Vance Attacks Harris on Energy by Cherry-Picking Facts
It’s dishonest to focus on affordability and ignore the risks — and costs — associated with emissions-driven climate change.
A convenient selection of facts.
Photographer: Jeff Kowalsky/AFP
A few days before Senator JD Vance’s Wall Street Journal op-ed on energy policy and “net zero” dropped, his billionaire backer Peter Thiel was asked if climate science was real. Thiel, an investor and entrepreneur, ummed and erred extensively on Joe Rogan’s podcast before reiterating that he thought climate science wasn’t real because any science with a modifier ahead of it isn’t real (watch it here).1 This novel textual take sits oddly with the actual practice of climate science, which involves a lot of those old lab fakers, chemistry and physics. Sadly, it suggests Vance may need to look elsewhere for help fixing the glaring flaws in his own analysis.
Vance, Donald Trump’s Republican vice-presidential running mate, declares that Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic candidate, has waged war on US energy. If so, she’s not much of a general and nor is her boss. US oil and gas production has hit new records under President Joe Biden and net exports of these fuels have surged.