In her speech in support of Vice President Kamala Harris at the Democratic National Convention Deb Haaland recounted a lesson in environmental stewardship she learned as a child.
“While fishing with my dad and running through the desert with my cousins, I learned that we have a responsibility to take care of our planet,” the secretary of the interior told the crowd Thursday night. “Donald Trump never learned that lesson. He called the climate crisis a ‘hoax.’”
Haaland made her case on the last night of the convention that Harris was the right choice to take on environmental issues.
“She held polluters accountable for spilling oil into the San Francisco Bay,” Haaland said. “She defended President (Barack) Obama’s Clean Power Plan in court. And as vice president, she cast the tie-breaking vote for the most ambitious climate action plan in our nation’s history.”
Haaland, who is from Laguna Pueblo and the first Indigenous person to serve as a cabinet secretary, ended by saying Harris and running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will fight for clean air, clean water, and healthy communities.
“Let me go back to the lesson I learned in the desert Southwest — we all have a role in protecting our earth for future generations,” she said. “So let’s all be fierce. And let’s make Kamala Harris the next President.”
Watch Haaland’s full speech below.