MMinnesota Gov. Tim Walz has been catapulted onto the national scene as Vice President Kamala Harris’ potential running mate, at least in part due to his ingenious rhetoric — including his use of the word “weird.” On one cable news show after another, he used the word to describe Republicans, inspiring other Harris surrogates to do the same and winning praise as a straight-talking Democratic communicator.
Whatever the outcome of the competition to be Harris’s number two, Walz will continue to be influential in a specific area thanks to his rhetorical skills: in recent years, he has become one of the country’s most skilled climate communicators, while which has remained relatively unknown to the average American.
I got a first-hand look at Walz’s skills in 2023 when I moderated a discussion with him about the opportunities and challenges of the future climate-shaped economy. It’s a common theme that comes up every now and then in climate events, but Walz’s responses stood out. He described climate policy as a political economy problem as much as a strictly scientific or economic problem. To solve the problem, climate advocates need to figure out how to get people on board.
“Until we can get social scientists involved… there is a psychology that sometimes trumps all the basic principles of what the markets tell us,” he said at Aspen Ideas Climate in Miami last year. “If people think something, that perceived reality is reality – and right now we’re not doing a good enough job.”
Translation: it is not enough for climate policies to be good for society. Politicians need to explain and prove this better. How has this worked out for Walz in practice? In some ways, Walz’s messaging solution feels a bit like President Biden’s, with lots of talk about jobs. “The surest way to get people to join is to create a good-paying job in your community,” he told me. That message needs to be better tailored to your language to meet voters where they are. “We’re all going to have to be better about our smart politics, about bringing people in,” he said.
Walz highlighted his approach to explaining his 2009 vote in favor of cap-and-trade to voters in his speech largely rural district when he represented Minnesota in the U.S. House of Representatives. He said he didn’t talk about carbon reduction, but told voters that “we have all this carbon sink and all this farmland that we can get rich off of with cap and trade.” The highly controversial measure contributed to the dismissal of many of his colleagues in a Republican wave. He held his seat with room to spare.
There’s a good case to be made that his messaging approach is working across Minnesota now that he’s governor: Walz has scored big climate victories despite a closely divided legislature. During his tenure, the state passed a law requiring Minnesota utilities to generate 100% of their electricity from carbon-free sources by 2040, prioritized public transportation and electric bicycles in its $1.3 transportation program. billion and created a $2 billion climate spending program that resembles the Reducing Inflation Act, with incentives for everything from rooftop solar to electric school buses.
In Miami, the conversation at times highlighted barriers to decarbonization – from slow licensing to subsidized fossil fuels. Walz acknowledged these challenges but was quick to move on. “I’ll tell you what my tip of the day is: If you want to run for governor, don’t propose a gas tax and don’t build a power line,” he said. “Both of these things are incredibly personal to people and are counterintuitive even if you need to get them.”
It’s telling that as governor, Walz ended up achieving both — and continues to enjoy a favorable approval rating.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
