rights in every state.”

Criminal justice reform: “Drug wars cause massive disparities in the system. We legalized marijuana in Washington.”

Voting rights: “Of all the things Republicans have done, I think violating voting rights is the most venal. In Washington we have same-day voter registration and 100 percent vote-by-mail.”

Guns: “I’m happy to report that I’ve got the NRA on the run in Washington. We’re going to do nationally what we’ve done in our state, which is pass common sense gun measures, so our kids don’t have to be afraid to go to school. When I was at the White House last February I looked Donald Trump in the eye and said, ‘Your idea of arming teachers with Glocks is idiotic. You need to do less tweeting and more listening to educators.’ ”

But despite discussing all these issues, it is climate change that drives, animates and propels Jay Inslee and his candidacy. He says he has the pragmatism to take on Republican Senate leadership that other Democrats, such as former Vice President Joe Biden, may lack.

“(Biden) could drink tea with him for 10,000 years and Mitch McConnell is never going to have the courage to stand up to the fossil fuel industry, and frankly, (Biden) is a little bit delusional about this.”

Inslee’s plan? Get rid of the Senate filibuster in order to pass climate change legislation.

Despite what he feels is the looming disaster of climate change, Inslee campaigns as an optimist.

“We can change the world,” he says. “I really believe that.”

And when he finishes in the picnic shelter, the crowd roars, and the couple in the lawn chairs stand up. They want to shake Inslee’s hand.

Bob Beatty,