WASHINGTON — As the Earth sizzled through a summer with four of the hottest days ever measured, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have starkly different visions on how to address a changing climate while ensuring a reliable energy supply. But neither has provided many details on how they would get there.
During her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, Harris briefly mentioned climate change as she outlined “fundamental freedoms” at stake in the election, including “the freedom to breathe clean air and drink clean water and live free from the pollution that fuels the climate crisis.”
As vice president, Harris cast the tiebreaking vote on the Inflation Reduction Act, President Joe Biden’s landmark climate law that was approved with only Democratic support. As a senator from California, she was an early sponsor of the Green New Deal, a sweeping series of proposals meant to swiftly move the United States to fully green energy that is championed by the party’s most progressive wing.
Trump, meanwhile, led chants of “drill, baby, drill” and pledged to dismantle the Biden administration’s “green new scam” in his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention. He has vowed to boost production of fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal and repeal key parts of the 2022 climate law.
“We have more liquid gold under our feet than any other country by far,” Trump said at the convention. “We are a nation that has the opportunity to make an absolute fortune with its energy.”
Environmental groups, which largely back Harris, call her a “proven climate champion” who will take on Big Oil and build on Biden’s climate legacy, including policies that boost electric vehicles and limit planet-warming pollution from coal-fired power plants.
“We won’t go back to a climate denier in the Oval Office,” said Lena Moffitt, executive director of Evergreen Action.
Republicans counter that Biden and Harris have spent four years adopting “punishing regulations” that target American energy while lavishing generous tax credits for electric vehicles and other green priorities that cost taxpayers billions of dollars.
“This onslaught of overreaching and outrageous climate rules will shut down power plants and increase energy costs for families across the country,” said Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo. “Republicans will work to stop them and fight for solutions that protect our air and water and…
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