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Donald Trump told a meeting of oil executives last month that if they’d all pony up, say, a billion dollars for his campaign, he’d happily roll back virtually every last bit of Joe Biden’s climate policies, the Washington Post reported Thursday (gift link). When you’re a MAGA ex-president, they let you do it. You can do anything, solicit bribery, grab ‘em by the pursestrings. You can do anything.
Oh, sure, that sounds a lot like a quid pro quo, but then, Trump would undoubtedly gut climate regulations anyway, so just like a Supreme Court justice ruling in favor of what rich generous friends want, is it really a bribe?
The story — a follow-up to earlier reporting on the meeting, where Trump also declared “I hate wind” — notes that one of the assembled rich fuckwads complained that even though they’ve spent $400 billion on lobbying during Biden’s presidency, the guy keeps regulating fossil fuels as if there were some sort of crisis. What a jerk!
Trump’s reply allegedly “stunned several of the executives,” according to anonymous insider sources who knew about the meeting:
You all are wealthy enough, he said, that you should raise $1 billion to return me to the White House. At the dinner, he vowed to immediately reverse dozens of President Biden’s environmental rules and policies and stop new ones from being enacted. […]
Giving $1 billion would be a “deal,” Trump said, because of the taxation and regulation they would avoid thanks to him, according to the people.
The Post reminds readers of the many differences between Trump and Biden, which Wonkette readers know all about already, and if you need a reminder, hey, gift link to the Post article, we already said. Pay attention.
Trump promised that he would immediately end Biden’s pause on permits for new liquified natural gas (LNG) export terminals, according to some at the meeting.
“You’ll get it on the first day,” Trump said, according to the recollection of an attendee.
That would be a huge blow to climate all on its own, since Biden’s policy will prevent huge amounts of methane emissions in coming years. Then again, fossil fuel producers are trying to squeeze maximum profits out of their planet-killing products in the time they have left before they’re forced out of business, so Biden is a real meanie.
Trump also promised a planetary fire sale for drilling leases in the gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. An attendee recalled Trump promised, “You’ve been waiting on a permit for five years; you’ll get it on Day 1,” which sounds far more efficient than the Trump administration we recall.
What’s more, Trump vowed to eliminate Biden’s “mandate” on electric vehicles, which doesn’t actually exist, but everyone knew that Trump meant the EPA’s new vehicle emissions standards announced in March. Those standards don’t mandate any type of vehicles at all, but set strict emissions limits for new vehicles sold by 2032. Automakers can cut their fleets’ emissions however they want, though with current technology, making about half of new cars electric by 2032 is the likeliest way to do it.
Trump called the rules “ridiculous,” but remember this is a guy whose understanding of auto emissions amounts to Archie Bunker singing “Gee our old LaSalle ran great.”
The Post points out that while of course the oil industry hates the emissions rule because it will reduce burning fossil fuels — very much the point! — automakers are frankly tired of the rules changing all the time and would prefer some goddamn certainty and stability. Please, they say, set emissions rules that will let us build cars that will sell here and in the rest of the world:
“Automakers need some degree of regulatory certainty from government,” said John Bozzella, president and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents Ford, General Motors, Stellantis, Toyota and other car companies.
“What has emerged instead is a wholesale repeal … and then reinstatement … and then repeal again of regulations every four or eight years,” Bozzella said in an email.
There’s more about the angst of oil-state governors who want to whip up fears that Joe Biden will seize your gas stove and force you to drive a faster, cleaner vehicle that costs less to run, but you can predict most of it yourself, right down to North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum — who’s bucking for a post as Trump’s Energy Secretary or veep — whining that “This is not America” anymore, just as Republicans complained that seatbelt laws were the first step on the road to serfdom.
But to hell with it. We know what the world these fuckers want looks like, because we’re already living through the first parts of it, with summer wildfire seasons that are already underway (five “large uncontained fires” in four states as of Friday) and will last through the winter, regular billion-dollar extreme weather events, and record-setting temperatures month after month. For all we know, the summer may bring another string of weather disasters that will double as warnings that the world can’t afford to let Trump and his cronies take power again.
Remember: One candidate is already selling our future for campaign funds, while the other has spent the last two months rolling out one climate-rescuing program after another. It should be such an obvious choice to more people.
What, Did A Younger, Sexier Wind Turbine Make Fun Of Trump At The White House Correspondents Dinner?
[WaPo (gift link)]
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