Joseph E. Stiglitz on the climate stakes of the US election

Take a sneak peek at our latest magazine, PS Quarterly: The Climate Crucible [View this message in a web browser.]( Special Election Edition SEPTEMBER 20, 2024 Dear PS reader, In last week’s debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, climate change received little airtime. It only came up in the final question posed to the US presidential candidates, and neither explained how they plan to combat global warming. But, as Nobel laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz wrote in our most recent magazine, PS Quarterly: The Climate Crucible, Trump clearly stands apart from Harris on the issue, given his love of fossil fuels, and will undoubtedly throw a wrench in the green transition. As the campaign enters its final stretch, we have made Stiglitz’s commentary about the climate stakes of America’s election free to read. Scroll down for a preview and forward this email to family and friends who want to stay informed. Best regards, Project Syndicate [PS Quarterly: The Climate Stakes of the US Election]( [The Climate Stakes of the US Election]( By [Joseph E. Stiglitz]( NEW YORK – The outcome of the US presidential election in November will have an enormous impact on both the country and the world, and not least on efforts to combat climate change. While Donald Trump lacks a coherent platform, he clearly stands far apart from Vice President Kamala Harris on the issue. Earlier this year, Trump reportedly “requested $1 billion in campaign contributions from fossil-fuel industry executives, promising in turn to roll back environmental regulations, hasten permitting and leasing approvals, and preserve or enhance tax benefits that the oil and gas industry enjoys.” Even if Trump is not an outright climate-change denier, he belongs to a broader school of politicians and commentators who do not think that we need to worry about it. His vision for “Making America Great Again” is to make the United States an even larger polluter, an even larger producer of fossil fuels, and an even bigger laggard behind Europe and much of the rest of the world. Both science and technology are working against the fossil-fuel industry. The cost of renewables has plummeted, and under normal circumstances, this would have driven down the price of fossil fuels. But because Russia is such a large supplier of petrochemicals, the war in Ukraine has distorted the market. If elected, Trump would probably sell out Ukraine, or at least arrange a temporary ceasefire, thus facilitating a greater flow of oil and gas. He also wants to reverse the US Inflation Reduction Act and increase hostilities with China, which produces many of the world’s solar panels and other critical inputs for decarbonization. A major slowdown of the green transition in the US is thus a real risk, even before considering the possibility that Trump would further increase the already massive US subsidies for fossil fuels. [KEEP READING]( [PS Quarterly: The Climate Crucible]( Project Syndicate publishes and provides, on a not-for-profit basis, original commentary by the world's leading thinkers to more than 500 media outlets in over 150 countries. This newsletter is a service of [project-syndicate.org](. © Project Syndicate, all rights reserved. [Unsubscribe from this list](