As President-elect Donald Trump prepares for his second term in office in January, the picture may look bleak for those who want to see the United States tackle climate change. President Trump has vowed to expand fossil fuel production, undo many of President Joe Biden’s climate change policies, roll back environmental regulations, cut federal support for clean energy and withdraw from the Paris climate accord. He said he would leave.
But some Republican figures still want the next administration to pursue an “America First” approach to climate change. in a statement Celebrate President Trump’s victory Last week, the American Conservation Union, a Washington, D.C.-based group trying to build a conservative environmental movement, launched a campaign for a cleaner future by emphasizing economics, innovation and competition with China. developed a claim. “In the 20th century, America put a man on the moon and put the internet in our hands,” the group said in a statement. “Now we will build a new era of American industry and win the clean energy arms race.”
That line read as if it came from a parallel universe where Republicans, not Democrats, prioritized tackling climate change. In fact, the idea that humans are causing global warming is one of the problems. The partisan gap widened the most in the past 20 years.and Republican politicians regularly Attacking climate solutions like wind and solar power.
But behind the scenes in recent years, Republicans in Congress have been talking to each other about how the party can address rising carbon emissions. Even red states like Arkansas and Utah have quietly passed bipartisan policies to help with climate change, but they are often not as ambitious as Democrats propose, calling them “climate action.” It is rarely advertised as such.
“I don’t think progress will stop,” said Renae Marshall, who studies bipartisan cooperation on climate change at the University of California, Santa Barbara. “I think it’s going to be a lot harder.”
The Republican Party is not a monolith, with 54% of Republicans saying they support U.S. participation in international efforts to reduce the effects of climate change, and 60% and 70%, respectively, supporting wind farms and solar. He says he wants to build more power plants. Younger Republicans in particular are also less supportive of fossil fuel expansion. Pew Research Survey show.
“Climate change is less polarizing than we think,” said Matthew Burgess, an environmental economist at the University of Wyoming. “Be aware of it, say it out loud, and work on it.”
As an example of what is politically possible, consider the 2020 Energy Act, which President Trump signed into law in the final year of his presidency. The legislation, passed by a Democratic House and a Republican Senate, included investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency, carbon capture and nuclear power. Production of hydrofluorocarbons, so-called superpollutants that are thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide in warming the atmosphere, was also phased out.
Now that they have control of both the House and Senate, Republicans are seizing their next opportunity. Reform the permitting process for new energy projects. The aim is to make approvals for both fossil fuel and clean energy projects faster and easier. US recent Rapid increase in oil and gas development Already jeopardizing global climate goals, support for loosening permitting rules could backfire, but the American Conservation Union believes it is essential.
“During President Trump’s second term, we will put American energy first on the world stage and, along with an energy dominance agenda that reduces global emissions, we will build a strong foundation that will enable us to rebuild in the United States.” We look forward to the permit reform efforts,” said Daniel B. Kennedy. Franz, the federation’s CEO, said in a statement to Grist: “We advise those in the climate change community to approach the second administration with good faith, not skepticism.”
The secret to passing climate change laws even in red states
Even if progress stalls at the federal level, precedent suggests Republican-led states may pass energy policies that reduce emissions. Between 2015 and 2020, when President Trump was last in office, Arkansas, South Carolina and Utah enacted laws paving the way for expanded solar and wind power generation. According to research by Marshall and Burgess, of the roughly 400 state-level bills to reduce carbon emissions at the time, 28% passed through Republican-controlled legislatures.
Their analysis showed that these laws, which had bipartisan support, had some important similarities. They tended to expand energy options rather than limit them. Rather than banning new gas stoves, consider removing red tape for solar projects. Bills with bipartisan support were also more likely to emphasize concepts of “economic justice,” or bills aimed at helping low-income people, than to use language related to race or gender. . “The best way to reduce polarization is to stay as far away from the culture wars as possible,” Burgess said.
The rare Republican politicians who speak openly about climate change often distance themselves from Democratic politicians. “I think anyone who has had a chance to hear me talk about climate change understands that I’m talking about it from a very conservative point of view. Too many people on the left say, ‘You know what? We’re not taking climate change seriously,”’ said Congressman John Curtis. Utah, who was just elected to the U.S. Senate. in a conversation with a reporter last month.
Mr. Curtis launched the Conservative Climate Change Caucus in 2021, asking House Republicans to talk about climate change and think through what a conservative approach to the issue looks like, and to encourage “Harmful Radicals.” The goal was to present an alternative to “a progressive climate change proposal”. Our economy, American workers, and national security. ” According to the group’s website. The caucus currently has 85 members.
“This acts like a glue, a social capital glue, and helps us talk about climate together when we might not otherwise be able to talk about it,” said Marshall, who is watching the caucus. spoke. She said liberals sometimes question the usefulness of talking to Republicans about climate change, but she believes long-term progress requires bipartisan cooperation.
Despite an expected regulatory onslaught from President Trump, Burgess We expect U.S. greenhouse gas emissions to continue to decline steadily. That’s likely to be the case in the coming years, as states and businesses make significant efforts to reduce carbon emissions. He also believes climate policies passed by Congress during the Biden administration could be protected. Policies are either passed with Republican support or, in the case of anti-inflation laws that invest hundreds of billions of dollars in green technology, mostly benefit Republican constituencies. . Burgess said Biden’s climate policy is “almost perfectly designed to be bipartisan,” so despite all the fuss, there’s a chance a second Trump administration will survive largely unscathed. He said there is.
