“President Trump is the most significant deception in American history,” stated Nancy Pelosi to journalists on Thursday while condemning his anti-climate stance.
Trump told the international forum in the autumn month that the global warming issue was “the biggest hoax ever perpetrated on the globe.” But he was “projecting,” the speaker commented at a media briefing. The session was organized by party members on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works to provide input on the America's non-participation from the UN climate conference in South America, where 195 countries are represented.
American Absence from Climate Talks
The his government refused to send a American representatives to the annual talks – a first in the history of the summit – after removing the nation from the international climate pact on his initial day back in the White House in the winter month.
The sole US attendee to participate in the meeting was Sheldon Whitehouse, leading Democrat on the environment and public works committee and a veteran climate hawk.
“Trump cannot be seen as representing the US … on matters related to global warming,” Whitehouse said at the press conference in the nation's capital. “His allegiance lies with the oil and gas sector, and specifically his major oil industry backers when it comes to climate matters.”
Exposing Connections to Fossil Fuel Industry
Whitehouse aimed to emphasize his relationships to big oil at the climate talks in Brazil during his multi-day trip last week. The government denied him an official US badge for the summit, so he was obliged to participate as part of a advocacy organization's contingent.
The issue of fossil fuel industry influence did not begin with him, Whitehouse commented.
“It is high time we told this account accurately with the villains in it: we could not be where we were if the energy companies had not run a prolonged and deceptive drive of global warming rejection,” he stated. “And we would not be where we stand today if the fossil fuel industry had not, since the legal decision, exercised its clout to spend vast dark money in politics … to hinder sound, rational global warming policies from happening.”
Voter Support for Climate Action
Recent surveys from advocacy research group the research firm reveals that a significant majority of American electorate, a clear majority, feel the US should pursue far-reaching environmental policies even if nations abroad do not. That encompasses significant segments of the left and unaffiliated voters at a vast majority and 63% each. And it shows a largest group, 47%, of conservatives.
A majority of US voters – over half – also favor a international reduction of traditional energy sources, while a similar percentage of respondents said the United States should wind down oil consumption by the year 2100.
“The America is still very strong on climate action,” Whitehouse commented.
Democratic Leaders Speak Out
the congressional leader also remarked at the recent press conference.
“It is regrettable that the former president's government and the federal government decided not to be participating and present at the recently concluded environmental talks, essentially yielding leadership on this matter in the international arena to our rival the Asian nation,” he stated.
The speaker emerita, who has announced she will retire at the completion of her service, said she wanted to “align herself” with his comments, observing that the first international environmental conference she participated in was in the Brazilian city in 1992.
“American representatives in this was headed by the former vice president and while we were there, he delivered one of the most memorable conservation talks you ever heard,” she noted.
After the talk, he was nowhere to be found because “he was summoned by the former president to inquire if he desired to be second-in-command of the US,” she remarked.
Impact on Children
Trump’s erosion of schools, failure to tackle gun violence, and his climate policies indicate he is uniquely harmful for young people, the leader said. “The former president is the worst leader of the US for America’s children, the least effective leader the country's youth have experienced,” she concluded.
