Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have starkly different track records on climate change. To shed light on the two candidates’ climate agendas, we sorted through their campaign materials and recent statements on the campaign trail.
Former President Donald Trump, who has famously called climate change a “hoax” for many years, hasn’t used the word lately with respect to climate change. But he still clings to some similar arguments, and other claims he makes about climate change haven’t changed much over the years.
On the campaign trail this summer, former President Donald Trump has routinely cast doubt on climate change by falsely claiming that the oceans will rise just “one-eighth of an inch over the next 400 years.” He’s previously used the same measurement over a period of 250 years. In fact, the current rate of sea level rise is already a little more than one-eighth of an inch each year.
About 99% of the Earth’s atmosphere is made of just two gases: oxygen and nitrogen. By comparison, the amount of carbon dioxide — which at more than 400 parts per million, is the highest it’s been in several million years — may seem small. It’s equivalent to just 0.04% of the atmosphere.
This fact is often cited by people who are trying to falsely claim that CO2 isn’t responsible for global warming. These individuals also often add that the amount of CO2 from humans is just a fraction of that already small total.
The notion that carbon dioxide is “plant food” and that climate change is therefore a good thing or not a problem is a common refrain from those who deny the reality of climate change or who oppose reducing greenhouse emissions.
It’s true that carbon dioxide, the main heat-trapping gas that is causing global warming, is essential for plant growth. Most — but not all plants — tend to respond to increased levels of CO2 by growing more.
But more CO2 is not always good.
It’s increasingly likely that the planet will reach 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, of warming, probably within the next two decades. But while that level of warming comes with a variety of dangerous effects, it’s not a point of no return, scientists say, and it doesn’t mean “we’re done,” as President Joe Biden has claimed.