US Election 2024: Pivotal Moment for Green Energy Policy
As the United States gears up for its 2024 Presidential Election, the nation's commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 hangs in the balance.
The country is responsible for almost a quarter of global emissions and a quarter of historical emissions since 1751.
Amid warnings from the United Nations that the world is off track for 2050 net zero goals, the outcome of the 2024 presidential race could significantly impact the global fight against climate change.
At the opening of the 79th session of the General Assembly, UN Secretary General António Guterres said: “2024 is the year that half of humanity goes to the polls – and all of humanity will be affected.
“I stand before you in this whirlwind convinced of two overriding truths.
“First, the state of our world is unsustainable. We can’t go on like this.
“And second, the challenges we face are solvable. But that requires us to make sure the mechanisms of international problem-solving actually solve problems.”
Business leaders' perspectives on sustainability
PwC’s October 2024 Pulse survey of 709 US executives reveals a divide in how businesses anticipate their sustainability investments under different political leadership.
The survey found that 55% of companies would increase sustainability investments under a Harris administration, compared to 46% under Trump.
Moreover, 11% of executives indicated they would decrease sustainability investments under Trump, versus only 4% under Harris.
PwC says executives expect higher taxes and climate policy to pose policy risks under Harris and more than 60% see climate change as a business risk.
However, the presidential election may not be the biggest risk to business in America.
A majority of executives ranked state governments, federal regulatory agencies, local governments and congress ahead of the president as entities that affect their company most.
David Carlin, Head of Risk at the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), says: “The US election will be a decisive moment for climate action in America and globally.
“The candidates' policies, plans and even beliefs on climate change are worlds apart.”
The Republican Party’s energy plan
The 2024 Republican Party Platform takes a decidedly pro-fossil fuel stance, pledging to "DRILL, BABY, DRILL" to make the US "the number one producer of oil and natural gas in the world".
The party says it will be “terminating the Socialist Green New Deal” and ending restrictions on oil, natural gas and coal.
Former President Trump, at a campaign event in Erie, Pennsylvania, dismissed the climate crisis as "one of the greatest scams of all time".
When Trump was elected as president in 2017, he announced the US was to withdraw from the Paris Agreement as it put the country “at a permanent disadvantage”.
At the 2024 COP16 summit in Cali, Colombia, the UN Secretary General told the Guardian: “It’s very important that the United States remain in the Paris Agreement, and more than remain in the Paris Agreement, that the United States adopts the kind of policies that are necessary to make the 1.5 degrees still a realistic objective.”
The Democratic Party's energy plan
The 2024 Democratic Party Platform says it is "fighting climate change, reducing pollution and fuelling a clean energy boom".
Vice President Harris, speaking at the Democratic Convention in August 2024, asserted that Americans should be able to "live free from the pollution that fuels the climate crisis".
The Democrats have a track record of supporting environmental policies, with Harris casting the tie-breaking vote for the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, which provides funding for renewable energy and green technologies in the United States.
However, it is not all solar panels and microgrids – fracking has been a point of contention on the Democratic campaign.
In 2019, Harris said that she wants a ban on fracking. When joining the Biden ticket in 2020, she repealed this.
In October 2024, she told KDKA: “I will not ban fracking. I did not as vice president. In fact, I cast the tie-breaking vote to open up more fracking leases”.
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