Where Donald Trump and Kamala Harris stand on climate change

The US Presidential elections are fast approaching, with one debate between the two candidates already done. Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have gone head-to-head on a number of issues and are likely to continue the trend as we approach the final stretch leading up to the November 5 elections.

Of the many issues that will be in focus, climate remains a pivotal one.

Both candidates differ radically on the issue of climate.

TRUMP ON CLIMATE CHANGE

To start with, Trump, as the president in 2017, ordered the US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement (the withdrawal officially happened in 2020 due to UN regulations.) This came at a time when the US is the leading carbon emitter in the world.

The agreement, drafted in 2015, is aimed at keeping global temperature rise to under 2 degrees Celsius this century and making further efforts to try and keep it under 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The Republican presidential nominee has also downplayed several factors related to climate change in the past. In 2019, he attributed the forest fires to forest mismanagement

At a recent rally in Wisconsin, Trump blamed wind energy for the rising price of bacon and why people have stopped consuming it.

According to the Washington Post, the former president, during his four-year-long tenure, negated more than 125 policies and laws aimed at lowering emissions and protecting the environment.

HARRIS ON CLIMATE CHANGE

Vice President Harris’s stance on climate change is in stark contrast.

For starters, during her tenure as the California Attorney General, Harris prosecuted numerous oil companies for environmental violations.

She was also the tie-breaking vote in passing the Inflation Reduction Act in the US Senate; the policy provided roughly $370 billion to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below their 2005 levels by the end of this decade, according to the Washington Post.

During the presidential debate, Harris highlighted the severity of climate change through the lens of home insurance.

“You ask anyone who lives in a state who has experienced these extreme weather occurrences who now is either being denied home insurance or it’s being jacked up; you ask anybody who has been the victim of what that means in terms of losing their home, having nowhere to go,” the vice president said.

Furthermore, Harris has advocated for electric vehicles and subsidies for companies and organisations working towards reducing emissions and counteracting climate change.