Highlights
VANCE INSINUATED THAT CO2 EMISSIONS WERE NOT THE CAUSE OF CLIMATE CHANGE, AND REFUSED TO SAY THAT CLIMATE CHANGE WAS MAN-MADE
VIDEO: Vance Insinuated That CO2 Emissions Were Not The Cause Of Global Climate Change. According to Fox News via YouTube, “VANCE: And of course, Tucker, as you probably know, the most egregious hypocrisy on this front is climate change. If you actually buy the argument that CO2 emissions are causing global climate change, the worst offender, by far today and in the future is China. There is a reason that climate change activists go after Americans and American consumers, but they don't go after China. And it makes it pretty clear that it has nothing to do with climate change. It has to do with frankly, taking the side of a really vile regime over the interest of our own country.” [Fox News via YouTube, 10/7/19]
AUDIO: Vance Disagreed With The Idea That Fossil Fuels Are Terrible For The Environment. According to the Ohio Christian Alliance Podcast via SoundCloud, “VANCE: I think that, you know, we're being hit by so many different crises. And let's start with the energy issue, right? So the Biden administration comes in with this very ideological approach: this idea that burning fossil fuels is somehow evil, it's terrible for the environment, which, of course, I disagree with them.” [Ohio Christian Alliance Podcast via SoundCloud, 4/13/22]
Vance Refused To Directly Answer Whether He Believed That Climate Change Was Man-Made According to Spectrum News 1, “HOST: ‘Do you believe in climate change?’ J.D.: ‘Well, that's a complicated question. I'm sure we can’t get through it the whole — I mean, certainly the climate is changing. I think the big question is, how much is man causing it? And second, if you believe that man is causing it, do you actually have a real solution to solve the issue? I always ask people who say that climate change is this apocalyptic problem we have to deal with is one, what do you feel about China? And two, what do you feel about nuclear? So often, the people who believe that climate change is going to cause an end of planet Earth, they're not serious about actually making our planet more clean, which is what nuclear and dealing with China would do.’” [Spectrum News 1, 1/15/22]
AUDIO: Vance Said That He Did Not Believe There Was A Climate Crisis, And Certainly Not One Worth Addressing With Government Funding. According to the Clay Travis And Buck Sexton Show via SoundCloud, “HOST: Three hundred and sixty billion dollars for a climate crisis. I don't think there is a climate crisis JD. So I don't understand why Manchin or anybody, for that matter, would want to go along with this. VANCE: No, I don't think there is either, and even if there was a climate crisis, I don't know how the way to solve it is to buy more Chinese-manufactured electric vehicles. The whole EV thing is a scam, right? Set to the side these questions about, you know, how much carbon drives, the climate change situation and the like - look, I'm with you on this - I did not wake up in the morning thinking that we’ve got a climate crisis we need to destroy the economy to deal with.” [Clay Travis And Buck Sexton Show via SoundCloud, 7/28/22]
VANCE REPEATEDLY ADVOCATED FOR INCREASED OIL DRILLING
AUDIO: Vance Advocated For More Drilling, More Refining, And More Pipelines. According to the Ron Potesta Show via SoundCloud, “VANCE: We need to explore our own oil and gas resources, we need to be drilling more, we need to be refining more, we need to have more pipeline capacity so that we can ship this stuff from one place to another.” [Ron Potesta Show via SoundCloud, 6/28/22]
Vance Criticized The Biden Administration For Not Utilizing Fossil Fuel Production In The U.S. According to Vance via his personal Twitter, “How much suffering are middle class Ohioans expected to endure for the foreign policy of a man who won’t unleash the energy reserves of his own country?” [Vance via Twitter, 3/10/22]
Vance Called For More Domestic Drilling. According to Vance via his personal Twitter, “This is a full blown crisis. Time to drill and build in our own country.” [Vance via Twitter, 4/12/22]
Vance Praised The Fracking Of Utica Shale Oil In Ohio. According to a Vance op-ed in the Marietta Times, “In a time of grinding inflation, increasing energy costs and continuing global instability, we Ohioans are lucky to live on top of the Utica Shale oil and gas basin. Stretching across Appalachian Ohio and into our neighboring states, the Utica Shale is a vast, underground reserve of energy containing an estimated 38 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, 940 million barrels of oil and 208 million barrels of natural gas liquids. While it would traditionally be impossible to access these energy deposits buried deep underground, new technologies like horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have allowed us to unleash these abundant natural resources. If utilized fully, this massive reserve of energy has the potential to fuel high quality job growth and regional development in Ohio.” [Marietta Times, Op-ed - Vance, 8/26/23]
Vance Said It Was Time To “Double Down” On Ohio Oil And Gas Production, Calling For More Refineries. According to a Vance op-ed in the Marietta Times, “I believe that right now is the time to double down on the Ohio energy industry. In order to maximize output in the Utica Shale, oil and gas producers require new infrastructure – pipelines and refineries, large and small. We need less red tape and fewer restrictions from the federal government. The project permitting reforms made by the recent Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 are a good start, but they do not go far enough to accelerate the construction of new energy infrastructure.” [Marietta Times, Op-ed - Vance, 8/26/23]
VANCE REBUKED ATTEMPTS TO PROMOTE SOLAR MANUFACTURING IN THE U.S.
