At the Houston fundraiser, Trump again griped about wind energy, claiming that turbines kill bald eagles and that wind “doesn’t work,” according to the notes from the attendee, and made clear his preferences.
From the Washington Post“So we have wind, but we want natural gas. Natural gas is clean and strong and powerful, and more gasoline and oil,” Trump said, according to the notes. He also praised North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R), who is orchestrating much of his energy policy and attended the event.
Trump promised the oil executives that he would open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to drilling. His administration had auctioned off oil and gas leases in the refuge, one of the nation’s last unspoiled wild places, days before Trump left office.
“I had ANWR approved in Alaska. It’s the biggest oil farm,” he said, incorrectly stating the refuge holds an oil reserve “equivalent of Saudi Arabia, they think.” The U.S. Geological Survey has estimated somewhere between 4.3 billion and 11.8 billion barrels of oil lie underneath the refuge’s coastal plain, whereas Saudi Arabia has an estimated 267 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves, according to the coalition of oil-producing nations led by Saudi Arabia and Russia.
The Jan. 6, 2021, lease sale on the ANWR generated little industry interest, and the Biden administration later suspended those leases, saying Trump officials had done an “insufficient analysis” of how drilling would affect critical habitat for threatened polar bears and migrating caribou. Three of the winning bidders later pulled out, and the Interior Department last year canceled the remaining seven leases, though it is legally obligated to hold a second lease sale there by the end of this year.
Returning to a familiar theme, Trump bashed electric vehicles at the Houston fundraiser. He promised to “end the EV mandate immediately” — mischaracterizing ambitious rules that the Environmental Protection Agency recently finalized. The rules require automakers to reduce emissions from car tailpipes, but they don’t mandate a particular technology such as EVs.
The batteries in electric trucks, Trump complained, are too big and too heavy. “It’s a massive battery. The battery’s bigger than a freaking army tank,” he said, according to the attendee’s notes.
He also mocked energy-efficient and water-saving appliances, calling them a “scam” and “the energy hoax.” (see, he is even going after @jm69's air conditioners).
Despite his gripes with EVs and efficient appliances — and with Biden’s ambitious climate agenda more broadly — Trump assured attendees that he is a “big believer in the environment.”
“During the Trump administration, we had the cleanest air,” he said.
With the debates beginning in late June, 2024 (five weeks away), I hope you all keep this on your radar. Biden is not an absolute shoe-in for re-election. And another Trump win would be disastrous to the entire Global Climate Industry. @wee, I think this is keeping pressure on LYC, MP and others, as there is palpable fear in the markets of the near term future, not only due to a slowing economy, no change in interest rates, but also the possibility that a hostile administration could do significant damage to the entire EV battery and renewables sector. After Trump tries to pull us out of NATO to help his friend Putin, he will turn to our sector to inflict as much possible damage as he can create. This is just my opinion and a word of caution. This is a clear and present danger to LYC. If Biden underperforms in the debates the investment houses and hedge funds will start to bet on pro Trump policies, and that is simply an undeniable fact.
GLTA
