JD Vance: Climate activists alarmed by Trump’s ‘dangerous’ pick for vice president

Campaigners are responding with alarm to the selection of climate denier and Ohio senator JD Vance as Donald Trump’s vice presidential nominee, with activists warning he represents a “dangerous” voice for the US.

Mr Vance, a staunch supporter of the oil and gas industry and an opponent of renewable energy, was announced as Mr Trump’s vice-presidential candidate on Monday.

Despite previously acknowledging the climate crisis, Mr Vance now strongly supports the fossil fuel industry, a major financial contributor to his campaign.

His formal nomination as the Republican vice presidential candidate was met with strong reactions from climate groups.

The activist group Climate Defiance responded with a thread on X saying it was committed to fighting against “climate criminals” and shared an undated video of its protesters breaking into a fundraising dinner for Mr Vance’s campaign.

“JD Vance hates you and hates your children. He is ready and willing to tear down democracy and torch the planet. His only principle is power. We must stop him. And. We. Will,” the group wrote on X.

The Independent has reached out to JD Vance for comment on this story.

Mr Vance’s views on the climate crisis have evolved over time, much in the way he has changed his stance on Mr Trump himself.

As recently as 2020 he said he wanted to take Ohio to a “clean energy future” by ditching oil. “We have a climate problem in our society,” he said in a speech at Ohio State University.

His tone had changed dramatically just two years later, however, when he was seeking support from Mr Trump for his senate race.

“I’m sceptical of the idea that climate change is caused purely by man,” Mr Vance told the American Leadership Forum in 2022.

He claimed that year