Haley went after DeSantis’s environmental record across two debates this fall, mounting a number of sharp attacks against DeSantis on the issue as she worked to build momentum both in the polls and among anti-Trump donors as the leading alternative to the former president.
The Haley campaign this week referred The Hill to DeSantis’s record on ethanol as a member of Congress prior to his governorship. During his time in the House, DeSantis co-sponsored legislation to end the Renewable Fuel Standard, which requires oil refiners to blend a minimum amount of biofuel into the U.S.’s transportation fuel.
Ethanol is a pivotal issue in the early voting state of Iowa, which holds its caucuses Jan. 15. DeSantis, whom Iowa GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds is backing, has said he would protect the mandate as president.
In a statement to The Hill, the DeSantis campaign hit back at Haley over her own past policies.
“Ron DeSantis released the most detailed energy plan of any candidate in this race to restore American energy dominance and is boldly committed to returning the price of gas to $2 a gallon in 2025 by drilling for oil in U.S. oil-rich shale deposits like the Marcellus and Bakken,” DeSantis campaign press secretary Bryan Griffin said.
“Nikki Haley, on the other hand, supported a massive gas tax increase as governor of South Carolina and would be a disaster for the wallets of working families.”
Haley and DeSantis have sparred for the No. 2 spot behind former President Trump in polls heading into the first two early voting contests.
DeSantis delivered a forceful performance in the party’s fourth debate held Wednesday and hosted by The Hill’s sister news organization NewsNation, with the governor going on the offensive against Haley on multiple issues.
Read more at TheHill.com.
