Harris v. Trump on Climate

The contrast between Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris on climate change is stark. From believing in climate science to protecting communities and holding polluters accountable, the choice for climate action in November is clear. 

Harris knows the existential threat climate change poses and understands the urgency of taking climate action. As vice president, Harris cast the tie-breaking vote to pass the clean energy plan – the largest investment in fighting the climate crisis in U.S. history. As president, Trump actively hurt efforts to fight climate change and weakened over 125 environmental protections. 

Vice President Harris has a record of supporting science and has centered climate science in her work in the administration. Meanwhile, Trump has continuously denied the existence of climate change, having made over 1,000 false claims about the environment–including calling climate change a “hoax” and a “con job.” During his term, Trump sidelined and attacked scientists and even scrubbed information about climate change from government websites. If elected again, Trump has promised to roll back efforts to fight climate change, including the landmark clean energy plan, through his pro-polluter Project 2025 agenda.  

Throughout her career, Harris has held Big Oil accountable, and she supports ending federal subsidies for oil and gas companies. As president, many of Trump’s appointees had ties to the oil and gas industry. He gutted environmental protections and gave Big Oil $25 billion in tax breaks. Now, Trump is promising more tax breaks for the industry and to cut pollution protections they oppose once again.

The Contrast: Tackling Climate Change

Harris Is Taking  Climate Action

• Harris called climate change an existential threat that requires bold action and stressed that there must be a sense of urgency about climate change.
• Harris characterized climate change as a matter of public health and economic justice for struggling families.

As Vice President, Harris Played A Major Role In Advancing The Administration’s Actions To Tackle The Climate Crisis

• The Biden-Harris administration passed the Inflation Reduction Act, the biggest climate spending bill ever, with Harris casting the tie-breaking vote. 
• The Biden-Harris administration passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the first major investment in climate resilience.
  • In the Senate, Harris authored legislation on a range of water issues, including clean water, lead pipeline replacement, and drought resilience, that were eventually passed into law as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
  • In the Senate, Harris also introduced the Clean School Bus Act of 2019, which was included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s passage.
• The Biden-Harris administration’s clean energy plan has created more than 300,000 jobs and spurred hundreds of billions of dollars in private sector investments. If Trump wins, he will end investments in clean energy, which would jeopardize American jobs and hurt communities across the country who are already seeing the benefits of investments in the clean energy economy of the future.
• As vice president, Harris traveled all across America touting the clean energy plan’s creation of a new clean energy economy and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s investments in clean water.

Trump’s Record On Climate Is Dangerous

• Trump pledged to end investments in climate and clean energy “on day one” of his administration.
• Trump attacked the clean energy plan’s grant and loan spending programs, which spur American innovation and provide critical support in the transition towards clean energy.
• According to a Washington Post tally, the Trump administration “weakened or wiped out more than 125 rules and policies aimed at protecting the nation’s air, water, and land.”
• As president, Trump’s attacks on the clean energy industry slowed our climate progress and cost Americans 1.1. million clean energy jobs.

The Contrast: Climate Science

Vice President Harris Supported Climate Science 

• As a U.S. Senator, Harris co-sponsored legislation that would prohibit funds from being used toward any effort intended to challenge the scientific consensus on climate change. 
• Harris also co-sponsored a resolution stating that climate change is real and that the National Science Foundation should communicate sound climate change science to the public.
• Harris accused the Trump administration of governing by “science fiction instead of science fact.”
• Speaking at the COP28 climate talks in 2023, Harris argued that leaders who deny climate science contribute to climate action being delayed. 

The Biden-Harris Administration Centered Climate Science

• The Biden-Harris administration restored the climate change page of the EPA’s website and relaunched the climate indicators website showing how climate change is impacting people’s health and environment – both of which were scrubbed under Trump
• The Biden-Harris administration took steps to establish scientific integrity policies and shield scientists from political interference. 
• Under the Biden-Harris administration, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) ensured a science-based approach that will improve both agencies’ ability to fulfill their responsibilities under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
• The Biden-Harris EPA rescinded a Trump-era rule that limited the agency’s ability to use the best available science in developing Clean Air Act standards.

Trump Denied Climate Science And Attacked Climate Scientists 

• Trump called climate change a “hoax” and a “total con job.” 
• In 2020 when visiting California in the wake of wildfires, Trump disputed the link between climate change and wildfires, claiming, “Well, I don’t think science knows, actually.”
• While in office, Trump made at least 1,065 false or misleading claims about the environment. 
• Trump repeatedly attacked climate scientists, calling them “hoaxsters” and “dollar sucking wiseguys.”
• Trump said that scientists “have a very big political agenda.” 

Trump’s Administration Was Full Of Climate Change Skeptics And Sidelined Climate Science

• Trump chose at least 20 climate change skeptics as agency leaders and advisors, including Jeff Sessions, who claimed that carbon dioxide was “really not a pollutant.” 
• Scott Pruitt, Trump’s first EPA administrator, was a long-time opponent of the agency and spent years fighting on behalf of the fossil fuel industry. As the Oklahoma Attorney General, Pruitt sued the EPA 14 times.
• Andrew Wheeler, Trump’s second EPA administrator, was previously a coal lobbyist and worked for climate-denier Senator James Inhofe.
• Trump nominated Sam Clovis to serve in the Agriculture Department’s top scientific post, who said he was “extremely skeptical” about climate change and said “a lot of the science is junk science.”
• In 2017, Trump EPA officials said climate change would be “de-emphasized” by the administration. 
• During his presidency, Trump scrubbed reports of climate change from government websites, including the EPA, DOE, and the State Department.
  • In March 2019, the Trump administration censored climate change references in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) press release. 
• In the first two years of the Trump administration, scientists were sidelined or muted, and more than 1,600 left the government and 4,900 had left by the end of his term.
• Trump’s Department of Energy delayed the release of funding for energy efficiency research.

