Environmental Defense Fund opposes President Trump’s candidacy as it aims to spend $20 million before election

The Environmental Defense Fund’s political arm plans to oppose Donald Trump’s return to the White House, saying the former president’s positions on climate change policy are even worse than they were four years ago.

A person familiar with the decision said this is the second time the group has entered a presidential election, and plans to launch a campaign this fall to support candidates who support the group’s mission to tackle the climate crisis. It added that it would invest $20 million in the effort.

“Make no mistake about the stakes, Mr. Trump is making no mistake today about our core issues,” David Keeve, president of EDF Action, the group’s advocacy partner, said in a statement released Wednesday and shared in advance. “It’s worse than it was four years ago.” NBC News. “Trump’s antipathy toward electric vehicles and renewable energy has deepened, and he has listed massive expansion of oil drilling as one of his top priorities, often starting before the border wall. become.”

A Trump campaign spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday morning.

Trump has frequently said in his campaign speeches that he would “drill, baby, drill” on oil production if elected president. He also criticizes electric cars and talks about how President Joe Biden pulled the US out of the Paris climate accord.

In 2020, EDF Action’s board of directors broke with the organization’s practice of neither supporting nor opposing presidential candidates when it announced its opposition to President Trump. At the time, EDF touted previous bipartisan efforts to advance environmental policy, while Trump said, “We are following the mold of recent Republican presidents who have been able to advance significant environmental policy.” “I’m not a conservative.”

Mr. Keeve’s statement about the 2024 election is not an explicit endorsement of Mr. Biden, but a person familiar with the board’s process said it paves the way for the group to work toward his re-election. He added that there is essentially no difference between opposing Trump and supporting Biden.

Wednesday’s statement cited the Biden administration’s climate change efforts.

“All the progress we have made over the past four years is at risk. “We have made investments,” he said. “We have accomplished more on climate change than at any other time in American history, and the contrast with Trump’s tenure could not be more dramatic.”

The Biden campaign praised the group’s decision.

“EDF Action played a critical role in passing President Biden’s Inflation Control Act, the most ambitious climate bill the world has ever seen,” said campaign co-chair Jen O’Malley Dillon. he said in a statement. “As Donald Trump makes it his mission to roll back efforts to combat the climate crisis, EDF’s leadership, efforts and resources will be essential to once again defeat Trump and his destructive policies.”

A number of environmental groups have already endorsed Biden, including political wings such as the League of Conservation Voters, Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council and NextGen America.

The Biden administration has made climate change a centerpiece of major legislation it has signed into law, particularly the clean energy and climate change provisions of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act and the Suppressing Inflation Act. Biden has regularly emphasized climate change issues and accomplishments in campaign speeches.