For Trump, climate change a 'hoax,' EPA a fraud
Here's what The Donald has had to say about the environment
BY JOEL CONNELLY, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF
Published 5:58 pm, Tuesday, August 9, 2016
Photo: Ethan Miller, Getty Images
It’s safe to say there’s only one kind of green Donald Trump is interested in. Here is Trump, in his own words, through the years on climate change and global warming.
It’s safe to say there’s only one kind of green Donald Trump is interested in. Here is Trump, in his own words, through the years on climate change and global warming.
Photo: Ethan Miller, Getty Images
"The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive," Trump declared in a November 2012 tweet. He later retreated and called his words a "joke."
"The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive," Trump declared in a November 2012 tweet. He later retreated and called his words a "joke."
Photo: John Minchillo / Associated Press
"Well, I think climate change is just a very, very expensive form of tax," Trump told a softball Fox News interviewer early this year. "A lot of people are making a lot of money. I know much about climate change … and I often joke that this is done for the benefit of China, because China does not do anything to help climate change. They burn everything you could burn; they couldn't care less."
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"Well, I think climate change is just a very, very expensive form of tax," Trump told a softball Fox News interviewer early this year. "A lot of people are making a lot of money. I know much about climate
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Photo: Scott Olson, Getty Images
Actually, China has reached an accord with the Obama administration to gradually cap its greenhouse gas emissions, and leads the world in solar and wind energy manufacturing. The United States leads the world in per capita carbon dioxide emissions.
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Actually, China has reached an accord with the Obama administration to gradually cap its greenhouse gas emissions, and leads the world in solar and wind energy manufacturing. The United States leads the world
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"Obama's talking about all this with the global warming and … a lot of it's a hoax. It's a hoax. I mean, it's a money-making industry, OK? It's a hoax, a lot of it," Trump told a rally in South Carolina last December, at the time of the Paris climate summit.
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"Obama's talking about all this with the global warming and … a lot of it's a hoax. It's a hoax. I mean, it's a money-making industry, OK? It's a hoax, a lot of it," Trump told a rally in South Carolina last
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Photo: AP
The Republican presidential nominee promised North Dakota oil producers in May that he would "cancel the Paris Climate Agreement" and "stop all payments of U.S. tax dollars to U.N. global warming programs."
The Republican presidential nominee promised North Dakota oil producers in May that he would "cancel the Paris Climate Agreement" and "stop all payments of U.S. tax dollars to U.N. global warming programs."
Photo: ROBYN BECK, AFP/Getty Images
The climate accord was, however, signed by 195 countries which pledged to reduce carbon emissions that are a prime cause of global warming. Trump called the deal "bad for U.S. business" -- although Bill Gates and other global business leaders used Paris to unveil plans to fast-forward clean energy technologies.
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The climate accord was, however, signed by 195 countries which pledged to reduce carbon emissions that are a prime cause of global warming. Trump called the deal "bad for U.S. business" -- although Bill Gates
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Photo: Mark Lennihan
Trump pledged in a Monday speech to roll back EPA requirements that power plants cut emissions. "We will put our miners and our steelworkers back to work, where they want to be," he told the Detroit Economic Club.
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Trump pledged in a Monday speech to roll back EPA requirements that power plants cut emissions. "We will put our miners and our steelworkers back to work, where they want to be," he told the Detroit Economic
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Photo: CHET STRANGE, STR / NYT
It is unclear how he would bring back the coal industry, victim of a worldwide price slump and increasing availability of natural gas. As well, Trump charged: "The federal government has made it so hard for natural gas producers, coal producers, that they're driving them out of business."
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It is unclear how he would bring back the coal industry, victim of a worldwide price slump and increasing availability of natural gas. As well, Trump charged: "The federal government has made it so hard for
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Photo: Steve Helber
FILE - In this June 9, 2014 file photo, drivers and their tanker trucks, capable of hauling water and hydraulic fracturing liquid, line up near a natural gas burn off flame and storage tanks in Williston, N.D. According to a 2005-12 study at Geisinger Clinic in Pennsylvania, fracking may worsen asthma in children and adults who live near natural gas drilling sites. People with asthma are vulnerable to air pollution, and diesel exhaust from heavy truck traffic involved in the process may be one of the culprits, although the study doesn't prove what caused patients' symptoms. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
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FILE - In this June 9, 2014 file photo, drivers and their tanker trucks, capable of hauling water and hydraulic fracturing liquid, line up near a natural gas burn off flame and storage tanks in Williston, N.D.
