Ahead of tonight’s vice presidential debate between Governor Tim Walz and Senator JD Vance, we wanted to provide some insights into the stark contrast between their records on climate action and energy policies. When JD Vance takes the debate stage, don’t expect to hear any plans, or even “concepts of plans,” about how a Trump-Vance administration would address the climate crisis or advance America’s global leadership in the clean energy economy. If he mentions climate or energy at all, Vance is likely to promote policies that would crush American clean energy jobs, jack up household costs, and drag us backward to an economy dictated by fossil fuel special interests.
Here are four key points to consider as you report on the debate:
JD Vance wants to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), killing jobs in his hometown of Middletown, Ohio.
Like his boss, Donald Trump, who has repeatedly vowed to repeal the Biden-Harris administration’s signature clean energy law and claw back billions in investments that are already transforming communities across the country, JD Vance has spent his time on the campaign trail lying about the historic bill he calls “dumb” and a “scam.” Not only would repealing these investments cede competitiveness in clean energy manufacturing and deployment, but it would kill billions of investments and threaten nearly 14,000 new jobs created in his home state alone. In fact, one of the IRA’s largest investments is a $500 million grant to a steel plant in Vance’s hometown of Middletown—a plant that’s played a pivotal role in Vance’s personal family history and that he once called an “economic savior.” This investment is expected to create 170 permanent jobs and more than 1,000 construction jobs.
The investment has the potential to revitalize Middletown’s economy, reduce climate pollution, and protect the health of residents and has been hailed as "a miracle, an answered prayer” by residents for its role in saving the plant. Despite its clear benefits, Vance continues to push for the repeal of the IRA, a move that would risk shutting down the project, devastating his hometown, and undermining the well-being of his constituents.
JD Vance is bought and paid for by Big Oil.
Before he ran for office, JD Vance acknowledged the reality of climate change and the need to build towards a clean energy future. But ever since the oil and gas industry spent big to support his first Senate race, Vance has done a full 180 and embraced full-throated climate denial. He’s used his time in the Senate to be a loyal foot soldier for his Big Oil benefactors: shilling for fossil-fuel corporations at every opportunity and railing against clean energy.
JD Vance has deep ties to Project 2025’s attack on climate.
JD Vance isn’t just a champion for Trump’s Project 2025 agenda—he wrote the foreword to a forthcoming book endorsing the architect’s radical right-wing vision for the future. Despite publicly attempting to distance himself from the agenda, which is nothing short of a full-scale assault on climate progress, Vance has called its architect Kevin Roberts “somebody I rely on a lot” and enlisted a Project 2025 contributor to help him debate prep. If Trump and Vance make good on their promise to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act and claw back its investments, which Project 2025 calls for, they would dismantle our burgeoning clean energy economy and cost America 1.7 million jobs by 2030, jack up household bills by $32 billion, and cause tens of thousands of premature deaths nationwide by 2050. Project 2025 also includes plans to dismantle the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, undermining the National Hurricane Center and National Weather Service—sources of the best, most trustworthy information during extreme weather events like Hurricane Helene.
Governor Walz has been a national leader on climate action and clean energy job creation.
In contrast with Vance, Governor Walz’s leadership in Minnesota demonstrates what can be accomplished when climate action is treated as an economic opportunity. As Governor, Walz signed into law one of the most ambitious clean energy standards in the nation, putting Minnesota on track for 100 percent clean electricity by 2040 while bringing the cheapest form of energy and reducing costs for ratepayers. He also dedicated consistent funding to public transit, integrated climate considerations into transportation investment decisions, and signed a bill establishing a state competitiveness fund to help Minnesota secure hundreds of millions in federal investments from the Inflation Reduction Act to support community-driven climate solutions. Walz’s policies have already spurred over $1.1 billion in investments, including the Upper Midwest’s largest solar farm that’s expected to power 150,000 homes, creating jobs and advancing a cleaner, healthier, more prosperous Minnesota.
A Harris-Walz administration would build on the successes of the Inflation Reduction Act, ensuring Vance’s hometown—and the rest of the nation—continues to benefit from a thriving clean energy economy with more affordable energy, good-paying jobs, and healthier communities.