Climate change is little more than an afterthought for attendees at the Republican National Convention, who have gathered this week to nominate Donald Trump as their party’s nominee for November’s election.
“I don’t believe in any of this stuff,” said Jack Prendergast of New York, who believes human activities cause as much damage to the Earth “as volcanic eruptions.”
“Trump is going to dig the pipeline and we will become the leading supplier of energy in the world, both gas and oil,” Prendergast told AFP.
And the former president has made a similar promise — he’s adopted the slogan “drill, baby, drill” to summarize his fossil-fuel-friendly approach.
Trump, who pulled the United States out of the Paris climate accord during his first term, on Monday named a climate skeptic as his vice-presidential candidate: Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio.
The 39-year-old, who would become vice president if Trump is elected, has previously accused Democrats of stoking fears about climate change for political gain.
Both men will run on a 5,000-word Republican platform adopted by party delegates on Monday that makes no mention of plans for climate change or renewable energy.
Instead, it promises to end “green” policies it considers “socialist,” and says the United States will become the world’s number one oil and natural gas producer — a position it already holds, according to official figures.
Trump himself has said he is opposed to wind power — a widely promoted alternative to fossil fuels — because he believes it “kills all the birds.”
‘Bright future’
Climate groups such as the Sunrise Movement have criticized the Republican platform, saying the party has “made it clear they are happy to make the climate crisis worse.”
But for Stephen Perkins of the American Conservation Coalition — which has perhaps the only booth focused on preserving the planet at the Republican convention — you have to take Trump’s comments “with a grain of salt.”
“I think some of his comments are more entertaining than they are policy stances,” said the 29-year-old, wearing a striped blue polo shirt.
His organization wants to show “what a conservative approach to environmental policy and climate policy looks like,” which he thinks might appeal to younger voters.
But he acknowledged it would be a “slow process” because older Republicans are reluctant to agree to action on climate change.
More than two-thirds of Americans believe in the existence of climate change, according to a Yale survey published Tuesday.
However, that doesn’t necessarily mean there will be support for Democratic President Joe Biden, who has introduced a number of initiatives to combat global warming during his term.
Perkins instead believes Biden is at the mercy of a “radical sect” of progressives “that doesn’t get bogged down in nuance.” His convention stand featured photos of left-wing environmental activists throwing soup on artwork with the word “destruction” written on it.
If they are followed, they will show that despite the challenges of climate change “our future is bright” and not “doom and gloom.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
