A second Trump term could slow the shift from fossil fuels as climate threats grow

A second Trump term could slow the shift from fossil fuels as climate threats grow toggle caption Ian Maule/AFP via Getty When Donald Trump held a town hall recently in Phoenix, 11 people were treated for heat exhaustion amid record 113-degree temperatures. “For companies with technologies that rely on government tax credits, yes, they should be very worried,” says Diana Furchtgott-Roth, director of the Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that produced Project 2025’s governing agenda, “Mandate for Leadership.” Armed with such an agenda, a second Trump term could slow the country’s shift away from fossil fuels. “And so they want to see a return to that.” Sponsor Message Despite Biden’s focus on limiting climate change, the U.S. has produced and exported a record amount of oil under his administration. The goal, Furchtgott-Roth says, is for “America to be independent, use its sources of domestic energy and continue with the path to cleaner air.” toggle caption Mandl Ngan/AFP via Getty Images Looking back at the first term to gauge a second Trump administration Even with road maps like Project 2025 at his fingertips, it’s hard to know what Trump would do in a second term. While Trump has mocked recent clean-energy spending as a “green new scam,” Robinson says investments the country is making in manufacturing through the Inflation Reduction Act seem like they’d appeal to Trump.