California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) hit back at Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy on Thursday after the businessman reiterated his calls to increase the production of fossil fuels.
Ramaswamy has quickly become one of the loudest deniers of climate change in the 2024 race, calling Democratic efforts to limit planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions a “wet blanket on the economy.” Newsom, on the other hand, spoke before the United Nations this week to lambast the oil and gas industry for decades of “deceit and denial.”
Ramaswamy used the moment to criticize the governor’s message, writing that the climate change agenda has “NOTHING to do with the climate and everything to do with letting China catch up to the U.S.”
“Drill. Frack. Use Coal,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Embrace Nuclear.”
Newsom wasn’t having it.
“Keep auditioning for the hall of fame for the most ignorant analysis of science,” Newsom replied. “Your coal agenda is up there with your 9/11 theories.”
The governor was referencing Ramaswamy’s comments questioning the government’s report on the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
California has led state-driven efforts to address climate change.
Newsom announced earlier this month that he would sign a landmark climate bill into law that requires major companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions. The shift will have major implications for the state and for climate action around the globe.
California is the world’s fifth largest economy, and publicly naming the carbon emissions linked to businesses in the state would add environmental context to many major companies and their production.