Steyer says he has ‘no plans’ to run for public office again

Former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer told The Hill on Thursday that he is currently not planning to run for public office again.

“I have no plans,” Steyer said in an interview when asked about potential future bids.

Instead, the billionaire environmental activist said he’s working on something “at the nexus of research, and policy and commercialization” around the topics of the climate and economic, environmental and racial justice, but said he’s not ready to announce specifics. 

Steyer’s comments come after Politico reported last week that he was polling the California recall election, in which voters will have to decide if they want to give the boot to Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).

A spokesperson for the billionaire told the news outlet they should check back in “late April” for further comment.

During his interview with The Hill, Steyer offered praise for President Biden’s newly unveiled infrastructure plan, specifically citing its green incentives for the private sector. 

“This is a great plan, but what it’s really going to do is enable the private sector to come up with the changes that are really going to let us meet our climate goals,” he said, also applauding the plan’s funding for research and development, rebuilding the electric grid and clean energy tax credits. 

The $2.25 trillion plan was on Wednesday officially unveiled by Biden, who called it a once-in-a-generation opportunity to revamp the American economy.

It includes a number of provisions aimed at fighting climate change or reducing its impacts, including incentives aimed at reaching 500,000 electric vehicle chargers by the end of the decade, electrifying school buses and transit vehicles and putting billions toward helping cities prepare for extreme weather. 

It also endorses a clean electricity standard, which would require power providers to get a certain amount of their energy from clean sources with the ultimate goal of reaching a carbon-free power sector by 2035. 

On climate overall, Steyer said he’d give Biden an “A” grade a little more than 70 days into his presidency, saying his former primary rival has “put together a great team.”

“Whether you’re talking about the executive actions from Day One or the infrastructure plan that he proposed or the international work that’s being done leading up to the conference on Earth Day and Glasgow, I think that we’re back in the game,” he said, referring to a United Nations climate summit that will be held in Scotland in November. 

“We’re back in the game of leading the world in terms of climate reaction, climate mitigation,” Steyer added.