Hours before Thursday’s debate, President Donald Trump made a peculiar post on Truth Social. The former president posted a picture of what appeared to be his climate change talking points for the debate, apparently written by his former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, Andrew Wheeler.
“Mr. President,” the document began, “I am sure that a climate question will come up during your debate this week.” In preparation for this inevitability, Mr. Wheeler recommended that the former president focus on his climate wins and tout how his administration reduced carbon emissions during his time in office. He also recommended that Mr. Trump list his successes in making America energy independent, insisting that when it came to cutting pollution and increasing energy production, “We can do both.”
From there, the advice started to sound like my own climate advocacy: “We will continue to reduce CO2 and focus on American made energy,” “[We need to stop] importing more energy from countries that aren’t our friends,” “When you transport gas halfway around the world, it means more CO2 emissions.”
Notably, nowhere in these talking points did Mr. Wheeler suggest the former president dismiss climate change or call it a “hoax,” as did Vivek Ramaswamy, Mr. Trump’s unsuccessful primary challenger, in the first Republican primary debate last year. (Let us not forget, the heavily conservative crowd at that debate responded to Mr. Ramaswamy’s comments by booing him relentlessly.)
In the live debate last night, former President Trump seems to have stuck to Mr. Wheeler’s talking points. The Paris Accords are bad, Trump said, not because they address climate but because they demand too much of the United States and not enough of heavier-polluting nations like India. The US should use its oil and natural gas resources. Pollution decreased during his time in office.
When moderator Dana Bash asked him point-blank about climate change, it seemed like the perfect opportunity for the former president to deny climate change was a problem. “2023 was the hottest year in recorded history,” she explained, “and communities across the country are confronting the devastating effects of extreme heat, intensifying wildfires, stronger hurricanes, and rising sea levels.” If ever there was a slow pitch for someone who wanted to call out the mainstream media’s climate alarmism, this was it. But – after taking a quick detour to slam President Biden’s strained relationship with minority communities – the former president led with a commitment to a clean environment instead:
“I want absolutely immaculate clean water, and I want absolutely clean air, and we had it… We had the best numbers ever, and we were using all forms of energy.”
It is my sincere hope that “the best numbers ever” referred to greenhouse gas emissions decreasing during Trump’s four years in office. And if that line was not quite as articulate as what Mr. Wheeler had written down, it was at least on-message and climate-forward.
And that is what the Republican Party needs. It needs leadership on climate – a uniquely conservative vision for the future that includes energy affordability, energy abundance, and a decrease in pollution.
Utahns who read Utah Policy likely recognize the flavor of Pres. Trump’s arguments. They sound like what many of us on the “eco-right” have been echoing for years. They sound like Young Conservatives for Carbon Dividends or the American Conservation Coalition. They sound like dozens of articles and interviews featuring Utah’s Young Republicans and College Republicans. Most importantly, they sound like Rep. John Curtis, who has pushed for years for Republicans to pair American energy dominance with emission reductions goals.
If President Trump bragging about lowering greenhouse gas emissions wasn’t on your presidential debate bingo card, don’t worry: it’s not the strangest thing that will happen in the next five months. But it also isn’t that surprising, at least not for this climate-conscious Republican. It proves what I and others in the eco-right have known for years: that conservatives can win on climate policy.
It may, perhaps, even win us the White House.
Andrew Sandstrom is the Utah State Director for Young Conservatives for Carbon Dividends.
