| The Republican National Convention began today amid a burst of historic drama — from former President Donald Trump’s survival of Saturday’s assassination attempt to this afternoon’s announcement of his running mate, populist Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance. Beneath it all, though, is a Mariana Trench-sized chasm between the two parties’ visions on energy policy — including a brief Republican platform that promises to “unleash Energy Production” by boosting fossil fuels and slashing regulations. The GOP messaging on the energy front will be part of a broader effort by Trump’s campaign to win over the swing voters who turned against him four years ago. One big question is how exactly he does that. Trump spent last week trying to distance himself from the much more detailed Project 2025, a 900-page policy blueprint partly written by his former Cabinet officials. The document outlines how a second Trump administration could carry out a slew of policy priorities, including gutting federal climate research, slashing funding for environmental agencies and removing climate science from military planning. Now the GOP campaign playbook is evolving in the wake of the shooting, writes Robin Bravender. “We’re going to see what the message is coming out of the convention,” George David Banks, who worked on climate policy in the Trump White House, told Robin. Trump, he said, has a moment to “try to be a unifier.” Trump, however, eschewed the advice of some Republicans who urged him to choose a vice president who would add racial diversity to the ticket or appeal to moderates. As Timothy Cama writes today, Vance is a onetime Trump critic turned firebrand loyalist who questions the reality of climate change (a 180 from his views before he entered politics). The Ohio Republican won his Senate seat by running on an ardently pro-Trump agenda — and has introduced legislation to repeal the federal tax credit for electric vehicles. Tricky messaging Democrats may also recalibrate their messaging after the attack. The Biden campaign has focused on both policy and harsh attacks on Trump in recent weeks, highlighting Project 2025 and leaning on President Joe Biden’s success in securing billions of dollars for clean energy programs. A draft platform from the Democratic National Committee — obtained by POLITICO over the weekend — delves into the details. At 80 pages, it dwarfs the 16-page GOP platform and includes plans to eliminate oil and gas subsidies, encourage transmission upgrades and “grid-component manufacturing,” and scale up clean energy development on public lands. The DNC could approve the platform as soon as this week, with a final vote at the party’s convention in Chicago next month.
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