Despite this overwhelming news cycle, climate and environmental justice continue to be bigger priority issues for voters than ever before. As ballots are cast from home, early, and on Election Day next month, one thing is for sure: more people than ever will be voting for climate action.

Ahead of tonight’s VP debate, we wanted to share a few notable proof points and some reminders of Senator Kamala Harris’ long pro-environment record.

Proof climate matters more than ever:

• Joe Biden rolled out the first ever presidential campaign ad focused solely on climate change this week
• A new poll from the Yale Program on Climate Communication found that a large majority of most news audiences want more climate coverage and the majority of all news audiences say global warming or protecting the environment will be important to their vote for president
• Following a pressure campaign from voters, elected leaders, advocates, and the media, the first presidential debate included an 11 minute exchange on climate — a far cry from the 2016 general election debates where not a single climate question was asked
• Bloomberg Green wrote about leaked documents reportedly showing that Exxon had plans to increase carbon emissions “as much as the output of the entire nation of Greece” — and the corporate polluter does not disclose emissions projections to investors … maybe because fossil. fuels. are. done.

Senator Harris is a long time climate and environmental justice champion:

• Harris’ lived experience as a Black and Indian woman from a state on the frontlines of the climate crisis makes her uniquely qualified to confront environmental racism head-on
• Harris has a lifetime LCV score of 91%
• One of the last bills Harris introduced before Joe Biden selected her to be his running mate was an environmental justice bill: The Climate Equity Act. The bill puts frontline communities and environmental justice leaders at the center of future climate policy development. And Harris helped ensure that the Climate Equity Act itself was crafted through an inclusive process with environmental justice organizations and coalitions.
• Harris also introduced the historic Environmental Justice for All Act in the Senate this summer which aims broadly to meaningfully engage environmental justice communities in government decision-making processes.
• Harris introduced the first federal legislation to prioritize the electrification of school buses in low-income and most impacted communities: The Clean School Bus Act. The bill would reduce pollution in communities of color first by transitioning to clean, zero-emission, electric school buses.
• Importantly, advocating for environmental justice is nothing new for Senator Harris. Fifteen years ago, as San Francisco District Attorney, Harris created the first environmental justice unit in the office because, as she said at the time, “Crimes against the environment are crimes against communities, people who are often poor and disenfranchised.”
• On the campaign trail this year, Harris has consistently made clear that climate change solutions and addressing racial, economic and social injustice are inextricably linked, including while assessing wildfire damage in California.

BTW, Vice President Mike Pence’s lifetime LCV score is 4% and he’s VP to Trump, who we named the Dirtiest of All Time on LCV Victory Fund’s Dirty Dozen list. ‘Nuff said.

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Paid for by LCV Victory Fund, www.lcvvictoryfund.org, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.