Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance (Ohio) expressed skepticism about the scientific consensus behind climate change in response to a question during Tuesday’s debate.
“One of the things that I’ve noticed some of our Democratic friends talking a lot about is a concern about carbon emissions — this idea that carbon emissions drive all the climate change,” Vance said.
“Let’s just say that’s true, just for the sake of argument, so we’re not arguing about weird science. Let’s just say that’s true,” Vance continued.
There is a scientific consensus that climate change is occurring and is primarily being driven by human activity — largely carbon emissions stemming from the burning of fossil fuels.
Vance, in his answer, said the Trump administration’s climate policy would be to bring more energy production and manufacturing to the U.S. “because we’re the cleanest economy in the entire world.”
The U.S. is currently the second-largest emitter of planet-warming gases, behind only China, and is the largest historic emitter.
Moderator Norah O’Donnell fact-checked Vance’s response, saying, “The overwhelming consensus among scientists is that the Earth’s climate is warming at an unprecedented rate.”
When asked by a moderator, Vance also did not say whether he agrees with former President Trump’s infamous false assertion that climate change is a “hoax.”
In his own remarks, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz criticized former President Trump’s oil industry fundraisers and denial of climate science.
“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 said.
Walz appeared to be referring to reports that Trump asked the oil industry for $1 billion in campaign cash during a fundraiser earlier this year.
The Washington Post reported that Trump said the donations would be a “deal” for oil executives because of the tax cuts and relaxed regulations he would implement, but someone with knowledge of the meeting who spoke with The Hill said the discussion was not framed as any sort of quid pro quo.
Walz also described his running mate Vice President Harris as having an “all-of-the-above” energy policy and touted oil and gas production in the U.S.
— Updated at 10:00 p.m.