Guest Post: A Conversation with Arnie Sowell and Dan Kammen

This is the second installation in our takeover of Tom’s Substack (see the first, featuring Tom’s kids, here). Instead of hearing from Tom himself, we’re turning his Substack over to the people who know him best so you can hear from them directly. We want to give you a glimpse into the Tom we know—not the candidate, the billionaire, the businessman—but the person we’ve all come to know and respect.

If policy rockstars are a thing, Arnie Sowell and Dan Kammen are at the top of the list. Arnie spent two decades in the California State Assembly before becoming executive director of NextGen Policy, a nonprofit founded and funded by Tom. Dan is a world-renowned energy scientist and climate justice advocate. We caught up with them to ask why they support Tom—and why they think you should, too.

Campaign: You’ve both known Tom for a while now. When did you first meet?

Dan: I met Tom about 10 years ago. I think it was part of some work he and his wife Kat were doing for their foundation. Every now and again our paths would cross because we were both working on climate. We did some roundtables and interviews together early on, and I endorsed him during his presidential run, which was really about getting climate on the national agenda. I also interviewed him over video for a course I teach on environmental justice. I still show the video today.

Arnie: We met about 10 years ago when Tom was looking for someone to lead NextGen’s California policy work. I had worked in the state legislature for a long time, so I sat down with Tom to learn more about what he was looking to do. I didn’t walk into that meeting thinking, oh I want to work for this guy. But I was pretty blown away in terms of how down to earth and engaged he was. We got into the weeds on some policy issues, which for me was refreshing. I got a real sense of his genuineness and seriousness about wanting to make a difference. It wasn’t like, I’m doing this for political reasons or to prove something. It was, I want to do this because it’s the right thing.

Campaign: What makes Tom the right person to stand up and fight for working families?

Arnie: Tom approaches every issue by asking, how do we bring people together in order to problem-solve and make this happen? Several years ago, the team at NextGen learned there was an effort to put a new gas-fired power plant in a working class, largely Latino community in Oxnard. We brought it to Tom, and it was instinctive. He dug in. He met with local electeds and folks from the community. He brought his business background and knowledge of climate and energy policy to say, what are some other options, as opposed to jamming this gas-fired power plant down the throats of a community that doesn’t want it? He went into full-blown advocacy and community partner mode, putting a team of experts together and bringing folks from the community up to Sacramento to testify in front of the energy commission. We ultimately stopped it—and I attribute a lot of that to him.

You know, one of the difficulties of this campaign is that you cannot capture everything that Tom and his wife Kat are doing and have done. You just can’t. People should know he has a real policy track record steeped in the values of equity and justice. That means a lot to someone like me who has also been doing this type of policy work for a long time. Tom is someone who you want to ride into these battles with.

Dan: Tom will hold people accountable and say, we cannot be letting middle of the road politicians and conservative companies argue there aren’t enough bankable projects in pro-justice settings, whether it’s for fence-line communities, communities that have been historically overpolluted, women-headed households—a whole variety of things.

I think Tom would appoint the right people to his Cabinet and would push them to make that agenda real. And Tom definitely has the track record. I mean his taking on the utilities is not going to be popular, even with some people on the left. But that’s got to happen. And that’s the story of what Tom would do. His plans speak to a non-billionaire’s agenda as governor. Even Californians who don’t support Tom will have to grudgingly say, “Yeah, this is actually the right agenda.”

Campaign: What would you say to people concerned about voting for a billionaire?

Dan: My whole professional career has been tied up around energy and justice. And Tom is in the category of thoughtful, generous, engaged billionaires. Just look at what he’s done around school lunches, housing issues, loopholes for billionaires. He will fight for a wealth tax despite the fact that, you know, it’s going to be super unpopular with high-end donors. The U.S. has to figure out a way to get back to a less unequal society, and Tom will be a champion for that. If you become a billionaire and you can make that central, you are in fact using your privilege for good.

Arnie: If you would just listen to his words and you took off the table that this guy is a high net worth individual, what would you think? And I think where you would arrive is, this guy has the same value set that I have. This guy is genuinely motivated to try to make a difference for me and my family. I’ve worked in Sacramento for a long time and I know what it takes to get things done. There’s no doubt in my mind that Tom is the right person at the right time. When you work with people that you know are in it for the right reasons, I mean, you’ll run through a brick wall for them. And that’s the way I feel.

Campaign: How can voters be sure Tom is sincere? That he won’t change his tune the moment he’s elected?

Dan: It’s the school lunches, it’s the investing in teachers, it’s the solarizing schools. All of those things are long-term interests of his. He’s spoken out for them. These are things he’s worked on for a long time. This is not some billionaire who is going to push a personally aggrandizing agenda.

Arnie: Tom has a real sense of: to whom much is given, much is required. I really think he leans into that, both in his professional and personal life. It’s not always seen or touted. It’s just who he is and what he does. He has provided support to people affected by wildfires. He has worked through NextGen to provide grants to organizations providing immigrant legal defense. When the Legacy Museum opened up in Montgomery Alabama, he made sure that a cohort of African-American staffers and kids could go see it. There’s a town in California called Allensworth that was established by former slaves, and Tom and Kat have spent a fair amount of time helping that town stay flourishing. There’s not a whole lot of fanfare when they do this stuff. They’re not looking for pats on the back.

Campaign: Is there anything that has surprised you about Tom in the years that you’ve known him?

Arnie: For 30-plus years now, Tom and a widening circle of his friends get together to celebrate the holidays. I mean, these are folks from high school and college and his professional life—people that have known Tom forever. And they ask you to bring a poem to read. I haven’t gotten the courage to read a poem just yet, but it’s a pretty powerful setting. There’s a lot of camaraderie. It gives you a little bit of insight into how much he values friendship.

Dan: Him dancing to “Back That Azz Up” on stage with Juvenile during the South Carolina primary. He’s a fun person. I remember thinking, this is a real guy on the campaign trail.