Wisconsin can trust Joe Biden to lead on the Environment
I support Joe Biden for president, and endorse his climate change leadership
No election in my lifetime has been more important than this one. Everything I care about, from the strength of our democracy to the challenges of addressing the greatest environmental threat in human history, is at stake. And so it is with enormous pride and pleasure that I worked with The League of Conservation Voters Victory Project to support Joe Biden for president, and endorse his climate change leadership in this video.
Joe and my father served in the U.S Senate together, sharing many common values, including a commitment to honorable public service, racial justice, and environmental protections for every American.
Both my parents did everything they could to provide support, love, and comfort to Joe after he lost his wife and daughter in 1972. When I last saw the vice president, it was in Wisconsin at a campaign stop four years ago. I was in what I call the “grip-and-grin” line backstage at an event. I have done hundreds of events like these, having begun to follow my father around on campaign events when I was just 12. When I leaned forward and whispered in Biden’s ear that I was Gaylord and Carrie Lee’s child, his smile exploded and he picked me up and spun me around in a fierce hug as he told me how much he loved them both, what good people they were, and how much they did to help hold him up when his life was crumbling.
The rest of the room stared at us like we were nuts, and he just laughed and ignored the staff, donors, and supporters standing there waiting for decorum to return to the room and the line to get back to moving. At that moment, I was the only person in the room to him. He finally loosened his hug, kissed me on the forehead, and said, “Man, I love your parents.” I replied, “Me too.” We laughed and parted. Later that day he did a local radio interview and told the host that my parents had changed his life. He went on about my father convincing him to take his Senate seat — just 2 1⁄2 weeks after his wife and infant daughter were killed in a car crash —
He was and is a man of compassion, commitment, and public service.
When he first ran for Senate in 1972, the environment was one of the issues he stressed in his upstart campaign. Now, nearly a half-century later, he is proposing a $2 trillion plan to replace fossil fuels with clean energy, reduce pollution of our air water, create jobs, address injustice and take the decisive actions needed to tackle climate change.
I trust Joe to lead on the environment and so many other things I care about and this country desperately needs.
