This potential Trump adviser claims electric cars, walkable cities, and discussions on climate change are detrimental
Carla Sands, a former ambassador, concentrates on energy matters at the America First Policy Institute, a think tank aligned with Trump.
TroibNews 
Carla Sands is no stranger to unconventional ideas.
In 2019, while serving as an ambassador under then-President Donald Trump, she was involved in his ambitious plan to purchase Greenland from Denmark. More recently, Sands has made unsubstantiated claims that children are resorting to suicide to combat global warming and that the Biden administration's climate policies hint at the influence of Chinese corruption.
As Election Day approaches, Sands finds herself in a significant position to influence a far more tangible initiative—shaping the personnel and policies for a potential second Trump administration.
Since 2022, Sands has served as a senior energy official at the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), a think tank that gained considerable prominence in August when Trump appointed Linda McMahon—its board chair—as co-chair of his presidential transition team.
At AFPI, where Sands is the vice chair of the Center for Energy and Environment, she has found a platform to advocate for her controversial views on climate change.
Trump's choice of McMahon has positioned AFPI as a center of influence during a time when Trump has distanced himself from the Heritage Foundation, another prominent conservative think tank. Though both organizations pursue similar goals, the Heritage Foundation provided Democrats with a point of attack against Trump by releasing Project 2025, an extensive guide on how a second Trump administration could function.
Founded in 2021, AFPI includes several former Trump administration officials, such as former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and former Energy Secretary Rick Perry. The institute is anticipated to play a significant role in shaping personnel and policy should Trump regain the presidency.
Sands’ views on climate and energy could influence policy in a second Trump term, regardless of how extreme they might appear.
“Kids are killing themselves to save the planet,” she stated during an America First Policy Institute gathering in Texas last year. “Children are committing suicide because they don't want to put out CO2. That's how much they've brainwashed and hurt our children.”
During that same event, Sands criticized the concept of 15-minute cities, aimed at making urban areas more pedestrian-friendly. The idea has stirred controversy among far-right groups, who perceive it as a means of government overreach.
“They're geo-fencing people to 15 minutes from their home, and you have to get special permission to leave,” she asserted. “This is happening right now ... because we know climate isn't about climate at all. It's Marxism to control humanity — and I mean the working people, the great masses of the people."
While some of Sands' positions are considered fringe, others align more closely with mainstream Republican sentiments.
At AFPI, she has adopted a more moderate tone in blog posts and op-eds that resonate with broader Republican beliefs, advocating for the repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act and arguing that the Biden administration's climate policies primarily benefit China. She also speaks out against regulations affecting the oil and gas sector and has claimed that electric vehicles are more environmentally harmful than gasoline-powered cars over a 15-year period.
Stephen Moore, a senior fellow at AFPI and a Trump economic adviser, praised Sands as someone with a strong understanding of energy policy.
“I know she's very much in favor of an all-of-the-above energy strategy, and that includes oil, gas, coal, nuclear power, all of the major sources of energy that make our economy work,” Moore remarked. “I think Carla completely understands that and is committed to that.”
However, experts studying climate disinformation caution that elevating individuals like Sands to influential roles can lead to the normalization of their extreme ideas.
"They become amplified," warned Arunima Krishna, a communications professor at Boston University. “It is detrimental to our political system, to our democracy and the planet.”
Sands' trajectory into politics is unconventional.
Her late husband, Fred Sands, amassed his wealth with a real estate brokerage and investment firm. In 2015, the year he passed away from a stroke, he characterized Trump as “a joke.”
Following his death, Carla Sands hosted a significant fundraiser for Trump at their Bel Air home and contributed upwards of $200,000 to Republican candidates and political action committees during the 2016 election cycle, according to OpenSecrets, a campaign spending tracker.
Her support during the 2016 election earned her an ambassadorial position as Trump’s representative to Denmark, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands. Prior to this role, she had a varied career as a chiropractor and appeared in a few minor acting roles.
While serving as ambassador, Sands frequently breached the Hatch Act by using her government Twitter account to criticize Democrats, including a post questioning Vice President Kamala Harris's eligibility to run due to her immigrant parentage. Far-right commentator and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon lauded her as a “MAGA Steel Magnolia.”
