Energy & Environmental Policies
Energy & Environmental Policies
In anticipation of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Winston has developed this resource guide on the presidential candidates’ policy positions related to energy and the environment.
Visit our 2024 U.S. Presidential Candidates Policy Overview for additional insights on government contracts, national security, artificial intelligence, and health care.
Disclaimer: This page is strictly dedicated to providing public information on the candidates’ policy positions and in no way indicates an affiliation with any political party or candidate.
Joe Biden
Donald Trump
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
- Kennedy was an environmental lawyer for approximately 40 years, suing allegedly polluting corporations and government agencies, including the EPA.
- Kennedy promises to “incentivize the transition of industry to zero-waste cycles and clean energy sources, and forge agreements with other countries to implement these policies throughout the global supply chain.” How he would accomplish these objectives is unclear. For example, he favors harnessing market forces to address climate change, but also appears to have suggested that he may be open to placing a price on carbon emissions. His position on clean energy tax credits is also not clear, but tax credits may be inconsistent with his desired market forces approach.
- Kennedy has stated that he will protect America’s wild regions by limiting or prohibiting development, but his positions are generally light on specifics. He has, however, said that he would ban fracking. Although he states his general position that he does not oppose safe nuclear power, he has also said that nuclear power is not safe.
Jill Stein
- Stein views climate change as an existential crisis. In Stein’s 2012 and 2016 presidential campaigns, she advocated a “green New Deal” that would focus on green jobs to increase energy efficiency and create 100% clean renewable energy by 2030. Stein in 2011 explained that the cost could be covered “through a combination of needed tax reforms—such as taxing Wall Street speculation, off shore tax havens, millionaires and multimillion dollar estates—in addition to a 30% reduction in the trillion dollar bloated military-industrial-security complex budget.” Stein’s 2024 campaign website “Principles” indicates that some form of the green New Deal remains a core part of her platform.
- Stein supports the elimination of all fossil fuels and rejected former President Obama’s “all the above” policy of promoting all forms of domestic energy.
- Stein also stands against nuclear power and, projecting massive sea level rise within the century, supports decommissioning existing nuclear power plants to prevent repeats of the Fukushima nuclear accident.