What would America's energy future be under Kamala Harris?

US President Joe Biden on Sunday announced his decision to quit his presidential race against Donald Trump, a move that turns the spotlight on current Vice President Kamala Harris as the potential new Democratic nominee.

“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” Biden said in a statement and subsequently offered his full support and endorsement for Harris to be the nominee of the Democratic Party this year.

As stated by Nigel Green, CEO of independent financial advisory and asset management firm deVere Group, this unexpected announcement has put financial markets “on edge” as investors are now uncertain whether to bet on the so-called “Trump Trade”, a term referring to market behaviours and trends that assume a return for Trump to the White House.

For the energy sector, a Harris victory in the election would essentially mean a continuation of Biden’s work. The former District Attorney of San Francisco and Attorney General of California is known to have similar views to Biden’s when it comes to climate policies, if not even more aggressive against big oil companies, having sued and won against corporations such as Chevron and BP for damaging the environment.

At COP28 in December 2023, Harris made the following statement: “Crucially, our collective pledge today to rapidly increase renewable energy also includes a call for all nations to stop building new, unabated coal power plants — a type of power plant that the United States stopped building more than a decade ago.”

As a Senator, Harris co-sponsored legislation backing the Green New Deal, which was introduced in February 2019. She is also the founder of the nation’s first environmental justice unit.

My fellow Democrats, I have decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all my energies on my duties as President for the remainder of my term. My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best… pic.twitter.com/x8DnvuImJV

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 21, 2024

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