Jay Inslee, the ‘Climate Candidate,’ Joins the 2020 Race

WASHINGTON — Jay Inslee, the Democratic governor of Washington state, has entered the 2020 presidential race. And he’s betting his candidacy on the idea that Americans care enough about the existential threat of our time — climate change — to elect a president with a laser-like, almost singular focus on that issue.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee talks to reporters about
his 2019-2021 budget proposal at the Capitol in Olympia, WA.

The news does not come as much of a surprise. Last month, Inslee first spoke to Rolling Stone about the need for a Democratic candidate in 2020 who would put climate change at the forefront of his or her campaign — a role for which he refused to rule himself out. “I do think that it is absolutely imperative that the Democratic Party put forth a candidate who will make climate change a principal, front-burner issue, rather than some peripheral back burner,” he said. “I believe it’s a potentially winning issue to run on, and we need a candidate who will do that.”

Read the RollingStone story by Andy Kroll - “Jay Inslee, the ‘Climate Candidate,’ Joins the 2020 Race.”

On grief and climate change

I am the daughter of a father born on the floor of a displaced persons’ camp after a Holocaust that almost wiped out his entire community. I am also the daughter of a mother born in freedom, peace and civility whose privilege informed a deep gratitude and joy for life. The dual gift of these legacies inform me every day. I know that tragedy and trauma are often man-made. That showing up and personal fortitude are often forged in the fire of recovery and renewal. I take these lessons into account when I am wracked with grief about climate change.

Dumbo Feather’s publisher and editor-in-chief,  Berry Liberman.

The arctic ice shelf just cracked off, meaning a trillion ton of ice has now entered our oceans. We are in strange and frightening territory of our own making. The weather is our only compass and it is wild and vengeful in places where peoples are the most vulnerable. Issue 52 of Dumbo Feather, and the content we’ll be sharing online over the next eight weeks, is an attempt to have a purposeful conversation about how we can collectively remain engaged and active in campaigning for the renewal of our eco-systems which are crashing and destabilising all around us.

Read the piece by Dumbo Feather’s publisher and editor-in-chief, Berry Liberman - “On grief and climate change.”