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The World Is Burning, And Trump Has No Plan to Combat the Climate Crisis

Washington, D.C. – As fires ravage California, Iowans remain without power two weeks after a devastating derecho, and two storms bear down on the Gulf Coast, the Republican convention began with a series of lies and bizarre climate claims by President Trump, including:

  • Democratic “phonies” want to close our country down. Fact check here.
  • Democrats want to ban fracking. Fact check here.

We know the Green New Deal and energy are among Trump’s favorite topics to bash on the campaign trail, but it’s noticeable that as the country is literally burning, he launched a convention that doesn’t include a single, solitary policy about climate change. (Also no masks, but that’s okay because we brought the Republicans one to use.)

Last week during the Democratic convention, climate change took center stage (over 36 minutes!), bringing real stories from people across the country together to demand bold climate action. Conversely, Donald Trump spent last week spreading lies and misinformation about climate (38 times in 62 minutes during one speech).

We expect more of the same this week, so ahead of opening night, below are some of the most common attacks from the GOP and Trump you’ll likely hear this week and why they aren’t true:

  • Renewable energy will leave us without power. 
    • Reality: Nope. Donald Trump is lying to scare the public and distract from the facts. Experts agree that renewable energy is not to blame for any of the blackouts in California, and in fact, many studies show renewables actually increase grid reliability, and the U.S. military relies heavily on solar energy specifically because it creates “a resilient energy environment.”
  • Addressing climate change will kill jobs.
    • Reality: Joe Biden’s plan invests $2 trillion to create millions of jobs. Clean energy is the fastest growing industry in America, and clean energy jobs pay well above the national average, have good benefits, and can’t be outsourced to other countries. Meanwhile, Trump’s denial of COVID-19 has cost 40 million American jobs, including 1.1 million clean energy jobs.
  • The radical left will kill your cows, end air travel, and ban hamburgers!
    • Reality: Lie! Fact check after fact check has proven these claims to be false. Trump and his oil and coal CEO buddies are just trying to stir up controversy to distract us from discussing real solutions – and protect their own profits.
  • Climate action (and the Paris agreement) will cost us trillions of dollars
    • Reality: Donald Trump is still lying. Remaining in the Paris agreement would save the U.S. more than half a trillion dollars annually while doing nothing on climate change comes at an annual cost of $698.77 billion.
  • Democrats want to ban fracking.
    • Reality: This is simply not true, as multiple, independent fact-checkers have shown. Trump is just trying to distract from the fact that he put oil and coal lobbyists in charge of our government, with devastating results.

Interested in Connecting with a Climate Action Political Expert or Activist? We have a number of political, climate, and environmental justice advocates and experts available to connect to discuss the importance of climate change in the 2020 elections and contrast the climate and environmental records of President Trump and those of Joe Biden and Sen. Harris. You can find a list of experts and activists here.

ICYMI

  • New York Times: Climate Is Taking On an Outsize Role for Voters, Research Suggests
    • “The number of Americans who feel passionately about climate change is rising sharply, and the issue appears likely to play a more important role in this year’s election than ever before, a new survey shows.”
    • “…the latest in a 23-year series, suggests that, instead, climate change has become important enough to Americans that it remains prominent despite the global coronavirus pandemic, with its rising death count in the United States, as well as the related national economic crisis, the pressures of self-isolation brought on by the pandemic and a never-ending rush of other news.”
  • Washington Post: Heat is turbocharging fires, drought and tropical storms this summer
    • “Scientists say there is no doubt that climate change is driving the extreme weather, increasing the threats to property and life. ‘Yeah, it’s summer, and summer is hot, but this is different,’ the National Weather Service tweeted. ‘These are dangerous conditions.’”
  • USA Today: ‘An enormous ditch’: Republicans turn to Charlie Kirk, Trump family confidant, to close yawning youth voter gap
    • “Even young Republicans – on issues of equality, public safety, climate change – are closer to the Democrats … than to the overall Republican voter,” said Morley Winograd, who has written three books on the Millennial generation with co-author Mike Hais. Both have worked in Democratic politics.”
    • “The partisan age gap is not new, nor is it unique to Trump. But Winograd and others say today’s political climate – fueled by the threat of climate change, the racial justice movement and deadly school shootings in Florida and elsewhere – have exacerbated the Republican Party’s problems with young voters.”
  • Politico: As Trump heads to Doral, Florida Republicans send a message on climate change
    • “Environmental groups are pushing to put climate change front and center while the group meets this week at Trump’s Doral resort outside Miami. They’re asking state Republicans and business owners who have taken the lead on the issue in Florida to make themselves heard this week.”
    • “With the 2020 election gearing up in the battleground state, some Florida Republicans are saying the party should emulate its state leaders, who have begun to address climate change, and even some Republicans in Congress, who are developing a strategy to appeal to voters worried about the environment.”
  • Resources for the Future: Climate Insights 2020: Surveying American Public Opinion on Climate Change and the Environment
    • “Nearly all the responses shown by the graphs in this report show an increase in concern about climate change and the need for action over the past two years, with only two graphs showing a decrease in concern. This is clear disconfirmation of the expectation that 2020’s economic downturn would cause declines in these percentages. Thus, concern about the environment seems not to be a luxury good.”