After Trump lost the 2020 election, Sands' ambassadorship concluded, but she has remained politically active.
In 2022, she ran as a Republican for a U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania, finishing fourth in the GOP primary. During that campaign, she positioned herself as the "energy senator," despite lacking significant experience in the field.
"I want to be Pennsylvania's energy senator," Sands expressed to a local TV station. "We need a champion for American and Pennsylvania energy independence and not just independence, but let's get back to American energy dominance."
Sands continues to be a significant donor, contributing over $85,000 to aid Trump and GOP efforts in the current election cycle, according to OpenSecrets. She has also embraced a combative role.
In a 2023 appearance on the right-leaning Real America's Voice streaming network, she claimed that Biden's climate policy indicated that Chinese influence was corrupting U.S. governance.
“There's a lot of corruption in the U.S. government because of the bribery and then also this sort of sweet payments from the Chinese Communist party to help control our legislation and our, I would say, leaders in our country,” she asserted.
Eden Alem, a spokesperson for the Democratic-aligned group Climate Power, remarked that Sands' comments reflect a broader Republican denial regarding the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act, which has spawned clean energy jobs nationwide. She likened AFPI's mission to the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 initiative aimed at dismantling climate policies and energy regulations to favor the fossil fuel industry.
"Carla Sands spouting climate conspiracy theories shouldn’t come as a surprise," she noted.
"America First Policy Institute and Project 2025 are cut from the same cloth," she added. "They are Trump’s Big-Oil-backed projects that will kill our climate and clean energy progress so their Big Oil funders can continue to make record profits and pollute our communities.”
The Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comments.
Meanwhile, Harris campaign spokesperson Joseph Costello stated, “Donald Trump will sell out the middle class and our children’s future to appease the Project 2025 conspiracy theorists and enrich the billionaire oil barons who will dictate his extremist agenda.”
In recent weeks, as AFPI has become more integrated with the Trump campaign, Sands has been encouraging Republican voters to cast their ballots early.
During a rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, she opened for Trump, telling attendees, “the reason our air is cleaner was because of clean Pennsylvania natural gas."
Allen M Lee for TROIB News
In 2019, while serving as an ambassador under then-President Donald Trump, she was involved in his ambitious plan to purchase Greenland from Denmark. More recently, Sands has made unsubstantiated claims that children are resorting to suicide to combat global warming and that the Biden administration's climate policies hint at the influence of Chinese corruption.
As Election Day approaches, Sands finds herself in a significant position to influence a far more tangible initiative—shaping the personnel and policies for a potential second Trump administration.
Since 2022, Sands has served as a senior energy official at the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), a think tank that gained considerable prominence in August when Trump appointed Linda McMahon—its board chair—as co-chair of his presidential transition team.
At AFPI, where Sands is the vice chair of the Center for Energy and Environment, she has found a platform to advocate for her controversial views on climate change.
Trump's choice of McMahon has positioned AFPI as a center of influence during a time when Trump has distanced himself from the Heritage Foundation, another prominent conservative think tank. Though both organizations pursue similar goals, the Heritage Foundation provided Democrats with a point of attack against Trump by releasing Project 2025, an extensive guide on how a second Trump administration could function.
Founded in 2021, AFPI includes several former Trump administration officials, such as former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and former Energy Secretary Rick Perry. The institute is anticipated to play a significant role in shaping personnel and policy should Trump regain the presidency.
Sands’ views on climate and energy could influence policy in a second Trump term, regardless of how extreme they might appear.
“Kids are killing themselves to save the planet,” she stated during an America First Policy Institute gathering in Texas last year. “Children are committing suicide because they don't want to put out CO2. That's how much they've brainwashed and hurt our children.”
During that same event, Sands criticized the concept of 15-minute cities, aimed at making urban areas more pedestrian-friendly. The idea has stirred controversy among far-right groups, who perceive it as a means of government overreach.
“They're geo-fencing people to 15 minutes from their home, and you have to get special permission to leave,” she asserted. “This is happening right now ... because we know climate isn't about climate at all. It's Marxism to control humanity — and I mean the working people, the great masses of the people."
