Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer formally endorsed Hillary Clinton. | AP Photo Steyer formally endorses Clinton

Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer endorsed Hillary Clinton Wednesday after months of refusing to pick a side in the presidential contest.

Steyer, a former hedge fund manager, has emerged in recent years as a leading progressive voice in the fight to make climate change a higher profile political issue.


While Steyer held a fundraiser for Clinton last year and has long had ties to the Clintons, he did not formally endorse a candidate until today.

"Hillary Clinton is an experienced leader who will lead us to victory because she embodies the best values of our country. She will put the needs of working families first. She will be fearless in her pursuit of solutions to the most urgent challenges we face," Steyer said in a statement. "She will move us rapidly towards becoming 'the clean energy superpower of the 21st century,' with inclusive prosperity and a better future for all."

Steyer also praised Bernie Sanders, calling him a "great progressive leader who has ensured that solutions to climate change and economic inequality remain at the center of the Democratic platform."

And he called on the party to "come together to defeat Donald Trump, who is utterly unfit to be our next president."

