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Project 2025, a right-wing blueprint for the next Republican presidential administration, rejects climate science in favor of Big Oil’s preferred policies. Developed by The Heritage Foundation and a coalition of more than 100 conservative organizations, the plan proposes gutting federal agencies that protect the environment and dismantling regulations to allow polluting industries to extract more oil and gas from federal lands with fewer protections. The plan also calls for dismantling the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the federal agency that tracks hurricanes and provides potentially life-saving information to those in a storm’s path. While bracing for Hurricane Helene, the Miami Herald editorial board made clear the real world dangers of Project 2025’s plan, writing, "In Florida, we live and die — sometimes literally — by what the National Hurricane Center and National Weather Service, which are parts of NOAA, tell us. ... And yet, according to Project 2025 — a document hundreds of pages long that lays out a policy agenda and 180-day playbook if the GOP wins the White House — NOAA needs to go." The architect of Project 2025, Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts, discussed his views on climate change at a recent event hosted by The New York Times, providing more insight into the thinking behind this controversial and dangerous plan. Below are six takeaways from the September 25 discussion between journalist David Gelles, who authors The New York Times climate newsletter Climate Forward, and Roberts.
Hearing Roberts speak is a bit otherworldly—not sure if that’s the best adjective. I’ve seen all those patterns before, because of course these clowns influence policy in all industrialized nations. But he’s so extreme in his positions while simultaneously being superficially friendly.
One thing I was a bit confused about was that Gilles (the NYT guy) didn’t seem to ask questions about either those “elites” pushing climate policy or how the oil/gas world is supposedly benefitting “the global poor”.