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Photo: Charles Rex Arbogast, STF / Associated Press
Trump is a longtime "hoax” believer, despite compelling scientific evidence. Witness his 2014 tweet: "NBC news just called it the great freeze -- coldest weather in years. Is our country still spending money on the GLOBAL WARMING HOAX."
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Trump is a longtime "hoax” believer, despite compelling scientific evidence. Witness his 2014 tweet: "NBC news just called it the great freeze -- coldest weather in years. Is our country still spending
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Photo: David Goldman, STF
Trump is emulating Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., who brought a snowball onto the Senate floor to "refute" claims of global warming. In reality, the last decade has accounted for nine of the world's warmest years on record. Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have reached record levels.
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Trump is emulating Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., who brought a snowball onto the Senate floor to "refute" claims of global warming. In reality, the last decade has accounted for nine of the world's warmest years on
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Facts don't stop Trump. Again, early in 2014, he tweeted: "Snowing in Texas and Louisiana, record setting freezing temperatures, throughout the country and beyond. Global warming is an expensive hoax!"
Facts don't stop Trump. Again, early in 2014, he tweeted: "Snowing in Texas and Louisiana, record setting freezing temperatures, throughout the country and beyond. Global warming is an expensive hoax!"
Photo: Evan Vucci, AP
Trump was asked in a Washington Post interview whether a "good businessman" would be wise to hedge against the risks of climate change. He replied with an evasive flurry: "I think our biggest form of climate change we would worry about is nuclear weapons," he told Post editors.
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Trump was asked in a Washington Post interview whether a "good businessman" would be wise to hedge against the risks of climate change. He replied with an evasive flurry: "I think our biggest form of climate
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Trump is, however, hedging. The Trump International Golf Links in Ireland is seeking to build a wall -- no, not THAT wall -- along two miles of coastline in Ireland to stop any additional erosion due to global warming. The Donald would move in 200,000 tons of rock. Why? "Because we would expect the rate of dune recession to increase," a Trump-hired consultant said. And that's not a hoax.
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Trump is, however, hedging. The Trump International Golf Links in Ireland is seeking to build a wall -- no, not THAT wall -- along two miles of coastline in Ireland to stop any additional erosion due to global
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Photo: David Cannon, Getty
Donald Trump would abolish the Environmental Protection Agency, although he has trouble remembering its name. The Donald has referred to EPA variously as the "Department of Environmental" or the "DEP."
Donald Trump would abolish the Environmental Protection Agency, although he has trouble remembering its name. The Donald has referred to EPA variously as the "Department of Environmental" or the "DEP."
Photo: Mary Altaffer, AP
"Environmental Protection, what they do is a disgrace," he told one GOP candidates' debate. "Every week they come out with new regulations. They're making it impossible.” "Who's going to protect the environment?" asked moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News. "They -- we'll be fine with the environment," Trump replied. "We can leave a little bit, but you can't destroy businesses."
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"Environmental Protection, what they do is a disgrace," he told one GOP candidates' debate. "Every week they come out with new regulations. They're making it impossible.” "Who's going to protect the
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Photo: Andrew Milligan /PA Wire /TNS
He's wrong again. Evaluations nationally, even by conservative Forbes magazine, have shown that a livable environment is major incentive to locate businesses. It's one reason why Washington consistently ranks in the top five "Best for Business" states.
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He's wrong again. Evaluations nationally, even by conservative Forbes magazine, have shown that a livable environment is major incentive to locate businesses. It's one reason why Washington consistently ranks
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Photo: GENNA MARTIN, SEATTLEPI.COM
For Trump, climate change a 'hoax,' EPA a fraud
The latest Republicans to snub Donald Trump for Hillary Clinton are former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency bosses Bill Ruckelshaus and William Reilly, directors of the EPA under GOP Presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
In a statement Tuesday, the ex-EPA directors said the 2016 Republican presidential nominee displays a "profound ignorance of science and public health issues," while adding: "Donald Trump threatens to destroy (Republicans') legacy of respect for the environment and protection of public health."
Hyperbole or the truth? Whatever might be said about that legacy, take a look at the slideshow to see what Trump has said about environmental protection, climate change and green issues.