Trump Plans To Launch A War On Climate Science In A Second Presidency

• Politico: “Trump’s campaign utterances, and the policy proposals being drafted by hundreds of his supporters, point to the likelihood that his return to the White House would bring an all-out war on climate science.” 
• Project 2025 would sideline and stop scientific determinations in policy.

The Contrast: Big Oil

Harris Held Big Oil Accountable And Wanted To End Federal Subsidies For The Industry

• As California Attorney General, Harris secured $50 million in settlements from fossil fuel companies.
  • In 2016, as attorney general, Harris sued Southern California Gas Co. over a methane leak from its Aliso Canyon natural gas facility, which caused a public health and statewide environmental emergency, sickening residents of Porter Ranch.
  • As California Attorney General, Harris led an investigation into Exxon Mobil’s history of misleading Americans on the climate crisis. 
  • As attorney general, Harris directed her office to investigate possible criminal violations after an oil pipeline spill released up to 143,000 gallons of crude oil in 2015, damaging Santa Barbara’s coastline. 
• In the Senate, Harris cosponsored legislation to make Big Oil responsible for paying for damages from oil discharges from offshore facilities.
• Harris supported ending subsidies for Big Oil, with her 2020 presidential campaign calling for “leveraging both executive authority and Congress to end federal subsidies to the fossil fuel industry.”
  • Senator Harris cosponsored legislation to close Big Oil tax loopholes.
• During her 2020 presidential campaign, Harris pledged to use her experience as a prosecutor to “hold big oil accountable for its role in the climate crisis.” 

Trump Appointed People With Industry Ties To Key Positions In His Administration, Including Those Overseeing Environmental Protection

• Nearly half of Trump’s initial political appointees for positions at the EPA had polluting industry ties, including “registered lobbyists or lawyers for chemical manufacturers, fossil fuel producers or other EPA-regulated companies.”
• Trump selected Rex Tillerson then-CEO of Exxon to be his Secretary of State.
• Trump nominated former oil lobbyist David Bernhardt for Interior Secretary.
• Trump nominated former energy lobbyist Andrew Wheeler to run the Environmental Protection Agency.
• New York Times: “Among 20 of the most powerful people in government environment jobs, most have ties to the fossil fuel industry or have fought against the regulations they now are supposed to enforce.”

As President, Trump Scrapped Clean Air And Water Protections – And He Plans To Do It Again

• Trump repealed common-sense rules to protect air and water from dangerous toxic pollution from fracking.
• Trump said he wanted to be a “dictator” on “day one” so that he could eliminate environmental protections and expand drilling, including in our nation’s treasured public lands and coastal areas.

Trump Handed Big Oil Billions In Tax Breaks, And He’s Promised To Do It Again 

• Trump’s tax cut gave a $25 billion handout to Big Oil.  
• Trump bailed out the oil industry during the pandemic and pledged, “we will never let the great U.S. oil & gas industry down.”
• Now, Trump has promised Big Oil more tax breaks and to cut environmental protections they oppose if elected to a second term. 

The Contrast: Global Climate Leadership

Harris Centered U.S. Global Climate Leadership In Her Role As Vice President 

• After the Biden-Harris administration rejoined the U.S. to the Paris Climate Agreement, Harris celebrated the eighth anniversary of the Paris Climate Agreement and said she was proud that the administration was “turning ambition into action, including by making the largest climate investment in history.”
• Harris affirmed the need for the U.S. to make climate cooperation a key diplomatic priority.
• In 2023, Harris attended the COP28 climate summit where she advocated for increased global climate action.
• According to ClimateWire, Harris “frequently turns foreign policy into climate policy and has used overseas trips to create a leadership role on climate” around the globe.
• Harris met with more than 100 world leaders on climate issues since she took office as vice president. 
• ClimateWire described Harris’ role in the Biden-Harris administration as “the international climate diplomat rallying countries to save the planet and brokering new bilateral climate agreements, investments and strategies.”
• As vice president, Harris led the administration’s plan to advance global water security. The Action Plan on Global Water Security, which Harris announced in 2022, is an intergovernmental effort to increase international access to clean, safe drinking water, as well as sanitation and hygiene services.
• Harris attended the World Climate Summit, where she advocated for increased international action on climate change.  
• On a three-nation trip to Africa, Harris made climate change policy a top priority. As Harris traveled through the continent, she garnered over $7 billion in financial commitments from the U.S. and global private sector for climate adaptation, resilience, and mitigation.

Trump Ceded The U.S. Climate Leadership On The Global Stage – And He’d Do So Again

• One of Trump’s first actions as president was to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, despite experts concluding that the U.S.’s participation would save over half a trillion dollars annually and create 24 million clean energy jobs globally by 2030.
  • Trump repeatedly lied about the Paris Agreement, claiming it banned U.S. energy, along with calling it a “total rip-off.”
• Now, if elected to a second term, Trump says he would withdraw the U.S. from the landmark climate pact once again.