Sunrise Warns Trump-Vance Would Cause 'Irreversible Damage' to Climate

The Sunrise Movement, a youth-led climate organization, warned on Thursday that former President Donald Trump and Sen. JD Vance, who take their place on the Republican presidential ticket this week at the party's convention in Milwaukee, would cause "catastrophic and irreversible damage" to the climate if elected.

Republicans were not speaking about climate at the convention nor even their plans to "drill, baby, drill," as per the party's platform, Stevie O'Hanlon, Sunrise's communications director, said in a statement issued from Milwaukee. O'Hanlon posited that this is because party leaders know that their approach to the climate is unpopular among Americans.

"The absence is glaring," O'Hanlon said. "Republicans are dodging talking about the climate because they side with oil and gas billionaires, not the vast majority of Americans who support the U.S. taking steps to reduce climate change."

Other environmental groups have this week also issued warnings about the dangers of a Trump-Vance White House. The Sierra Club drew attention to the fact that one of Vance's main donors, the private equity firm the Blackstone Group, owns the "deadliest" coal plant in the country. Emissions from the Gavin coal plant in Ohio lead to 244 premature deaths per year, according to one estimate.

Sarah Burton, Sierra Club's national political director, highlighted Vance's approach to the dirty coal plant in a statement on Tuesday:

Anyone who wants a sneak preview of a Trump-Vance administration needs to look no further than the Gavin coal plant—a deadly disaster kept afloat to benefit Wall Street billionaires even as it makes everyone else sick. Gavin is the deadliest coal plant in America that has killed hundreds of Americans, but JD Vance spent his time in the Senate attacking safeguards that would clean it up while collecting checks directly from the plant's owner. Vance, Trump, and their Wall Street allies have proven over and over again that their priorities are with corporate polluters, not the people.

Media outlets have documented Vance's close ties to the fossil fuel industry—and even outright climate denialism—in the three days since Trump announced his vice presidential pick.

As recently as 2020, Vance acknowledged a "climate problem" caused by human emissions and voiced support for the use of clean energy. But during the Senate race in Ohio in 2022, his climate positions moved dramatically to the right, drawing an endorsement from Trump—and campaign donations from the fossil fuel industry.

As Politicoreported on Tuesday: "Vance changed his tune on climate change. Oil cash flowed."

The Washington Post on Thursday reported that a Republican sweep of the federal elections would "transform" U.S. climate policy by boosting fossil fuel use, rolling back clean air protections, and defunding or dismantling agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency.

In his first term, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris agreement and The New York Timescalled "climate damage" possibly his "most profound legacy."

A recent analysis by Carbon Brief, a science publication, estimated that a second Trump term would add about 4 billion metric tons of carbon emissions to the atmosphere by 2030.

Little of this has been mentioned in Milwaukee this week. Prime-time Republican speeches haven't so far highlighted climate or energy policy, according to O'Hanlon, who argued that this is because the party's platform is so out of step with public opinion. O'Hanlon cited a CBSpoll from April showing that a large majority of Americans favor taking climate action, with just over half supporting action "right now" and another 17% favoring action in the next few years.

Sunrise has also expressed discontent with the Democratic presidential ticket. Last week, the organization called for President Joe Biden to step aside, arguing it would improve the party's chances of defeating Trump in November.