The debate last Republican debate before the Iowa Caucuses between Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, on December 10th 2024, was disturbing, if you care about climate change. Ron would obliterate Biden’s Green New Deal on day one. Haley says EVs are not viable because they are too heavy and our infrastructure can’t handle them. Both used the term “reliable” for the current fossil fuel based energy and seem to think only fossil fuels are reliable and give the US energy independence.
When Jake Tapper brought up climate change–they wouldn’t have mentioned it otherwise–he emphasized the recent billion dollar climate related emergencies and asked what they would do about it. Neither denied the seriousness, but voiced no sense of urgency for the country to do anything about it. Ron actually said it was China and India’s problem, like it gives us a hall pass. He spouted out drill, drill and frack, frack. He also said he likes liquid fuels (probably biofuels and gasoline). Finally, the notion was raised that people would lose their jobs, the ones that keep fossil fuels going, as if we can’t let that happen. Some jobs will be lost, some will be changed, and some will be added! What we can’t let happen is electing people who have no plan or intention to wean us off of the fossil fuels that are warming the planet.