By admin 
For months, Tom Steyer’s likeness and voice were unavoidable on Californians’ TVs and social media feeds, fed by $215 million he invested in his campaign for governor. The ex-financier pilloried utilities, rival Xavier Becerra and President Donald Trump but ultimately came up roughly two percentage points short in the June primary.
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Steyer has a theory why he lost: You know, the whole “billionaire” thing.
“I feel like I can understand that,” Steyer said in an interview last week with The Sacramento Bee.
Now the climate activist, who previously invested more than $340 million in his unsuccessful 2020 presidential run, says he’s not going anywhere.
“I’m going to try to be a voice for information and truth to dispel what I consider to be corrupting, corrosive, and intentional falsehoods,” Steyer said.
The former hedge fund manager is betting that voters still want to hear what became a central message of his campaign: that climate change, inequality, affordability, corruption and democratic backsliding are interlocking crises. In recent social media posts and in the interview, Steyer said the environmental activism that helped anchor his political career needs to be framed in pocketbook terms that resonate with the electorate.
“If you’re going to talk to people about these theoretical environmental issues, you’re wasting your time,” Steyer said.
Part of that means making the argument against fossil fuels, which Steyer argues are waging a losing battle for relevance as renewable energy sources become cheaper.
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In the case of oil, for example, Steyer argues that the U.S. oil industry can’t compete on price with much cheaper crude from the Persian Gulf, “where it’s like, stick a straw in the ground and the oil comes up.”
“It’s a commodity that’s going into decline over the next five years,” the Democrat argues.
Industry groups question the logic behind Steyer’s arguments.
“It’s hard to believe that in 2026, Tom Steyer is still talking about the wisdom of being totally dependent on Middle Eastern oil,” said Rock Zierman, CEO of the California Independent Petroleum Association, in a statement. “Shutting down California oil doesn’t eliminate demand — it eliminates California jobs, sends billions overseas, and shifts production to countries with little to no environmental standards. That’s not a climate strategy. It’s economic and environmental malpractice.”
Aside from his advocacy, Steyer said he will continue to invest in Galvanize, a global asset manager he co-founded in 2021 to focus on accelerating the transition away from fossil fuels — and to make investors money in the process.
For now, Steyer’s critics in business and industry, who invested more than $37 million to thwart his gubernatorial bid, can breathe easier about any future political run.
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“I have no plans for that,” Steyer said.