Business | A fossil-fuel fantasy

Donald Trump’s promise of a golden age for oil is fanciful

There is not much he could do to boost fossil fuels—or rein in clean energy

An illustration of a pudddle of oil in the shape of Donald Trump's head.
Illustration: Carl Godfrey

“We will drill, baby, drill!” So thundered Donald Trump in his speech on July 19th at the Republican National Convention, where he accepted his party’s nomination as its presidential candidate. Encouraged by rapturous applause, he warmed to the theme, vowing to boost domestic production of fossil fuels to “levels that nobody’s ever seen before”, making America so “energy dominant” that it “will supply the rest of the world”.

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This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “A fossil-fuel fantasy ”

From the July 27th 2024 edition

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