Cop29: US Democrats put on brave face as Republicans fight for cheap energy

US climate envoy says Trump won’t derail progress as GOP argues for increasing oil and gas production at UN talks

Throughout the UN climate talks in Baku, Azerbaijanin recent days, US officials have maintained a studiously sunny disposition, saying that Republican president-elect Donald Trump will not derail climate progress.

US climate envoy John Podesta said the fight “for a cleaner, safer” planet will not stop under a re-elected Trump even if some progress is reversed. White House energy secretary Jennifer Granholm said: “The absence of leadership in the White House does not mean that this energy transition is stopped.” And Joe Biden’s climate and energy assistant Jacob Levine told reporters that the president’s climate policies have sparked an unstoppable clean energy “revolution”.