Vance Called Solar The “Green Energy Fantasy.” According to Vance via his personal Twitter, “All of this ‘bring American manufacturing back’ from the Democrats is fake unless we stop the green energy fantasy. Solar panels can’t power a modern manufacturing economy. That’s why the Chinese are building coal power plants, something Tim Ryan’s donors won’t let America do.” [Vance via Twitter, 7/29/22]
AUDIO: Vance Called Wind Turbines “Ugly” And “Disgusting,” Saying He Would Like To See An Ohio Without Wind Turbines. According to a Vance Meet and Greet with Steve Cortez via SoundCloud, “VANCE: I drive around Ohio's beautiful rural rolling hills, farmland. We have some of the most beautiful rural spaces in the entire world. The windmills are ugly. Can I just say that? They're disgusting. I don't like them. Right? I would like to be able to see a beautiful Ohio farm without a windmill that generates almost no power and just uglies the landscape and kills a lot of birds. Right? You don't get that much power, you get an ugly landscape, and you get a bunch of dead birds. It seems like a bad dream if you're interested in American energy.” [Vance Meet and Greet with Steve Cortez via SoundCloud, 4/27/22]
Vance Introduced Legislation To Eliminate Electric Vehicle Tax Credits And Replace Them With Tax Credits For Gas-Powered Vehicles. According to The Hill, “Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) introduced legislation Thursday that would eliminate federal tax credits for electric vehicles, the latest in a series of Republican salvos against EV technology. Vance’s bill, first reported by The Daily Caller, would undo several EV credits created or broadened under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the 2022 climate and infrastructure law. It would also establish a new $7,500 tax credit specifically for American-made gas-powered vehicles” [The Hill, 9/28/23]
Vance Claimed That “The Environmental Cost Of EVs Is Radically Understated.” According to Vance via his personal Twitter, “Between wear and tear on tires, road damage (EVs are much heavier than gas powered cars), mining practices, etc., the environmental cost of EVs is radically understated.” [Vance via Twitter, 3/27/24]
Vance Claimed That The “Premature Transition To Evs Is Destroying The Auto Industry In Our Country.” According to Vance via his personal Twitter, “This is really gross, and it's not fooling anyone. The premature transition to EVs is destroying the auto industry in our country. The workers don't need lectures about ‘just transition,’ they need someone who stands up for them and fights alongside of them. Kudos to Donald Trump for saying what needs to be said. And shame on these progressive advocacy groups pretending to stand up for workers.” [Vance via Twitter, 9/14/23]
Vance Said That Striking Auto-Workers Should Demand A Cessation Of Electric Vehicle Transition. According to a Toledo Blade op-ed by Vance, “With this moment, the UAW leadership has an opportunity they cannot let slip through their grasp. Rather than relenting to the Biden administration’s unjust transition to EVs, the UAW should use their leverage and force the President to stop subsidizing an industry that benefits Communist China more than it does American workers.” [Toledo Blade, Op-ed – Vance, 9/19/23]
VANCE CRITICIZED THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (EPA)
Vance Called EPA Regulations “Onerous,” And “To The Detriment Of The American People.” According to a Vance op-ed in the Marietta Times, “Additionally, a bevy of onerous new Environmental Protection Agency emissions rules are clamping down on power plants, truck engines and everything in between. The Biden years have thus far been defined by his administration’s wanton harassment of fossil fuel companies, to the detriment of the American people.” [Marietta Times, Op-ed – Vance, 8/26/23]
Vance Praised Brett Kavanaugh’s Legal Opinions In Multiple Cases Where Kavanaugh Ruled Against The Environmental Protection Agency. According to an op-ed by JD Vance in the Wall Street Journal, “By my count, Judge Kavanaugh’s opinions have been adopted by the justices 11 times—a record of influence and persuasion that suggests he would be effective on the still-divided high court. His influence has been especially notable in cases involving overreach by regulatory agencies. In two different Environmental Protection Agency cases, each involving billions of dollars in regulatory burdens, the Supreme Court adopted Judge Kavanaugh’s dissenting views in 5-4 decisions by the late Justice Antonin Scalia. Judge Kavanaugh’s reasoning in another case, Doe v. Exxon, informed two separate Supreme Court decisions, Jesner v. Arab Bank and Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum.” [Wall Street Journal, Op-ed – Vance, 7/2/18]
Vance Signed Onto A Letter Calling For The EPA To Revoke Rules That Would Regulate Coal And Gas-Powered Power Plants. According to the Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works press release, “Today, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ranking Member of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, led 38 other Republican senators, including Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), in calling on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to withdraw its latest set of proposed power plant regulations that will force the closure of coal and gas-fired power plants. […] Cosigners of Ranking Member Capito’s letter include […] J.D. Vance (R-Ohio).” [U.S. Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works, 8/1/23]
Vance Criticized SEC Mandates For Environmental, Social, And Governance (ESG) Scores. According to a Vance op-ed in the Marietta Times, “Meanwhile, the Biden administration is doing everything it can to subsidize alternative energy sources and demonize our nation’s most reliable sources of power. In an effort to discourage investment in oil and gas companies, President Biden has weaponized the Securities and Exchange Commission to mandate environmental, social and governance (ESG) scores on publicly traded companies. Additionally, a bevy of onerous new Environmental Protection Agency emissions rules are clamping down on power plants, truck engines and everything in between. The Biden years have thus far been defined by his administration’s wanton harassment of fossil fuel companies, to the detriment of the American people.” [Marietta Times, Op-ed – Vance, 8/26/23]
Vance Blamed Low Oil And Gas Permits And The Shutdown Of The Keystone XL Pipeline For Energy Prices. According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, “VANCE: I think this is largely a self-inflicted wound. Global commodity prices are always going to shift here and there in ways that you can't control. But if you look at things like the Keystone pipeline, shutting down that on day one, if you look at the really low number of oil and gas permits the Biden administration has granted, I think that we've really shot ourselves in the foot when it comes to energy prices.” [Cincinnati Enquirer, 10/11/22]