McCormick discusses climate, education at Penn College Republicans fireside chat

Penn College Republicans hosted a discussion about climate and education with Republican senatorial candidate Dave McCormick. 

The fireside chat, which was hosted in partnership with American Conservation Coalition Action, took place at Two Locals Brewing on Oct. 23. Approximately 50 students, Penn affiliates, ACCA members, and Philadelphia community members attended the event. 

Earlier this year, Two Locals Brewing opened as the first Black-owned brewery in University City. 

ACC Action is a conservative, nonprofit environmental advocacy group that seeks to apply conservative approaches to environmental issues. The phrase “Conservation is Conservative” was written on a sign behind McCormick and event moderators. 

McCormick discussed his economic and energy priorities in the discussion, and emphasized the need to eliminate inflation, unlock energy potential, and create skilled workers. He focused on the importance of fair trade, national security, and embracing natural gas and nuclear energy.

In the discussion, College Republicans moderator and Wharton sophomore Finn Broder asked McCormick about his thoughts on the Penn Wharton Budget Model brief that both Vice President Kamala Harris and 1968 Wharton graduate and former President Donald Trump referenced in their presidential debate. 

The brief assessed Trump’s 2024 campaign policy proposals, and found that his tax and spending proposals would increase primary deficits by an estimated $5.8 trillion in the next decade. In contrast, its brief on Harris' campaign policy proposals estimated that her plan would increase primary deficits by $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years.

“I won’t comment on that, because I don’t know know the Wharton study much, but I think you should be skeptical of the experts,” McCormick responded. 

”I think what we’ve learned is that you need to see both sides of the argument,” McCormick later told The Daily Pennsylvanian. “We're in a world where we’re getting all sorts of conflicting, often very inaccurate information… we need to be in a society where we’re skeptical and build confidence by making sure we’re seeing all different sides." 

After a 30-minute panel discussion with College Republicans, McCormick spoke with ACC Action President Chris Barnard about conservative conservation beliefs and initiatives.

McCormick spoke about his personal experiences working on a farm in Pennsylvania and his time as a lieutenant during the Gulf War. He emphasized the importance of becoming energy independent, and his support for fracking, wind, solar, and nuclear energy as a means to reducing global carbon emissions. 

"I’m a strong believer that climate change is a phenomenon that we’re going to have to channel,” McCormick said. “How much of it we can mitigate remains to be seen, and it’s something we need to adapt to, and carbon emissions, which are driven, in at least in part by human activity, needs to be addressed in a very thoughtful way.”

He added that innovation and harnessing the power of natural gas were also important approaches. He mentioned that students at Penn, as well as other universities across Pennsylvania and the U.S. have to help “bend the curve” through innovation. 

“Climate change is 100% real. And young people, young republicans, young democrats, even they, all agree that climate change is real,” ACC Action Eastern Regional Director Brian Martinez told the DP. “Dave McCormick is someone that understand that. That’s why ACC actually endorsed him.”

Martinez urged Penn students to act and help ameliorate the issue.

“[E]very single person has a responsibility and duty to act on climate, whether it’s just getting your hands dirty and touching grass… by doing a cleanup, by doing the tree planting, by going up and just doing policy events,” Martinez said. “I think [this event] was a great opportunity to show that young people can talk about the issues… and prove that conservation is conservative.” 

After the discussion, McCormick spoke with the DP about the importance of young people in politics.

“I think your generation is the future,” he said. “I think we need to have smart, thoughtful, conservative leaders that are engaged as young people and ultimately fill these roles I’m seeking.”