Republican presidential candidates are zeroing in on energy proposals they say would cut costs with more domestic fossil fuel production and counter President Biden’s climate-change agenda.
Some of the GOP White House hopefuls have produced in-depth policy proposals to rival former President Donald Trump’s deregulatory energy and environmental record, while others have given the subject far less attention.
Here’s how the major GOP primary candidates say they would handle U.S. energy policy:
Mike Pence
The former vice president has the most comprehensive and detailed energy plan, one that he says would allow the U.S. to become the world’s top energy supplier by 2040. Renewables “serve a place in America’s energy future,” his campaign website reads, but stresses America should not prioritize any one source.
“Democrats can pretend that fossil fuels somehow are not a part of the world’s energy future, but Biden’s own Department of Energy has clearly admitted that demand for oil, gas and coal is increasing,” Mr. Pence’s campaign says.
He wants to increase oil and natural gas drilling on federal lands; greenlight energy pipelines; cut the time in half to permit energy infrastructure projects; oppose proposed methane rules against natural gas production; lift bans on year-round E15 ethanol blends; repeal oil refinery regulations; lift mining bans on federal land and expedite rare earth mineral production; oppose crude oil export restrictions; and oppose expanding taxpayer subsidies for any forms of energy.
Mr. Pence also wants to eliminate the Justice Department’s Office of Environmental Justice and roll back Mr. Biden’s proposed power plant emissions rules requiring gas- and coal-fired plants to slash emissions 90% by 2040 or shut down.
Donald Trump
Mr. Trump has provided less details about what his energy and environmental policies would be in his second term, but actions taken in his first term offer a preview.
He implemented a deregulatory agenda that included nixing many Obama-era climate measures. Mr. Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement, revoked California’s ability to set strict vehicle emissions rules, weakened broader nationwide emissions rules for power plants and vehicles, and removed land conservation protections.
Mr. Trump is estimated to have reversed, revoked or rolled back nearly 100 environmental rules, according to a 2021 New York Times analysis based on research from major law schools like Harvard and Columbia.
His 2024 campaign website boasts of the lower energy costs under his tenure and the high levels of fossil fuel production.
“Biden reversed every action I took that achieved energy independence,” Mr. Trump said in a video statement earlier this year. “I will deploy a team of warrior lawyers to hunt down every unnecessary regulation in the federal registry that hampers domestic production. We will wipe them off the books.”
Vivek Ramaswamy
The biotech entrepreneur brands himself as an anti-woke crusader, which means combating ESG investing. The hot-button financial strategy — known as environmental, social and corporate governance investing — is labeled woke capitalism by conservatives because it takes into consideration factors like climate change and social justice politics.
Part of Mr. Ramaswamy’s economic plan to reach more than 5% GDP growth is to “drill, frack and burn coal, abandon the climate cult and unshackle nuclear energy.” He’s proposing to abolish the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Mr. Ramaswamy roiled the stage during the first GOP presidential debate in August by claiming he was the lone candidate “who isn’t bought and paid for” on climate change.
“The climate change agenda is a hoax,” he said. “The reality is the anti-carbon agenda is the wet blanket on our economy. The reality is more people are dying of bad climate change policies than they are of actual climate change.”
Nikki Haley
The former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina governor wants to end the “demonization of the oil and gas industries” by speeding up energy project permitting and axing Mr. Biden’s “wasteful green energy subsidies and regulations.”
Mrs. Haley said at the first Republican debate that the Biden administration’s focus on clean energy has put too much reliance on foreign competitors like China for critical minerals needed in electric vehicle batteries. She also said other major polluting countries have failed to do their fair share to slash emissions.
“If you want to go and really change the environment, then we need to start telling China and India that they have to lower their emissions,” Mrs. Haley said. “These green subsidies that Biden has put in, all he’s done is helped China.”
Ron DeSantis
The Sunshine State governor’s economic plan includes countering Mr. Biden’s EV transition and slashing energy-related regulations and permitting rules for new projects.
He’s also taken on ESG by way of signing a law that bars ESG factors from going into investment decisions involving state funds like pension money. Mr. DeSantis vetoed a measure last year that would have allowed utility companies to charge ratepayers for lost solar power revenue and this summer rejected some $350 million in funds from the Inflation Reduction Act for Floridians to make energy efficient home upgrades.
During the first Republican debate, Mr. DeSantis declined to state whether he believed in human-caused climate change, despite backing initiatives in the past to fight the impacts of it as governor of a state that’s frequently struck by hurricanes, flooding and other natural disasters.
Chris Christie
The former New Jersey governor said at a New Hampshire town hall in August that the U.S. needs an all-of-the-above energy strategy but that the country should take after his home state’s use of nuclear power to achieve emissions reductions and more reliability.
“We can’t disarm ourselves economically while we convert to cleaner energy,” Mr. Christie said. “We can’t have our aspirations outstrip our innovation.”
Tim Scott
The South Carolina senator has voted against Mr. Biden’s climate change agenda in Congress and says he wants to “unleash American energy and innovation by removing burdensome red tape, cutting taxes and expanding an all-of-the-above energy approach.”
Mr. Scott’s lifetime environmental voting record with the League of Conservation Voters is at just 6%, meaning he most often takes legislative stances that the green group deems anti-environment but what Republicans would describe as pro-energy.
Doug Burgum
The North Dakota governor says energy is his second priority behind the economy.
“Doug knows we need to stop buying energy from our enemies and start selling energy to our friends and allies,” his campaign website states. “America produces energy cleaner and safer than anywhere else in the world.”
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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