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Walz Applauded for 'Calling Out Trump's Allegiance to Big Oil' in Debate With Vance
"This is the kind of message Harris and Walz need to repeat going into November to turn out young voters," said the youth-led Sunrise Movement.
Oct 02, 2024
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz used the climate portion of Tuesday night's vice presidential debate with Republican Sen. JD Vance to lambast GOP nominee Donald Trump's pledge to give the oil and gas industry free rein in exchange for a billion dollars in campaign donations—an offer that's the subject of an ongoing Senate investigation.
" Donald Trump called it a hoax and then joked that these things would make more beachfront property to be able to invest in," Walz, Democratic nominee Kamala Harris' running mate, said of the climate emergency. "To call it a hoax and to take the oil company executives to Mar-a-Lago, say, 'Give me money for my campaign and I'll let you do whatever you want'—we can be smarter about that."
Walz's remarks came in response to a question from CBS moderator Norah O'Donnell, who asked what the youth-led Sunrise Movement called perhaps "the best climate questions ever in a presidential or vice presidential debate."
Connecting the climate crisis to Hurricane Helene, which left a trail of destruction across six states and killed more than 160 people, O'Donnell noted that "scientists say climate change makes these hurricanes larger, stronger, and more deadly because of the historic rainfall."
"Senator Vance, according to CBS News polling, seven in ten Americans and more than 60% of Republicans under the age of 45 favor the U.S. taking steps to try and reduce climate change," O'Donnell said. "Senator, what responsibility would the Trump administration have to try and reduce the impact of climate change?"
In response, Vance called Hurricane Helene an "unspeakable human tragedy" but went on to suggest he doubts "this idea that carbon emissions drives [sic] all the climate change."
The youth-led Sunrise Movement, whose activists protested outside CBS News headquarters in New York City earlier this week to demand a climate question at the vice presidential debate, called Vance's answer "utter nonsense" that made "clear that a Trump-Vance administration would do nothing to stop the climate crisis and prevent more disasters like Helene because they don't want to upset their fossil fuel billionaire donors."
"Tim Walz delivered a winning message calling out Trump's allegiance to Big Oil. This is the kind of message Harris and Walz need to repeat going into November to turn out young voters," said Stevie O'Hanlon, Sunrise's communications director. "Especially after Hurricane Helene, the climate crisis will be on young voters' minds as we head to the polls in the coming weeks. The Harris-Walz campaign has an opportunity to definitively show that they are the only ones with a real plan to tackle the climate crisis, and win this election."
Walz did face criticism, though, from Oil Change U.S., which rebuked the Minnesota governor's expressed support for an "all-of-the-above" energy policy. Walz touted the fact that the U.S. is currently "producing more natural gas and more oil at any time than we ever have" while "also producing more clean energy."
"Disasters like Helene are driven and turbo-charged by fossil fuels," said Oil Change U.S. campaign manager Collin Rees. "We can't solar-panel our way out of this crisis while continuing to drill and frack. Today's catastrophes demand bold, uncompromising leadership. Tim Walz and Kamala Harris must step up to halt fossil fuel expansion, champion clean energy, and advance a just phaseout of oil, gas, and coal to protect our communities from escalating climate impacts."
Tuesday's vice presidential debate, likely the only one before the November 5 election, touched a wide range of subjects, from abortion rights to Iran's retaliatory attack on Israel to the January 6, 2021 insurrection.
Vance downplayed the attack on the U.S. Capitol and Trump's central role in it, saying the former president "peacefully gave over power." Vance also declined to say whether Trump lost the 2020 election, declaring that he is "focused on the future."
"JD Vance dodged the easiest question of the night," said Sean Eldridge, founder and president of Stand Up America. "His refusal to acknowledge that Trump lost the 2020 election should be disqualifying. Vance has previously said he would not have certified the valid results of the 2020 election if he was vice president. It is clear that he cannot be trusted to stand up to Trump, uphold his oath of office, and defend our freedom to vote."
