Ron DeSantis of Florida said he would roll back several of the Biden administration's climate initiatives during a speech on Wednesday at an oil rig site in Midland, Texas.
The governor of Florida endorsed oil and gas development over climate agreements and electric vehicles.
Ron DeSantis of Florida unveiled an energy plan in the heart of the oil nation, criticizing electric vehicles and global climate agreements, promising lower fuel prices and pushing for more oil and gas development. In a policy rollout at an oil rig site in Midland, a West Texas city that derives a significant portion of its economy from oil production, Mr. DeSantis seems to make a general-election argument, promising to roll back several of the Biden administration's climate initiatives, calling them part of an agenda to control you and to control our behavior. re aiming to circumscribe your ambitions. They are even telling our younger generations to have fewer children, or not to even have children, on the grounds that somehow children are going to make our climate and planet unlivable - and that's wrong to say, said a few dozen rig workers and reporters. DeSantis mentioned his chief rival in the Republican primary only once, former President Donald J. Trump, whom he trails by a wide margin in the polls.
The campaign did not stop Trump from taking a shot at the governor for his remarks. Trump spokesman Steven Cheung used expletives to call DeSantis a 'candidate that just steals from President Trump's policy book' in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, during the governor's remarks. In a lengthy, six-pronged policy outline, DeSantis said to remove subsidies for electric vehicles, take the U.S. out of global climate agreements - including the Paris accords - and cancel net-zero emissions promises. He also vowed to increase American oil and natural gas production and replace the term climate change with energy dominance in policy guidance. Mr. DeSantis spoke from behind a lectern that read '$2 in 2025 ', a nod to his campaign's promise to lower gas to $2 in the first year of his administration. The remarks - delivered above the sounds of heavy machinery - paired standard Republican energy policy, blasting foreign energy dependence and blue state regulations, with criticism of the Biden administration's focus on reducing carbon emissions and incentivizing clean energy. The Biden campaign criticized Mr. DeSantis' plan, which he said was aimed at destroying the nation's economy. It actually lowers gas prices to $2 per gallon and is chock-full of the climate denialism that defines the MAGA Republican Party, said Ammar Moussa, a spokesman for the Biden campaign. His own state, where his agenda is leading to skyrocketing energy costs for his constituents and natural disasters are causing tens of billions of dollars in damages, to know what DeSantis's plan would mean for the country. DeSantis calls his plan'stand with our farmers' by opposing electric vehicles and supporting biofuel use, a nod to the state's substantial agricultural industry. But asked Wednesday if he believed that fossil fuels contribute to climate change, Mr. DeSantis deflected - which he has done repeatedly, most notably on the Republican debate stage last month. He added: 'I think that the most practical way to reduce global emissions is to reduce global emissions,' pointing to his own proposal. He is also planning to attend several high-dollar fund-raising events in Texas over the next few days. While Texas supporters have had successful fund-raising success in the oil and real estate industries, some big investors abroad have expressed hesitation. And his fund-raising in the state has not necessarily translated into grass-roots support: The Oil and Gas Workers Association, based in nearby Odessa, Texas, announced Wednesday that it would endorse Mr. Trump. Jimmy Gray, a Midland oil rig worker since 1979 who supported Donald Trump in the last election, said after the event that he was impressed by DeSantis but remained undecided in the Republican presidential contest.
I've seen a lot of policies in a lot of administrations, and a lot of things change throughout that time, but one thing that hasn't really changed is that in order for us to decrease costs across the country, energy-in whatever form that is, has to be done right, he said. 's got me interested,' he said. Now we've got everything we need.