Zeus: Political plan emerges that could end the climate culture debate - for good

Project 2025 would stop the clock on progress toward climate mitigation.

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The historic town of Lahaina in West Maui has been devastated by wildfire — one of many fires burning in Hawaii, fanned by winds from Hurricane Dora. Many structures have burned, power outages are widespread and communities are trying to evacuate. Strong winds also have added to power problems and grounded firefighting helicopters. News reports said residents were forced to jump into the ocean to escape the flames. Above, fire rages overnight in Lahaina. Photo: Mathew Thayler via The Hotshot Wake Up/Twitter.

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(David Callaway is founder and Editor-in-Chief of Callaway Climate Insights. He is the former president of the World Editors Forum, Editor-in-Chief of USA Today and MarketWatch, and CEO of TheStreet Inc. His climate columns have appeared in USA Today, The Independent, and New Thinking magazine).

SAN FRANCISCO (Callaway Climate Insights) — The Republican backlash against climate change investment and regulation in the past year has largely failed to convince most investors, business leaders, or even voters that it is a defining political and cultural issue. Now strategists are taking out the big guns.

Project 2025, first reported over the weekend by The New York Times, is a blueprint for the next Republican president to essentially dismantle President Joe Biden’s climate law and any new regulations tied to it, and simply call for more drilling. The 1,000-page plan is part of a strategy to place more authority over any laws in the hands of the executive branch.

While not unexpected, its threat vaults climate change to the front of 2024 presidential campaign issues.