Jay Inslee launches 2020 presidential bid with focus on climate change

Jay Inslee, the Democratic governor of Washington, has announced he is running for president, declaring himself the “only candidate who will make defeating climate change our nation’s number one priority”.

A vocal advocate for taking action on climate change, Inslee used his entrance into the race to sound the alarm on what he called “the most urgent challenge of our time”.

“We’re the first generation to feel the sting of climate change,” he said in a video announcing his launch. “And we’re the last who can do something about it.”

Inslee, 68, is the first sitting governor to join the 2020 race, which has thus far been dominated by US senators. His announcement followed months of speculation over Inslee’s intentions and marks yet another entry into what is already a sprawling Democratic field.

Although lesser known on the national stage, Inslee has sought to cultivate an image as a warrior against climate change and hired multiple advisers who worked for Tom Steyer, the Democratic billionaire who recently ruled out a presidential run of his own.

While several other Democrats in the race have talked about the need to address climate change, Inslee is the only candidate who is running a campaign so singularly focused on the issue.

“Our country’s next mission must be to rise up to the most urgent challenge of our time – defeating climate change,” he says in the launch video, which features old footage of him raising the issue on the floor if the House, where he served as a congressman for seven terms. “This crisis isn’t just a chart or graph any more. The impacts are being felt everywhere.”