U.S. Republican energy strategy for 2024 denies climate change, calls for more drilling and less clean energy – “This agenda would be laughable if the consequences of it weren’t so dire”

Smoke from Canadian wildfires enveloped Washington, D.C. in June 2023. Photo: Kenny Holston / The New York Times — Smoke from Canadian wildfires enveloped Washington, D.C. in June 2023. Photo: Kenny Holston / *The New York Times*

By Lisa Friedman
4 August 2023

(The New York Times) – During a summer of scorching heat that has broken records and forced Americans to confront the reality of climate change, conservatives are laying the groundwork for future Republican administration that would dismantle efforts to slow global warming.

The move is part of a sweeping strategy dubbed Project 2025 that Paul Dans of the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank organizing the effort, has called a “battle plan” for the first 180 days of a future Republican presidency.

The climate and energy provisions would be among the most severe swings away from current federal policies.

The plan calls for shredding regulations to curb greenhouse gas pollution from cars, oil and gas wells and power plants, dismantling almost every clean energy program in the federal government and boosting the production of fossil fuels — the burning of which is the chief cause of planetary warming.

The New York Times asked the leading Republican presidential candidates whether they support the Project 2025 strategy but none of the campaigns responded. Still, several of the architects are veterans of the Trump administration, and their recommendations match positions held by former President Donald J. Trump, the current front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination.

A billboard in Phoenix reports a current surface temperature of 117°F (47°C) during the summer of 2023. In July 2023, Phoenix, Arizona experienced a record-breaking streak of above-100-degree F days. Photo: Ash Ponders / The New York Times — A billboard in Phoenix reports a current surface temperature of 117°F (47°C) during the summer of 2023. In July 2023, Phoenix, Arizona experienced a record-breaking streak of above-100-degree F days. Photo: Ash Ponders / *The New York Times*

The $22 million project also includes personnel lists and a transition strategy in the event a Republican wins the 2024 election. The nearly 1,000-page plan, which would reshape the executive branch to place more power into the president’s hands, outlines changes for nearly every agency across the government.

The Heritage Foundation worked on the plan with dozens of conservative groups ranging from the Heartland Institute, which has denied climate science, to the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which says “climate change does not endanger the survival of civilization or the habitability of the planet.”

Mr. Dans said the Heritage Foundation delivered the blueprint to every Republican presidential hopeful. While polls have found that young Republicans are worried about global warming, Mr. Dans said the feedback he has received confirms the blueprint reflects where the majority of party leaders stand.

“We have gotten very good reception from this,” he said. “This is a plotting of points of where the conservative movement sits at this time.” […]

Paul Dans of the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank behind Project 2025, in April 2023. The Project 2025 plan calls for shredding regulations to curb greenhouse gas pollution from cars, oil and gas wells and power plants, dismantling almost every clean energy program in the federal government, and boosting the production of fossil fuels — the burning of which is the chief cause of global warming. Photo: Leigh Vogel / The New York Times — Paul Dans of the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank behind Project 2025, in April 2023. The Project 2025 plan calls for shredding regulations to curb greenhouse gas pollution from cars, oil and gas wells and power plants, dismantling almost every clean energy program in the federal government, and boosting the production of fossil fuels — the burning of which is the chief cause of global warming. Photo: Leigh Vogel / *The New York Times*

The blueprint said the next Republican president would help repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, the 2022 law that is offering $370 billion for wind, solar, nuclear, green hydrogen and electric vehicle technology, with most of the new investments taking place in Republican-led states.

The plan calls for shuttering a Department of Energy office that has $400 billion in loan authority to help emerging green technologies. It would make it more difficult for solar, wind, and other renewable power — the fastest growing energy source in the United States — to be added to the grid. Climate change would no longer be considered an issue worthy of discussion on the National Security Council, and allied nations would be encouraged to buy and use more fossil fuels rather than renewable energy.

The blueprint throws open the door to drilling inside the pristine Arctic wilderness, promises legal protections for energy companies that kill birds while extracting oil and gas and declares the federal government has an “obligation to develop vast oil and gas and coal resources” on America’s public lands. […]

“This agenda would be laughable if the consequences of it weren’t so dire,” said Christy Goldfuss, chief policy impact officer for the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group. [more]

A Republican 2024 Climate Strategy: More Drilling, Less Clean Energy