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Youth Arrested Demanding VP Debate Question on Climate Emergency
The Sunrise Movement wants CBS moderator Norah O'Donnell to ask Republican JD Vance "if his prayers outweigh the millions he takes from Big Oil to deny the climate crisis."
Oct 01, 2024
Just hours away from the U.S. vice presidential debate on Tuesday, six members of the youth-led Sunrise Movement were arrested for blocking the street outside CBS News headquarters in New York City to demand moderator Norah O'Donnell ask both candidates what they would do to take on the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency.
The sit-in and blockade came as the death toll from Hurricane Helene, which left a path of destruction across several southeastern states, hit at least 137. Sunrise has responded to the Category 4 storm with renewed calls to hold fossil fuel giants accountable.
"In North Carolina, I have watched buildings in my hometown be submerged in water, have seen entire towns washed away, trees and power lines covering the streets, people asking for help finding their loved ones, and friends reaching out for aid after losing their homes and livelihoods," Talia Wilson of Asheville said in a Sunrise statement.
"Norah O'Donnell has a huge responsibility to require JD Vance to have a real conversation about the climate crisis on national TV."
Wilson took aim at the Republican ticket of former President Donald Trump and Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), who will face his Democratic counterpart, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, in Tuesday night's debate.
"It couldn't be clearer that we need to act. Big Oil has known for years that its actions would cause disasters like these, but JD Vance and Donald Trump keep promising Big Oil power in exchange for campaign contributions," the 18-year-old campaigner said. "I know my friends and neighbors want to hear from both candidates on how they plan to address the climate crisis and work to prevent even worse disasters from striking our communities in the future."
Sunrise's Jordan Reif said that "my mom sent me pictures from our family in Georgia. Hurricane Helene destroyed roads, yards, and homes. There was damage like we had never seen before."
"The climate crisis is worsening and climate denier politicians like JD Vance are selling out our communities for donations from Big Oil," the 24-year-old added. "CBS News and the media must report Hurricane Helene for what it is—Big Oil's greed destroying our communities."
Sunrise is circulating a petition that notes Big Oil-backed Vance's response to the death and devastation. In a Saturday social media post, the Republican said, "Please say a prayer for everyone affected by the storms."
The petition says, "Sign this letter to demand that CBS News anchor and vice presidential debate moderator Norah O'Donnell add a question to Tuesday's debate asking JD Vance if his prayers outweigh the millions he takes from Big Oil to deny the climate crisis."
The group's letter to O'Donnell highlights Politico's recent reporting that "Vance changed his tune on climate change. Oil cash flowed." As the news outlet detailed:
As recently as 2020, [Vance] spoke at Ohio State University about society's "climate problem" and said using natural gas as a power source "isn't exactly the sort of thing that's gonna take us to a clean energy future."
Vance's climate and energy views took a 180 once he was running for the Senate. The oil and gas industry spent more than $283,000 on Vance's 2022 campaign—more than they gave to all but 18 other members of Congress, according to the campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets.
Trump's selection of Vance as his VP candidate alarmed green groups that are overwhelmingly backing Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Walz, given the Republican ex-president's pledge to roll back Biden-Harris administration climate policies if Big Oil pours just $1 billion into his campaign, and research showing planet-heating pollution would soar if he returned to the White House.
"Donald Trump and JD Vance are responding to the unimaginable devastation of Helene by tweeting prayers and by doubling down on their climate denial. That's wholly unacceptable," said Sunrise communications director Stevie O'Hanlon, whose group is working to mobilize 1.5 million swing state voters in support of Harris.
"Scientists have been extremely clear: Climate change made Helene stronger and more deadly, and if we don't urgently act, storms like this will become the new normal," O'Hanlon added. "Norah O'Donnell has a huge responsibility to require JD Vance to have a real conversation about the climate crisis on national TV."
The 90-minute debate is set to begin at 9:00 pm ET on Tuesday, airing on the CBS broadcast television station and streaming for free on CBSNews.com, the CBS News TV and smartphone applications, Paramount+, and YouTube.
This post has been updated with additional details from the protest shared after the arrests.
