Opinion
US presidential debate: Harris seemed from Earth and Trump from Alpha Centauri
Summary
- Neither of them had a reassuring stance on the climate crisis, but Trump’s appeared unearthly. America’s climate apathy was apparent in the debate. Both have taken more of a kitchen-sink approach to energy, from drilling to windmills and everything in between.
If I had to grade the debate between US Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump from a climate perspective, I would give it a C, and that’s being generous. One candidate mainly looked backward and talked a little too favourably about fossil fuels.
The other said solar panels take up too much space and something about the mayor of Moscow’s wife. But both-sides-ing this debate would be misleading. As frustrating as it may have been for the climate-minded— which includes most Americans—it was clear from the debate that only one side truly takes the issue seriously.
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Harris reminded viewers that, while Trump has called climate change a hoax, she believes that it is real, that it is a problem and that there are solutions. She mentioned some of the effects of the Inflation Reduction Act, the biggest climate bill in history, including a surge in clean-energy investment and manufacturing jobs.
Unfortunately, she also noted the Biden administration had “increased domestic gas production to historic levels."
Harris also vowed not to ban hydraulic fracking for fossil fuels, insisting her 2019-vintage opposition to the practice is long gone. In fact, the only time she mentioned the IRA by name was to point out that it “opens new leases for fracking." Sigh!
This approach to climate could be risky. As Harris noted, young people in overwhelming numbers say they care about this issue, and she will need their enthusiasm to help carry her to the White House.
On the other hand, thanks to the Electoral College, presidents in this country are chosen by a few busloads of swing voters in states like Pennsylvania, the second-biggest natural-gas producer in the US.
Still, fracking is not nearly as popular in Pennsylvania as you might have heard. A recent poll from Muhlenberg College found just 48% of people in the state support the practice, down from 54% in 2014.
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A 2020 CBS/YouGov poll found a slight majority of people in the state oppose fracking—for good reason. Studies from the University of Pittsburgh last year tied it to serious health problems, including cancer in children. They joined a mountain of research with similar findings.
As frustrating as Harris’ answers may have been for climate voters, they at least kept both feet planted in the world of the environment and energy. Trump’s bounced through time, space and dimension like Doctor Who’s Tardis.
One ramble began by claiming Harris “wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison" before asserting she would ban fracking and make sure “oil will be dead, fossil fuel will be dead.
We’ll go back to windmills and we’ll go back to solar, where they need a whole desert to get some energy to come out. You ever see a solar plant? By the way, I’m a big fan of solar. But they take 400, 500 acres of desert soil. ..."
At which point the debate’s moderators cut him off.
Later, in response to a question about what he would do to fight climate change, Trump claimed, incorrectly, that manufacturing jobs are leaving the US; that he would put tariffs on Chinese electric cars (which the Biden administration is already doing); and that President Joe Biden and his son Hunter have received money from Ukraine, China and the mayor of Moscow’s wife. Alrighty, then!
To address one of the shreds of climate substance in these word salads, it is true that large solar arrays can take up a lot of land. But solar panels are far more efficient than, say, corn plants and can also support biodiversity.
Planners are increasingly building agri-voltaics, which combine solar farms with farm farms to grow crops and livestock, tripling the efficiency of land use. And large majorities of Americans favor generating renewable energy on public lands.
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As Trump demonstrated repeatedly during his time in the White House and in public statements before and after, his answer to every energy question is “drill, baby, drill." The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, written by former Trump administration officials as a blueprint for a second term, promises to do even more damage to the environment.
Harris and Biden have taken more of a kitchen-sink approach to energy, from drilling to windmills and everything in between. Even as fossil-fuel production booms, clean-energy research and development is booming, too.
This may not be optimal from a climate standpoint, but it is a concession to the difficult reality of managing the world’s biggest economy through an energy transition while also keeping your job and preventing Trump’s far more destructive vision from coming true. With an opponent like Trump, Harris doesn’t need perfect grades on climate. ©BLOOMBERG
