The Stakes for Climate Action are On the Ballot

Throughout this election season—from Donald Trump’s $1 billion promise to do the bidding of Big Oil CEOs in April, to the devastating one-two punch Hurricanes Helene and Milton delivered this fall—the stakes for climate action and clean energy progress have been on the ballot. And as voters head to the polls tomorrow, there is a clear choice on climate. 

Vice President Kamala Harris cast the deciding vote for the landmark clean energy plan—the world’s largest-ever investment in clean energy and climate action—and it has already unleashed an American manufacturing renaissance, driving forward nearly 600 new projects totaling more than 330,000 new jobs. Harris’ Opportunity Economy would build on that historic record, accelerating clean energy investments to create more good-paying jobs while lowering energy costs for families and fighting the climate crisis.

Donald Trump represents an existential threat to that future. He has made Big Oil’s lies about energy a defining issue of his campaign and fully embraced their extreme Project 2025 agenda, vowing to gut the clean energy plan so they can tighten their stranglehold over consumers, among other giveaways to the industry. In doing so, he is not only inviting climate catastrophe but also economic ruin, taking direct aim at the millions of Americans now supported by newly created jobs in our booming manufacturing sector.

Below are just a few data points that help quantify what’s at stake for climate action and clean energy progress:

Clean Energy is Core to Harris’ Opportunity Economy 

• Harris’s economic plan, “A New Way Forward For the Middle Class,” builds on the landmark Inflation Reduction Act to “lower household energy costs and create millions of new jobs while tackling the climate crisis.” 

• More than 330,000 clean energy jobs have been created in communities all over the United States—and House Republicans are going on the record asking not to repeal the clean energy tax credits. 
• Thanks to Harris’ tie-breaking vote, our clean energy boom will save Americans up to $38 billion on electricity bills, or roughly $1,000 per year for the average household. 

• Clean energy costs are dropping dramatically helping make these choices affordable for everybody, with families saving $8.4 billion as of August.

Trump’s Project 2025 Energy Agenda Would Decimate U.S. Manufacturing Jobs

• An analysis by the nonpartisan think tank Energy Innovation found that Trump’s Project 2025 plans to gut the clean energy plan, roll back pollution standards, and boost the fossil fuel industry would cost the U.S. 1.7 million jobs and hike families’ energy costs by $32 billion.
  • Pennsylvania would lose 37,700 jobs and $7.6 billion in GDP
  • Georgia would lose 32,600 jobs and $6.8 billion in GDP
  • Michigan would lose 27,500 jobs and $5 billion in GDP
  • North Carolina would lose 16,400 jobs and $4.3 billion in GDP
  • Arizona would lose 16,300 jobs and $3.3 billion in GDP

• In a survey of 930 clean energy companies conducted by nonpartisan business group E2, more than 1-in-5 said they’d have to lay off workers if the clean energy plan were repealed, and 13% said they’d have to shed at least 25 employees.

• A recent report from leading energy analytics firm Wood Mackenzie concluded Trump’s agenda would threaten $1 trillion in U.S. energy investment.

Rural America, GOP Districts Would Suffer Outsized Harm

• The clean energy plan has been a massive boon for rural America, with roughly 117 new projects bringing in $53 billion of investment and over 52,000 jobs since it was signed into law. 
• The clean energy plan has been a huge win for congressional districts represented by Republicans, with a majority of new clean energy projects, investments, and jobs located in these districts. Since the clean energy plan was signed into law, 354 new projects are generating $286 billion in investment and over 190,000 new jobs in GOP districts, representing 57 percent of all new clean energy jobs created. 
• In an August letter to Speaker Johnson, 18 House Republicans, many from swing districts, warned against killing the clean energy plan, noting its “tax credits have spurred innovation, incentivized investment, and created good jobs in many parts of the country — including many districts represented by [Republican] members.”

• According to the New York Times and Atlas Public Policy, as much as 80% of new manufacturing investments have flowed to Republican congressional districts from the clean energy plan thus far.

• A report from Energy Innovation shows that Texas alone would lose over 124,000 jobs and $27 billion if Trump’s energy agenda were enacted.

• An analysis by Rhodium Group and MIT’s Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research revealed that in the IRA’s first year, 36.8% of investments went to former coal, oil & gas communities.

• Researchers have found that clean energy jobs are disproportionately located in counties with high fossil fuel employment, accessible to workers with only a high school degree, and are 21% higher paying than the average job.

Clean Energy Plan’s  Story Told in Headlines Around Country

• Arizona Daily Star: Inflation Reduction Act catalyzed Arizona’s growth in clean energy jobs

• Las Vegas Review-Journal: ‘The future is electric’: EVs to create thousands of jobs in Nevada

• WPR: Landmark climate law helps boost clean energy jobs to 73K in Wisconsin

• WSOC-TV: Two years after Inflation Reduction Act, Carolinas see billions in manufacturing investments

• Toledo Blade: Job growth continues in clean energy sector

• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: A California-based clean energy company plans to build a new plant near the airport and hire 600 workers

• WILX News 10: GM’s Lansing Grand River Assembly receives $500M grant to manufacture electric vehicles

• Columbus Ledger-Enquirer: Georgia GOP rep. wants to save Biden’s energy tax credits. Trump says he’ll repeal them

• The Gazette (Cedar Rapids) – Editorial: Clean energy sparks growth in Iowa

• Indianapolis Star: Cummins receives DOE money for historic switch to making electric engines

• New York Times: Ohio Reaps Benefits From a Climate Law JD Vance Repeatedly Attacks

Kamala Harris’ Opportunity Economy continues to invest in these good-paying clean energy jobs across the country – lowering costs and pollution and revitalizing communities. Trump’s Project 2025 plans would send projects into a tailspin and cost us over 1.7 million jobs by 2030 alone. A Trump win is a win for his Big Oil donors, no matter the tremendous cost to the American people.