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Endless Stream of Climate Disasters Bolsters Demand to 'Make Polluters Pay'
"Ordinary people shouldn't pay for disasters they couldn't prevent," said one group. "But Big Oil should"
Sep 30, 2024
In the wake of one of the hottest summers ever recorded in the United States and the deadly destruction wrought by Hurricane Helene, climate defenders on Monday urged Congress to pass recently introduced legislation that would make polluters pay into a $1 trillion fund to finance efforts to combat the planetary emergency.
"Emissions from burning oil, gas, and coal are cooking the planet and super-charging deadly heatwaves, floods, and storms," the international NGO Global Witness said in a statement. "Several major fossil fuel firms knew for decades about the climate impacts of their products, but they ignored scientific advice and denied the climate crisis was happening."
"The Polluters Pay Climate Fund Act can help redress this injustice by making fossil fuel companies pay for some of the damage they're doing to America," the group added. "This would create a $1 trillion fund that would pay for climate disaster relief and efforts to help keep us cool and safe. They can afford it—in 2023 the top five oil and gas producers in the U.S. made over $74 billion in profits."
Introduced last month by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Judy Chu (D-Calif.), the Polluters Pay Climate Fund is backed by dozens of climate and environmental justice groups.
"From sweltering heat waves to rising sea levels to ever more intense storms, our planet is screaming out every day for us to take action on global warming," Van Hollen said at the time of the bill's introduction. "And after fueling the climate crisis for decades, big polluters can no longer run from their responsibility to address the harm they have done."
"The principle behind this legislation is simple but very powerful—polluters should pay to clean up the mess they made and build a more resilient future, and those who have polluted the most should pay the most," the senator added.
With an eye on next month's U.S. presidential election, campaigners demanded a president who will make polluters pay for fueling the climate crisis. With former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, running on a "
drill, baby, drill" platform and previously calling climate change a "Chinese hoax," activists have focused on imploring Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris to make fossil fuel companies pay for their damages.
"We need a president who is willing to take on Big Oil. A president who will make polluters pay for the damage they've done to our climate," the Make Polluters Pay campaign said in a video posted last week on social media.
"As California's attorney general, Kamala Harris prosecuted big polluters like BP and Chevron and launched an investigation into ExxonMobil's climate lies," the video continues. "As vice president, she cast the tie-breaking vote on the Inflation Reduction Act, helping lower energy costs and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels."
"Kamala Harris says she'll take on corporate price gouging and hold Big Oil accountable. Donald Trump? He's asking the oil companies for bribes," the video adds, referring to his promise to fossil fuel executives that he would gut the Biden administration's climate regulations if they donated $1 billion to his campaign.
Fossil Free Media director Jamie Henn cited a December 2023 survey conducted by his group and Data for Progress that found 64% of U.S. voters—including 89% of Democrats, 58% of Democrats, and 42% of Republicans—are more likely to vote for a candidate "who will make polluters pay for climate damages."
The campaigners' calls come as extreme weather fueled by the burning of fossil fuels
wreaks havoc around the world, including in the United States, where Hurricane Helene and its remnants tore a deadly path of destruction from the Florida Gulf Coast to the mountains of North Carolina. The storm has claimed at least 121 lives across the Southeast.
"It's obscene that communities across North Carolina are suffering and dying from the reality of the climate emergency while Donald Trump denies that it even exists," Brett Hartl, political director at the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund, said in a statement.
"While roads, bridges, and entire towns are being washed away, Trump and Project 2025 plan to gut [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] and roadblock every agency from confronting the climate crisis," he said, referring to the right-wing blueprint for overhauling the federal government. "Vice President Harris will act on climate change, and she'll hold the polluters that caused it accountable for their willful destruction."
Responding to Helene's devastation, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said on social media Monday that "I'm heartsick for the families who lost their homes and their loved ones."
"It's a sad reality that this hurricane rapidly intensified into a powerful Category 4 storm because of climate change," she added. "We must do more to confront the climate crisis as we rebuild."
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