Sustainability

Sustainability

The Big Story

Where climate progress is possible under Trump

The victory of President-elect Trump earlier this month was greeted by the climate movement writ large as a disaster — particularly since it came alongside a Republican sweep of the two houses of Congress.

© AP Photo/Alex Brandon

That position makes a good deal of sense, given Trump’s well-known skepticism about climate change, intense criticism of windmills and support for the oil and gas industry.

But even under a Republican trifecta, there are narrow-but-important places of bipartisan agreement. Trump has offered cautious support for nuclear energy, which a majority of Americans also back and are far less contentious than either wind and solar or fossil fuels.

That puts Trump, who has promised “new reactors” on day one, in line with a key lame-duck priority of the Biden administration.

Trump’s pick for Energy Secretary, Chris Wright of oil and gas exploration company Liberty Energy, is a proponent of nuclear — which he sees as key to cutting emissions in U.S. oilfields. Wright also backs next-generation geothermal, which uses oil and gas drilling technology to tap the Earth’s interior for clean power.

“I don’t care where energy comes (from), as long as it is secure, reliable, affordable and betters human lives,″ Wright has written.

Alliance with Republicans on these topics can be a tough pill for many Democrats to swallow.

On Tuesday and last week, most House Democrats voted against Republican bills lowering the permitting requirements for geothermal exploration — though dozens crossed the aisle to support the measures.

These alliances are hard in large part because of the large and growing........

© The Hill