President Donald Trump on Tuesday cast doubt on a United Nations report warning that we have just 12 years to curb climate change by suggesting it wasn't more credible than reports that say the environment is "fabulous."
The UN report, which is based on more than 6,000 scientific references from 91 authors across 40 countries, outlines the impact of global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. It warns that the world is rapidly running out of time before the planet will see catastrophic effects.
Drafted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the UN's climate-change body, the report calls for "rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society."
Trump said on the White House lawn on Tuesday that the UN report "was given to me."
"And I want to look at who drew it, you know, which group drew it," he said.
He suggested that other reports were as valid as the UN's, though he did not specify any.
"I can give you reports that are fabulous, and I can give you reports that aren't so good," Trump said.
Trump has previously called climate change a "hoax" and tweeted in 2012 that "the concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make US manufacturing non-competitive."
Activists protested after Trump withdrew the US from the Paris climate accord last year. Drew Angerer/Getty Images
As president, Trump has been unwilling to take steps to curb climate change that he feels would damage some industries.
Last year, he announced he would pull the US out of the landmark Paris agreement on climate change. The accord, signed by 195 nations in December 2015, set a global goal of keeping the planet from warming by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. Trump's decision was met with condemnation from several world leaders.
"We are going to be environmentally friendly, but we're not going to put our businesses out of work, and we're not going to lose our jobs," Trump said at the time. "We're going to grow."
BKWhitty on October 10th, 2018 at 17:07 UTC »
I wanna get off this ride already. The just sheer rejection of science and intellect not just by him but but the legions that support him and others like him is just terrifying
HycAMoment on October 10th, 2018 at 14:18 UTC »
Of course the climate is still fabulous enough... for a 72 year old who'll walk among us for the next 15 years or so and doesn't care about what'll happen after he's gone...
Serpent_of_Rehoboam on October 10th, 2018 at 13:36 UTC »
Why listen to science when we have a reality TV game show host telling us everything is fine?