By James Nickerson

Tribune News Service

In what could be a crowded field of Democratic contenders for the office of president, Jay Inslee is seeking to set himself apart. So rather than focusing on bread-and-butter issues like raising the federal minimum wage and Medicare-for-all, the former congressman and two-term governor of Washington state is staking his presidential aspirations on a single issue: tackling global climate change.

“We’re laying the groundwork that would make this a feasible thing in the relatively short term,” Inslee said in a recent interview published in The Atlantic. He thinks the time is right: “When you’ve been working on something for over a decade, and now seeing people awakening to that, it’s just really gratifying and heartening,”

Inslee’s bona fides on the issue are well-established. In 2011, New York Times editor John M. Broder described then-Rep. Inslee as “one of Congress’ most ardent advocates of strong action to combat global warming.”

As an early supporter of alternative energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, he called for an Apollo-like energy program to invest in ameliorating the effects of global climate change. He used his position on the House Energy and Commerce Committee to seek cap-and-trade legislation and the Cash-for-Clunkers program. He advocated for America’s alternative energy sector by working to expand the use of wind and solar energy. After the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, he voted for legislation that would reform the oil and gas industry and how they are regulated.

As Washington’s governor, Inslee continues to champion the environmental cause. Immediately after securing the governorship in 2013, he worked with members of both parties to meet the state’s greenhouse gas emissions targets. Inslee’s budgets included investments in clean energy projects and created University of Washington’s Clean Energy Institute. He issued executive orders to diversify the state’s energy portfolio and transition from coal-fired electricity to cleaner energy sources.

Clearly, Inslee is taking a calculated risk by focusing on climate change, when he could run on a multitude of issues like his fellow competitors in the Democratic primary. The issue of climate change was barely even mentioned during the last presidential race. Hopefully, Inslee’s presence as a candidate will keep that from happening again.

In fact, there is plenty of evidence that ordinary Americans, subjected to increasingly bizarre and devastating weather events, care about addressing the issue of climate change. A recent Gallup poll shows a majority of Americans feel that global climate change is either extremely or very important. The survey also reveals that 75 percent of Democratic voters believe climate change is an issue they care deeply about.

Inslee could make the case that climate change affects both health outcomes and local economies across the U.S. He did so in Washington, where he worked with state lawmakers to address the effects of climate change on local seafood industries. A clean environment can be an engine for economic growth, and Inslee has the right experience to make the case green jobs and a cleaner economy.

According to Inslee, climate change is an issue “that many Democratic politicians can talk about, but I have the unique ability to show the proof in the pudding that we’ve actually done this.” That makes his voice a welcome addition to the presidential sweepstakes.

James Nickerson is senior editor of the Sojourn Review and co-host of the Overton Window Podcast. This column was written for the Progressive Media Project, which is run by The Progressive magazine, and distributed by Tribune News Service.