President Donald Trump on Monday rejected projections that climate change will cause severe economic harm to the U.S. economy, findings outlined by a report his own U.S. government published last week.
The congressionally mandated report
www.globalchange.gov said that climate change will cost the country's economy billions of dollars by the end of the century, but Trump said he does not believe the economic impacts will be devastating.
“I’ve seen it, I’ve read some of it, and it’s fine,” the Republican president told reporters at the White House. Asked about severe economic impacts, he said, “I don’t believe it.”
The report was issued on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, when many Americans traditionally go shopping, a timing that Trump’s critics said was chosen to bury the report.
Last year, Trump announced his intent to withdraw the United States from the 2015 Paris deal to combat climate change, becoming the first country of 200 to do so. Due to U.N. rules, he cannot quit the deal until after the 2020 presidential election.
“Right now, we’re at the cleanest we’ve ever been and it’s very important to me,” Trump said. “But if we’re clean but every other place on Earth is dirty, that’s not so good.”
