Trump doesn't believe Trump administration report on climate change
In a stunning display of ignorance, Trump rejected the findings of scientists from 13 federal agencies on the devastating impacts of climate change.
Trump is willing to believe almost any conspiracy theory you put in front of him — but somehow he refuses to believe what scientists in his own administration are saying about the impacts of climate change.
On Friday, scientists from 13 federal agencies released the National Climate Assessment — a comprehensive, 1,600-page report on the devastation that climate change has already brought to the United States, and how much worse it will get if nothing changes.
Climate change has already doubled the levels of destruction from wildfires in California and elsewhere in the Southwest.
These and other extreme weather events, like hurricanes, will only get more severe and more frequent as global temperatures continue to increase. Rising sea levels will be catastrophic for coastal homes and businesses.
And all of this is going to get very, very expensive.
“Flooding from rising sea levels and storms is likely to destroy, or make unsuitable for use, billions of dollars of property by the middle of this century, with the Atlantic and Gulf coasts facing greater-than-average risk compared to other regions of the country,” the climate report found.
In a worst-case scenario, the report found, the U.S. economy will suffer hundreds of billions of dollars in losses.
But when a reporter asked Monday about the “devastating” economic impacts forecasted by the report, Trump buried his head in the sand.
“I don’t believe it,” Trump said. “No, no, I don’t believe it,” he reiterated, lest anyone think he would actually pay attention to the conclusions of scientists who work in his own administration.
The Trump administration has a history of censoring the work of its own scientists in order to promote Trump’s own false, ignorant views about how the world works.
Trump, a failed casino owner and former game show host with no expertise or even basic curiosity about science, has expressed skepticism about climate change more than 100 times on Twitter.
He is so scientifically illiterate, he thinks all it takes to prevent wildfires is raking leaves on forest floors.
Trump is either so ignorant that he thinks he knows more about climate change than his own scientists, or so arrogant that he thinks no amount of destruction can hurt the “great” economy he claims to be building.
Both options are worrisome.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
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