Climate Fact Check: the GOP Presidential Debate

We Fact Check the Presidential Candidates on Climate, Starting with the Recent Republican Debate

At the August 23 Republican primary debate, the first debate of the 2024 presidential election, the moderators asked about climate change early but the candidates didn’t seem eager to discuss the issue. None offered any plans to address the climate crisis. The closest any got was to say they would tell China and India that they have to lower their emissions.

Only former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson raises his hand in response to the question “Do you believe in human behavior is causing climate change? Raise your hand if you do.”

Where the candidates stand

After bringing up several dramatic examples of climate change (the wildfire in Maui, the tropical storm in California, and 101 degree ocean temperatures off the coast of Florida) and polls showing climate to be young people’s number one issue, the moderators asked the most basic question possible: Do you believe in [sic] human behavior is causing climate change? Raise your hand if you do.

Only one tentative hand was raised before Florida Governor Ron DeSantis quickly derailed the topic.

Here is how the candidates answered:

  • Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis – Does not believe human behavior is causing climate change (“No. I didn’t raise a hand.”)

  • Vivek Ramaswamy - Does not believe human behavior is causing climate change (“My hands are in my pockets because the climate change agenda is a hoax”)

  • Former Vice President, Mike Pence – didn’t answer the question

  • Former South Carolina Governor, Nikki Haley – Believes human behavior is causing climate change (“Is climate change real? Yes it is.”)

  • Former New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie – didn’t answer the question

  • South Carolina Senator, Tim Scott – didn’t answer the question

  • Former Arkansas Governor, Asa Hutchinson – Believes human behavior is causing climate change (he was the only one to actually raise his hand)

  • North Dakota Governor, Doug Burgum – didn’t answer the question

In summary, only two of eight Republican presidential candidates would even acknowledge that climate change is caused by human behavior, something scientific consensus. Two clearly said they do not believe the scientific consensus, and four avoided answering the question.

Fact Check

Let’s fact check a few of the statements that candidates made during the brief portion of the debate devoted to climate change:

Governor Ron DeSantis

Claim: “Look, we’re not school children. Let’s have the debate. I mean, I’m happy to take it to start.”

Reality: Partially true. They are not school children, but DeSantis did not appear to be happy to answer the question, as he did as much as anyone to derail the debate.

Vivek Ramaswamy

Claim: “The climate change agenda is a hoax and we have to declare independence … And the reality is the anti-carbon agenda is the wet blanket on our economy. And so the reality is more people are dying of bad climate change policies than they are of actual climate change.”

Reality: This is a lie. If a bad climate change policy is one that doesn’t prevent climate change, then bad climate change policies are responsible for exactly as many deaths as climate change. But Ramaswamy is saying that bad climate change policies are those that try to address the climate crisis. As the New York Times stated in their fact check, “No deaths have been linked to the growth of renewable energy or to the Biden administration’s efforts to reduce fossil fuels. However, extreme weather fueled by climate change has been linked to the deaths of two million people from 1970 to 2021, according to the United Nations. Each year in the United States, heat waves driven by rising global temperatures cause more than 700 deaths, more than 67,500 emergency calls and more than 9,200 hospitalizations.”

Senator Tim Scott

Claim: “America has cut our carbon footprint in half in the last 25 years”

Reality: This is false, sadly. According to the EPA, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions peaked in 2007. In the pandemic year of 2020, emissions were down 20% from that peak. Emissions were down 12% compared to 1995 (25 years prior). [Source: Climate Change Indicators: U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions | US EPA]

North Dakota Governor, Doug Burgum

Claim: “The $1.2 trillion of Green New Deal spending buried in the inflation creation act is something that is just subsidizing China

Reality: This is the opposite of the truth. As CNN wrote in their fact check: “On Burgum’s claim that Biden’s clean energy agenda will be a boon to China, the IRA was specifically written to move the manufacturing supply chain for clean energy technology like solar panels and EV batteries away from China and to the United States. In the year since it was passed, the IRA has spurred 83 new or expanded manufacturing facilities in the US, and close to 30,000 new clean energy manufacturing jobs, according to a tally from trade group American Clean Power.”

Former Governor Nikki Haley

Claim: “First of all, we do care about clean air, clean water, we want to see that taken care of. But there’s a right way to do it. And the right way to do it is first of all, yes, is climate change real? Yes it is. But if you want to go and really change the environment, then we need to start telling China and India that they have to lower their emissions.”

Reality: This display of moral cowardice is misleading. First of all, saying she cares about “clean air, clean water” avoids the climate issue. More to the point, the United States has produced more cumulative greenhouse gas emissions than either China or India, has made insufficient progress in reducing emissions, and continues to emit more on a per capita basis than either country (and more than India on an annual gross basis).

All claims and quotes came from the transcript found here.

Michael Rochmes