Washington Governor Jay Inslee appears poised to test the waters on whether he can run as a 2020 presidential candidate with a platform based on climate change, The Washington Post reported Sunday.
“I think that a candidacy by me would have two pillars. One, to put climate change as a paramount duty of the country and to mobilize the country to a higher calling,” Inslee said at the winter meeting, according to The Post. “And executive experience. I think there may be an appetite for that.”
Inslee traveled to Washington D.C. this weekend for the National Governor’s Association winter meeting, including a visit Sunday to the Environmental Protection Agency, according to Inslee’s office.
The Democrat has hinted at a presidential run aimed at fighting climate change and told Face the Nation in an interview Sunday that he could announce his candidacy as soon as this week.
Climate change has been a top priority for Inslee, who cited it as one of his top concerns in his State of the State address last month. After his major carbon tax initiative failed on the ballot in November, Inslee announced a new initiative that called for transitioning the state’s power grid to 100 percent clean energy by 2045.
If he decides to run, Inslee has already drawn support from a new political action committee, Act Now On Climate, which was formed last week to back a potential run from Inslee.