Fifth GOP presidential primary debate: on Energy & Oil

Donald Trump: Electric car mandate is the craziest thing I've ever heard

Nikki Haley: Not smart to mandate electric cars too by 2035

HALEY: Everybody wants to have clean air, clean water. But how do we do that? The first thing is, you don't deal in extremes. The second thing is, we'll roll back all of Biden's green subsidies because they're misplaced. Rather than putting anything towards innovation--nuclear fusion and other things that reduce emissions--[Democrats want] everybody to drive an electric car by 2035. That's not even smart. By the way, Ron [DeSantis] took Biden's stimulus money and did charging stations all throughout Florida. I wouldn't have taken the stimulus money. But what that does is basically, we don't have the infrastructure. Not just charging stations--electric vehicles are heavy. Our roads and bridges wouldn't be able to handle that if we did that because they're heavy in weight. Not to mention 70% of the batteries in electric cars are made in China. If we're going to do it, innovate it, transition and do it the right way, not in extremes.

Ron DeSantis: Choose the Marcellus Shale over the Mullahs

HALEY (on DeSantisLies.com): DeSantis long opposed ethanol before he decided to run for president. In 2015, DeSantis introduced legislation to repeal the Renewable Fuel Standard, and cosponsored five pieces of legislation to repeal it.

Ron DeSantis: Kneecapping reliable energy means rolling blackouts

DESANTIS: On day one as President, we take Biden's Green New Deal and we throw it in the trash can. It is bad for this country. We have to have reliable energy. You're going to end up having rolling blackouts if they kneecap reliable energy production in this country. Florida's had a massive decline in emissions--wasn't because of a single mandate. It was because of innovation, because a lot of natural gas has replaced coal. We do have market-based solar, but we cannot walk away from reliable energy. The left wants you to pay more for everything. We need you to pay less for energy. We cannot have these mandates and they'll be gone the day I'm President.

Q: Would you do anything to deal with the underlying cause?

DESANTIS: Innovate, and here's the thing. China is building two coal plants a week. So, why would we be cutting off our nose to spite our face? China is the problem here, and so hold them accountable.