with 34 days left until election day, the vice presidential candidates, sen. j.d. vance (r-ohio) and gov. tim walz (d-minn), met at the cbs broadcast center in new york city in what is likely the final debate of the campaign.

one of the cbs news debate moderators norah o’donnell asked about climate change in relation to hurricane helene, which hit the southeastern united states over the weekend, and has killed more than 160 people with hundreds of more missing. o’donnell said scientists say climate change makes these hurricanes “larger, stronger and more deadly” because of the historic rainfall.

according to a cbs news poll from april, 70% of americans overall and more than 60% of republicans under the age of 45 favor the u.s. to take steps and try to reduce climate change. o’donnell first addressed vance on climate change.

“what responsibility would the trump administration have to try and reduce the impact of climate change?” o’donnell asked.

vance began his response by calling hurricane helene an “unbelievable, unspeakable human tragedy.” he said before the debate he saw a picture of two grandparents and their grandchild on a roof before it collapsed and swept them away to their deaths. 

vance took a bipartisan approach while answering the question as he said he and gov. walz’ “hearts” and “prayers” go out to those affected by hurricane helene. he said they both want the federal government to help people affected by natural disasters.

“we want as robust and aggressive as a federal response as we can get to save as many lives as possible,” vance said. 

vance said he and republican presidential nominee donald trump want to make the environment cleaner and safer since americans worry about these “crazy weather patterns.” 

even though vance began on a bipartisan approach, he then criticized the biden administration on their approach to climate change. he said his “democratic friends” are concerned about carbon emissions from manufacturing affecting the environment. vance said if the democratic party was worried about carbon emissions, they would want to consolidate manufacturing in the u.s. 

“what have kamala harris’s policies actually led to? more energy production in china, more manufacturing overseas, more doing business in some of the dirtiest parts of the entire world.” vance said. 

the biden administration in 2022 spent $583 billion on imports from china but that number then dropped to $501 billion in 2023. during the last two years of the trump administration, $479 billion was spent in 2018 and $419 billion was spent in 2019 on imports from china.  

vance also called the u.s. the “cleanest economy in the entire world.” but according to the 2023 hinrich-imd sustainable trade index (sti), which measures economies’ level of sustainability, new zealand is ranked first with the u.s. ranking ninth.  

walz then responded to vance by first addressing hurricane helene where he said he has been in contact with governors of the affected southeastern states since he was co-chair of the governor’s council. 

but walz quickly turned to addressing climate change where he said even though vance sees it as a “problem,” he criticized trump’s approach.

“donald trump called it a hoax and then joked that these things would make more beachfront property to be able to invest in,” walz said.

he then said the biden administration has made “massive” investments through the passage of the inflation reduction act which provides funding for clean energy and combating climate change. 

walz said the biden administration has created 200,000 jobs across the country. but a fact-check from cnn found the number walz mentioned includes both the current number of jobs created and anticipated jobs. 

walz also said the u.s. is both producing more natural gas and more oil along with more clean energy, compared to the past.

“we are seeing us becoming an energy superpower for the future, not just the current,” walz said. “and that’s exactly what makes sense.”

the u.s. energy information administration found increases in production in natural gas along with stating the u.s. is producing more oil than ever. the organization also states the u.s. is using more renewable energy too but considerably less than natural gas and oil. 

vance then responded to walz’s statements by drawing back on his points on how the biden administration is importing manufactured goods from other countries. he said if their administration followed their beliefs regarding climate change they should be doing more manufacturing and energy production in the u.s. 

“kamala harris herself doesn’t believe her own rhetoric on this,” vance said.

vance also said when the biden administration is creating clean energy, they are using taxpayers money to import solar panels into the u.s. from other countries such as china. instead he said the u.s. should be working to produce more solar panels domestically.

“if you really want to make the environment cleaner, you’ve got to invest in more energy production,” vance said.  

data from the international energy agency states china produces the majority of four out of five materials used to create solar panels. 

walz then responded to vance by addressing farmers in his home state of minnesota who have seen the effects of climate change by noticing a drought one year and a flood the next. he then again honed in on laws passed by the biden administration allowing the u.s. to solve the problems of climate change in the future. 

“how do we make sure that we’re protecting by burying our power lines? how do we make sure that we’re protecting lakefronts and things that we’re seeing more and more of?” walz questioned.

walz ended his response criticizing trump by saying he invited oil executives to mar-a-lago where he told them to give money to his campaign and he will do “whatever they want.”

a report from the new york times in may stated trump invited oil executives from companies such as exxonmobil and eqt corporation to mar-a-lago where he asked them to donate $1 billion to his campaign and he would “roll back” on environmental rules affecting their business. 

o’donnell concluded the climate change discussion by saying the “overwhelming consensus” among scientists is the climate is warming at an “unprecedented rate.”