| Tuesday’s election is upon us, at a time of dire climate threats and rapidly evolving energy technology. And the policy positions of the two presidential candidates are galaxies apart. Former President Donald Trump has called climate change a “hoax”; spread falsehoods about clean energy; and pledged to gut environmental agencies, their regulations and Democrats’ climate law if he’s elected — and to push to expand the nation’s already record-setting oil and gas production. Vice President Kamala Harris was the tie-breaking vote for that 2022 law, has pledged to hold polluters accountable and is expected to largely continue the Biden administration’s climate agenda. Who wins the race will likely prove pivotal for the future of the nation’s energy policies, writes Peter Behr. It could affect everything from what fuels our cars and powers our homes to who builds our energy infrastructure and where. As voters head to the polls Tuesday, POLITICO reporters are outlining a slice of what's at stake: Clean energy development
President Joe Biden’s landmark climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act, provided tax breaks and incentives that prompted private companies to announce more than $150 billion in clean energy manufacturing investments, write Kelsey Tamborrino and Jessie Blaeser. That would go to building or expanding more than 500 facilities, with companies promising to create roughly 160,000 jobs. But 60 percent of those projects are unlikely to come online until the next president’s administration is well underway. A victory for Harris is unlikely to interfere with the pace of development. If Trump retakes the White House, he could attempt to make good on his campaign pledge to rescind Biden’s climate spending, which could discourage or thwart developers — unless he heeds the pleas of Republican lawmakers who want to keep the IRA’s money flowing to their districts. Green power for tribal lands
A Trump victory could mean a major blow to a $200 million effort to use solar energy to secure electricity for thousands of tribal homes that lack power, writes Scott Waldman. About 17,000 homes on tribal lands across the country don’t have access to electricity. Most of them — about 15,000 — are on Navajo land in Arizona or the Hopi reservation contained within its borders. Trump has pledged to gut Biden’s two laws funding the power initiative for tribes. Offshore wind
Biden’s push to install thousands of wind turbines off the nation’s coasts to fight climate change and create jobs could face a massive setback if Trump wins, writes Benjamin Storrow. Despite a development slowdown caused by supply chain woes and higher costs, the nation now boasts over 400 turbines in U.S. waters — a huge step for an industry that only had seven when Biden took office. Trump has famously spent years bashing wind power. A second Trump administration, analysts say, could slow-walk permit reviews for new facilities, block future lease sales and decline to defend projects from legal challenges. Fossil fuel development on public land
Trump and his running mate, Ohio Republican Sen. JD Vance, have repeatedly vowed to increase domestic fossil fuel production, bringing back the 2008 Republican campaign slogan of “drill, baby, drill,” write Robin Bravender, Jennifer Yachnin, Michael Doyle and Scott Streater. That would likely mean a major priority shift for the Interior Department, the massive federal agency overseeing public lands, the national parks, Western water conservation and endangered species protections. Still, it’s unclear how much more oil the U.S. can realistically produce given that it’s already setting records.
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