Harris and Trump think big on energy – in very different directions

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Former President Donald Trump has called climate change a “hoax” and has questioned whether scientists know that the world is heating. Vice President Kamala Harris has called it an existential threat and has been instrumental in directing federal money to clean energy initiatives.

In many ways, the U.S. presidential candidates could not seem more different when it comes to climate change or the future of America’s energy systems.

Why We Wrote This

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump both paint a future with abundant energy. Her plans center on renewable sources. He backs traditional fuels, rejecting climate change as a priority.

Yet along with the dramatic differences, there may be some common ground between the two presidential candidates’ positions on climate change and energy, says Brad Townsend, vice president for policy and outreach at the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.

“Both seem to be of the mind that energy is prosperity,” he says. “They just have different views about how to make that prosperity materialize.”

Both candidates, for instance, have said they want it to be easier for energy companies to get approval for new infrastructure. But a key difference between the two is which energy sources they most support. Mr. Trump is a booster of fossil fuels. Ms. Harris doesn’t shun them, but favors renewable sources aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Former President Donald Trump has called climate change a “hoax” and has questioned whether scientists know that the world is heating. Vice President Kamala Harris has called it an existential threat and has been instrumental in directing federal money to clean energy initiatives.

In many ways, the U.S. presidential candidates could not seem more different when it comes to climate change or the future of America’s energy systems.

Yet along with the dramatic differences, there may be some common ground between the two presidential candidates’ positions on climate change and energy, says Brad Townsend, vice president for policy and outreach at the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.

Why We Wrote This

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump both paint a future with abundant energy. Her plans center on renewable sources. He backs traditional fuels, rejecting climate change as a priority.

“Both seem to be of the mind that energy is prosperity,” he says. “They just have different views about how to make that prosperity materialize.”

Both candidates, for instance, have said they want it to be easier for energy companies to get approval for new infrastructure, and both support what is generally known as “permitting reform” – efforts to streamline the regulatory process for new facilities. But a key difference between the two is which energy sources they most support.

Oil and gas

Mr. Trump is a big booster of fossil fuels – the coal, oil, and gas that have traditionally formed the base of the U.S. energy economy. Ms. Harris has taken a “yes, and” position. Domestic oil production set new records under the Biden administration, and Ms. Harris has said she would not try to ban fracking (hydraulic fracturing), a way of mining natural gas that environmentalists say is ecologically damaging. But her focus is on developing what many experts see as the next generation of energy – wind, solar, and other renewables.

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