Inslee to launch ‘Climate Mission Tour’ as first official campaign trip

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) will spend the first week of his just-announced presidential bid campaigning about climate issues.

Inslee, who formally announced his run for the White House on Friday, will spend the first days campaigning throughout Iowa and Nevada on his “Climate Mission Tour.”

{mosads}The tour will start Tuesday and take him to various sites in Iowa to discuss energy and environment issues, a key tenant of his presidential platform. In the Hawkeye State, he will visit a solar power installation at Paulson Electric, meet with students to discuss climate change and attend a gathering with local climate activists.

He will fly to Nevada the following Saturday to visit similar sites as part of his first two trips as a presidential candidate, but has yet to announce the details.

“The ‘Climate Mission Tour’ will focus on the opportunity to create millions of jobs throughout the country while defeating the greatest challenge of our time — climate change,” according to a press release about Inslee’s tour.

“Defeating climate change has been the driving force of the Governor’s public life and will be the focus of his bid for president.”

Inslee has made fighting climate change the leading issue of his campaign. For months he’s set the groundwork for the push, frequently criticizing President Trump over his climate skepticism and speaking out about former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s views on forest management.

In his campaign announcement made in a video released Friday morning, Inslee made no secret that he intends to be the people’s climate candidate.

“We’re the first generation to feel the sting of climate change. And we’re the last who can do something about it. We went to the moon and created technologies that have changed the world. Our country’s next mission must be to rise up to the most urgent challenge of our time: defeating climate change,” Inslee says in the video. “I’m running for president because I am the only candidate who will make defeating climate change our nation’s No. 1 priority.”