Quotes from Tom Steyer

My experience of American politics is that people raise issues, and they get addressed in an effective but imperfect way. But that's sort of the American system: Mind the problem and worry it, and then we attack it with overwhelming power and put it away - and that's the end of that problem.

I believe that trying to deal with Donald Trump is like trying to play three-card monte in Central Park: it's not going to work out.

I was in business for 30 years, and my experience is that the best way to operate is to work fairly and closely with partners over a long period of time.

In the presidential debates back in 2008 and 2012, the candidates clearly didn't know how to make climate change resonate with voters - if they mentioned it at all.

The most powerful thing in politics is voter-to-voter contact. People take in ideas and formulate opinions by contact with other people they perceive to be trustworthy - other voters, people from their communities.

Bringing climate change to the forefront of American politics means making politicians feel the heat - in their campaign coffers and at the polls - and it's time we voters make a change.

We try to separate the world into the stuff we can control and the stuff we can't.

As I like to say, if you want to pay attention to a horse race, put two dollars on a horse, and you'll pay enormous attention to all 11 horses in the race.

America faces very real challenges. The climate crisis, inequality, stagnant wages, student debt - the list goes on. Rather than address these serious problems, Trump uses hate-filled rhetoric to divide America by race, religion, and ancestry.

When an oil company executive tells American families that we don't need to be concerned with tar sands pipeline safety, it's not only misleading, it's insulting.

I think I was on this very straightforward escalator - grammar school, high school, college, get a job on Wall Street, kind of everything leads to the next thing. But at what point do you get to step back and say, 'I'd like to take a broader view of my time on this planet?'

If he truly thinks he can be president, Donald Trump needs to understand that we need real solutions - not more walls and giveaways to polluting special interests.

I am passionate about preserving the rights and opportunities of current and future Americans. That has meant fighting to stop global warming.

Voting is our right, but it is also our responsibility because if we don't take the next step and elect leaders who are committed to building a better future for our kids, other rights - our rights to clean air, clean water, health, and prosperity - are placed directly in harm's way.

Californians like to spend a lot of time talking about how great our state is, but the truth is that we have learned and executed a very important lesson: if we want to win on issues as critical as climate change - if we want to lead - we absolutely have to stand together.

What makes a successful country is when you invest in the people of the country - whether it's education, health care, job training - and you rebuild a clean America to provide the kind of infrastructure that will be sustainable and let us grow.

Despite the frequent use of coal miners as a potent political symbol, coal jobs are disappearing - and they're not coming back.

I think that Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi obviously are incredibly sympathetic to the DACA people. And so am I, of course.

Some members of the ruling class are making a concerted effort to expand the wealth gap.

The more we allow Republicans to concentrate the lion's share of wealth in the hands of a few, the more power these wealthy few will have. And they will use this power to continue rewriting the rules of both our economy and our political system in their favor.

Climate change carries implications that stretch far beyond extreme weather, however. The effects on public health are far more alarming - and those have to be taken into account in order to calculate an accurate estimate of the costs of inaction.

We can't double down on the failed energy policies of the past.

Donald Trump's crass charms are apparently very limited - historically so, if polling is any indication.

I'm willing to do just about anything to try and contribute to getting us back on a growth path that is just and good for America.