While some of Sands' positions are considered fringe, others align more closely with mainstream Republican sentiments.
At AFPI, she has adopted a more moderate tone in blog posts and op-eds that resonate with broader Republican beliefs, advocating for the repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act and arguing that the Biden administration's climate policies primarily benefit China. She also speaks out against regulations affecting the oil and gas sector and has claimed that electric vehicles are more environmentally harmful than gasoline-powered cars over a 15-year period.
Stephen Moore, a senior fellow at AFPI and a Trump economic adviser, praised Sands as someone with a strong understanding of energy policy.
“I know she's very much in favor of an all-of-the-above energy strategy, and that includes oil, gas, coal, nuclear power, all of the major sources of energy that make our economy work,” Moore remarked. “I think Carla completely understands that and is committed to that.”
However, experts studying climate disinformation caution that elevating individuals like Sands to influential roles can lead to the normalization of their extreme ideas.
"They become amplified," warned Arunima Krishna, a communications professor at Boston University. “It is detrimental to our political system, to our democracy and the planet.”
Sands' trajectory into politics is unconventional.
Her late husband, Fred Sands, amassed his wealth with a real estate brokerage and investment firm. In 2015, the year he passed away from a stroke, he characterized Trump as “a joke.”
Following his death, Carla Sands hosted a significant fundraiser for Trump at their Bel Air home and contributed upwards of $200,000 to Republican candidates and political action committees during the 2016 election cycle, according to OpenSecrets, a campaign spending tracker.
Her support during the 2016 election earned her an ambassadorial position as Trump’s representative to Denmark, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands. Prior to this role, she had a varied career as a chiropractor and appeared in a few minor acting roles.
While serving as ambassador, Sands frequently breached the Hatch Act by using her government Twitter account to criticize Democrats, including a post questioning Vice President Kamala Harris's eligibility to run due to her immigrant parentage. Far-right commentator and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon lauded her as a “MAGA Steel Magnolia.”
After Trump lost the 2020 election, Sands' ambassadorship concluded, but she has remained politically active.
In 2022, she ran as a Republican for a U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania, finishing fourth in the GOP primary. During that campaign, she positioned herself as the "energy senator," despite lacking significant experience in the field.
"I want to be Pennsylvania's energy senator," Sands expressed to a local TV station. "We need a champion for American and Pennsylvania energy independence and not just independence, but let's get back to American energy dominance."
Sands continues to be a significant donor, contributing over $85,000 to aid Trump and GOP efforts in the current election cycle, according to OpenSecrets. She has also embraced a combative role.
In a 2023 appearance on the right-leaning Real America's Voice streaming network, she claimed that Biden's climate policy indicated that Chinese influence was corrupting U.S. governance.
“There's a lot of corruption in the U.S. government because of the bribery and then also this sort of sweet payments from the Chinese Communist party to help control our legislation and our, I would say, leaders in our country,” she asserted.
Eden Alem, a spokesperson for the Democratic-aligned group Climate Power, remarked that Sands' comments reflect a broader Republican denial regarding the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act, which has spawned clean energy jobs nationwide. She likened AFPI's mission to the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 initiative aimed at dismantling climate policies and energy regulations to favor the fossil fuel industry.
"Carla Sands spouting climate conspiracy theories shouldn’t come as a surprise," she noted.
"America First Policy Institute and Project 2025 are cut from the same cloth," she added. "They are Trump’s Big-Oil-backed projects that will kill our climate and clean energy progress so their Big Oil funders can continue to make record profits and pollute our communities.”
The Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comments.
Meanwhile, Harris campaign spokesperson Joseph Costello stated, “Donald Trump will sell out the middle class and our children’s future to appease the Project 2025 conspiracy theorists and enrich the billionaire oil barons who will dictate his extremist agenda.”
In recent weeks, as AFPI has become more integrated with the Trump campaign, Sands has been encouraging Republican voters to cast their ballots early.
During a rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, she opened for Trump, telling attendees, “the reason our air is cleaner was because of clean Pennsylvania natural gas."
Allen M Lee for TROIB News
