The Policy that Dare Not Speak Its Name

What the climate world needs now

Today’s Instigator comes to you live from New York where we just wrapped up another Climate Week. I’ve been participating in Climate Week for years and always find it encouraging and positive. 

This year was no exception. It was the biggest group yet of NGOs, activists, philanthropists, business people, and government officials—well-intentioned, smart people doing their best to address one of the greatest challenges of all time.

Climate Week is also a great opportunity to reflect and take stock. And as I did so amidst all the bustle, one front stood out for its lack of activity—the political front. Noticeably absent from all of the activity and discussion is the need to build a centrist majority coalition of voters to support ambitious climate policy. 

Thus far, Kamala Harris has been a formidable candidate for President. I admire the way she is running her campaign. And yet it’s striking how reluctant she is to boast about one of the greatest achievements of her and President Biden’s administration: The Inflation Reduction Act, aka the most comprehensive climate bill ever passed. I don’t question the campaign’s thinking here—climate is simply not a winning issue right now. We need to fix that.

Further, consider the many areas where Climate Week participants say progress is much too slow. Better public policy would change that in every case and quickly accelerate gains.

We need strategies, ideas, organizations, and people to build broader political support for climate policy. This is hard, but doable in my opinion. And it ought to be our highest priority because it will break the logjam and unlock progress. 

Business is often vilified for not doing more on the environmental front. But, as I’ve written before, there are limits to corporate volunteerism. You know what would enable business to do more? Regulation, incentives, and mandates. 

As I allude to in our somewhat cheeky title above,^* it wasn’t all that long ago that political leaders did not feel at liberty to express support for marriage equality. Hard work, mobilization, and coalition building got the change we needed. Let’s do the same for climate. 

Onward, 

*The Love that Dare Not Speak its Name is a line from a Lord Arthur Douglas poem, that arose in Oscar Wilde’s trial for “gross indecency.” The expression is often associated with the way homosexuality was forced into secret.