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J.D. Vance is picked as Trump's vice-presidential nominee. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
Former U.S. President Donald Trump has officially become the Republican presidential candidate, selecting Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate. The collaboration between the two is seen as a stronger reinforcement of support for fossil fuels and a downplaying of climate change impacts, which could hinder the development of renewable energy and electric vehicles.
Vance's attitude on climate change changed
Vance was not initially aligned with Trump and even privately criticized him, calling Trump either "a cynical asshole or America’s Hitler." However, within just a few years, Vance’s stance has completely reversed, becoming a staunch ally of Trump. This alliance facilitated his entry into Congress, and his narrative on climate change shifted to skepticism, like Trump’s belief that human impact on the environment is negligible.
He opposes the Biden administration’s continuous subsidies for electric vehicles (EVs) and spearheaded the "Drive American Act," aiming to eliminate EV subsidies while providing a corresponding $7,500 tax credit for American-made gasoline and diesel vehicles.
In a July 2022 radio interview, Vance explicitly stated, " The whole EV thing is a scam. If you plug it into your wall, do these people think there are Keebler elves back there making energy in the wall? It comes, of course, from fossil fuels."
Despite Trump and Vance’s opposition to the Biden administration’s strong support for EVs, Tesla CEO Elon Musk appears unbothered and publicly supports Trump. Musk responded on social media platform X, suggesting that removing subsidies would benefit Tesla. Some Wall Street analysts also believe that eliminating government subsidies would harm Tesla’s competitors more than Tesla itself.
Vance also criticized the Democrats' 2022 "Inflation Reduction Act," which later passed and became a cornerstone of the Biden administration’s climate policy, planning to invest $370 billion over ten years in clean energy sources like wind and solar.
J. D. Vance speaking with attendees at The People's Convention at Huntington Place in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
Vance’s background makes him support the fossil fuel industry
Vance, hailing from Ohio’s Rust Belt, consistently supports the fossil fuel industry. In a 2023 op-ed for the local media outlet "Marietta Times," he argued that the Biden administration is subsidizing alternative energy while demonizing America’s most reliable power sources, "unreasonably harassing fossil fuel companies to the detriment of American interests."
Ohio ranks sixth in natural gas production in the U.S., with natural gas accounting for 46% of the state’s total power generation and coal 25%. It’s no surprise that Vance has always been a proponent of the oil and gas industry. According to the nonprofit organization OpenSecrets, a significant portion of Vance’s political contributions come from the fossil fuel sector, with $283,000 raised during his 2022 campaign, ranking him 19th among 91 members of Congress who received donations from this industry.
In 2023, he and other lawmakers introduced the "Power Act," requiring the president to seek congressional approval before delaying leases or permits for oil, gas, and mining applications. They also aimed to relax emission standards for cars and light trucks and sought to overturn plans to prevent methane leaks.
At 39, Vance was a lawyer and venture capitalist before entering politics. He gained fame in 2016 with his memoir "Hillbilly Elegy," which described the American white working class. He officially entered politics in 2021. If he and Trump ascend to power, it is expected that their administration will obstruct sustainable climate development and hinder energy transition progress.
Source: BBC, Yahoo Finance, Bloomberg, New York Times, E&E News
