By Zahra Hirji

July 11, 2024 at 3:15 PM EDT

Sally Jewell, who served as US Interior secretary from 2013 to 2017, said the climate stakes of the election in November "could not be higher" and that she's "really afraid for the future of our planet" should former President Donald Trump return to the White House.

"To go backwards is not acceptable," Jewell told attendees at the Bloomberg Green Festival in Seattle on Thursday. "I can't say enough about the importance of continuing the progress that has been made over the last three years" on climate change, she added, especially the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act.