The western coast of the United States has been ravaged by wildfires that have colored the skies post-apocalyptic shades of red and orange and forced thousands of people to evacuate. During a roundtable discussion about the wildfires on Monday, officials didn’t seem comforted by President Donald Trump’s responses.
During that roundtable, California Secretary for Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot told Trump, “We’ve had temperatures explode this summer. You may have learned that we broke a world record in the Death Valley — 130 degrees. But even in greater LA, 120-plus degrees. And we’re seeing this warming trend make our summers warmer but also our winters warmer as well.”
He added, “We want to work with you to really recognize the changing climate and what it means to our forests and actually work together with that science. That science is going to be key because if we ignore that science and sort of put our head in the sand and think it’s all about vegetation management, we’re not going to succeed together protecting Californians.”
After a moment, Trump responded, “It’ll start getting cooler. You just watch.”
Crowfoot told the president, “I wish science agreed with you.”
But Trump added, “Well, I don’t think science knows, actually.”
President Trump: "It'll start getting cooler. You just watch."
— The Hill (@thehill) September 14, 2020
Wade Crowfoot, CA Sec. for Natural Resources: "I wish science agreed with you."
President Trump: "Well, I don't think science knows actually." pic.twitter.com/L98SD0l0cH
Trump has historically scoffed at climate change. Before becoming president, he called climate change a “hoax” and declared that “the concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.”
The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2012
Since becoming president, he hasn’t significantly changed his stance on climate change.
In 2018, when asked about a comprehensive report produced by his administration that outlined the economic damages that climate change will have on the United States, Trump said, “I don’t believe it.”
During his remarks on Monday, Democratic nominee Joe Biden blasted Trump’s stance on climate change, he said, “If we have four more years of Trump’s climate denial, how many suburbs will be burned in wildfires? How many suburban neighborhoods will have been flooded out? How many suburbs will have been blown away in super storms?”