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Jul 16, 2024 View in browser   By Jordan Wolman THE BIG IDEA Sen. J.D. Vance waves while former President Donald Trump looks on at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during the first day of the Republican National Convention. | Francis Chung/POLITICO CONVENTION WISDOM — Republicans gathered in Milwaukee this week are increasingly confident about their chances of a sweeping victory in November’s elections — and correspondingly eager to take a sledgehammer to President Joe Biden’s climate policies. While the GOP platform released last week leans in heavily on Biden’s economic record, blaming him for soaring inflation that has left many Americans struggling financially, there is also ample slamming of the Democrat's regulatory efforts aimed at fighting climate change. Sen. J.D. Vance, who former President Donald Trump selected as his running mate on Monday, is going all in on that message. A former Trump critic-turned-loyal-ally, Vance brings to the ticket a populist economic and energy approach that Republicans hope will resonate with voters in key states. “If you are in Wisconsin, Michigan, or Pennsylvania, you are not being empowered or enriched by Joe Biden’s green energy agenda,” he has previously said. That theme is poised to trickle throughout Republican circles at all levels should the GOP gain more power in November. Conservatives are mobilizing around key legislative efforts. A right-wing nonprofit has launched a campaign aimed at persuading lawmakers to strike climate-friendly provisions from the farm bill, focusing on electrification and fuel efficiency standards for agricultural equipment. Republican state financial officers will meet this week on the sidelines of the RNC to discuss ways to push back against environmental, social and governance policies. A Trump win could lead to a rollback of U.S. Department of Labor ESG measures adopted under Biden, which have survived a Congressional Review Act challenge and are now facing legal tests in one of the first high-profile cases to be impacted by the Supreme Court decision revoking the Chevron doctrine. “What we’re seeing here is a microcosm of what we’ll see elsewhere,” said Craig Leen, a K&L Gates partner and former director of Labor’s federal contract compliance programs office, who said the department's ESG rule is “certainly” in jeopardy after the Chevron ruling. And Melissa Holyoak, a Republican member of the Federal Trade Commission, said last week that the agency should be reviewing industry net-zero groups for potential antitrust violations, arguing that they “could be very problematic.” The potential for a whole-of-government rethinking of Biden’s climate agenda that could come with a GOP election sweep would likely have taken place regardless of Trump’s VP pick. But the fact that it’s Vance sitting on the ticket only furthers that point. “J.D. will bring western Pennsylvania with him and all that that implies for the coal, fracking and permitting chemical manufacturing taking place there,” said Stephen Brown, consultant at energy advisory firm RBJ Strategies. More on Vance: There are striking differences between public stances the vice presidential nominee has taken since entering politics and investments revealed by his financial disclosure forms. While running for and serving in Congress, Vance has accepted large sums of fossil fuel campaign money and attacked electric vehicles and renewable energy sources, POLITICO'S E&E News reports. But that’s not entirely in line with Vance’s green-tinted personal portfolio, which features plenty of shades of ESG, including investments in an EV charging company, an energy storage developer and a company that sells organic gardening kits, Scott Waldman and Corbin Hiar also report for E&E. WASHINGTON WATCH ON THE FLIP SIDE — Democrats, meanwhile, have released a draft party platform that contrasts sharply with the GOP agenda, highlighting climate action, promoting the Inflation Reduction Act’s benefits and criticizing Big Oil. "The climate crisis is decades in the making, an existential threat to future generations who deserve better," the Democrats say in their draft. "It’s a consequence of delay and destruction by people like Donald Trump, who still deny what we all see happening right before our eyes." The 80-page document also calls out a meeting between Trump and fossil fuel industry leaders in which the GOP nominee vowed favorable action in exchange for donations of $1 billion to his campaign. “Oil and gas lobbyists are already drafting executive orders for him to sign on day one,” according to the draft. The American Petroleum Institute defended the meeting and pushed back on claims of collusion. Democrats’ draft platform also nods at a desire to fix permitting and transmission issues to accelerate deployment of renewable energy. AROUND THE NATION WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN — Green groups are mostly still working to reelect Biden, but they’re also determined to not be caught napping like they were by Trump’s 2016 victory. The groups’ focus has only become sharper amid questions surrounding the Democrat’s reelection bid after his disastrous debate performance last month, Zack Colman reports. That means preparing to fight Trump 2.0 environmental rollbacks that would be bolstered by recent Supreme Court rulings, as well as enlisting local officials and supportive businesses to lobby Republicans in hopes of staving off a complete gutting of Biden’s climate advances. “We were all a bit naive about those chances in 2016 and we were all caught off guard,” said Patrick Drupp, director of climate policy and advocacy with the Sierra Club. The next Trump administration also “might be a bit wiser,” he said. It’s not so much that the green groups are abandoning Biden — though the Sunrise Movement’s recent call for him to step aside signals a softening of support — as that activists recognize the clear need to play defense. “We will sue the crap out of them,” said Martin Hayden, senior policy adviser with Earthjustice. WASHINGTON WATCH PLAYING FAIR — Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.), a leading ESG critic, told our Zach Warmbrodt that banks are warming up to a "fair access" federal standard to preempt state laws dictating how the finance sector can serve politically sensitive industries like firearms and fossil fuels. “They were resistant originally, but because of state laws that have been passed, now they want uniformity,” Barr said at the RNC. The finance industry has often been caught in the middle of the larger ESG battle that has sprung up at the state level during the past few years.   Understand 2024’s big impacts with Pro’s extensive Campaign Races Dashboard, exclusive insights, and key coverage of federal- and state-level debates. Focus on policy. Learn more.     YOU TELL US GAME ON — Welcome to the Long Game, where we tell you about the latest on efforts to shape our future. Join us every Tuesday as we keep you in the loop on the world of sustainability. Team Sustainability is editor Greg Mott and reporters Jordan Wolman and Allison Prang. Reach us all at gmott@politico.com, jwolman@politico.com and aprang@politico.com. Sign up for the Long Game. It's free!   SUBSCRIBE TO GLOBAL PLAYBOOK: Don’t miss out on POLITICO’s Global Playbook, our newsletter taking you inside pivotal discussions at the most influential gatherings in the world. Suzanne Lynch delivers the world's elite and influential moments directly to you. Stay in the global loop. SUBSCRIBE NOW.     WHAT WE'RE CLICKING — A former BlackRock chief sustainability officer is continuing to poke at the world’s biggest asset manager over its ESG policies, most recently in U.K.-based City A.M. — China is planning to invest $800 billion in its electrical grid to ease the strain of a rapid transition from coal power to renewable energy, the Financial Times reports. — The world’s first hydrogen-powered passenger ferry is set to begin carrying people across San Francisco Bay, according to the Associated Press.   Follow us on Twitter Debra Kahn @debra_kahn Greg Mott @gwmott Jordan Wolman @jordanwolman Allison Prang @AllisonPrang   Follow us

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