The Trump White House, which has defined itself by a willingness to dismiss scientific findings and propose its own facts, on Friday issued a scientific report that directly contradicts its own climate-change policies.
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“This report will be used in court in significant ways,” said Richard L. Revesz, an expert in environmental law at New York University.“I can imagine a lawyer for the Trump administration being asked by a federal judge, ‘How can the federal government acknowledge the seriousness of the problem, and then set aside the rules that protect the American people from the problem?’ And they might squirm around coming up with an answer.”
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The 1,656-page National Climate Assessment, which is required by Congress, is the most comprehensive scientific study to date detailing the effects of global warming on the United States’ economy, public health, coastlines and infrastructure, and it describes in precise detail how the warming planet will wreak hundreds of billions of dollars of damage in coming decades. President Trump has often questioned or mocked the basic science of human-caused climate change, and is now working aggressively to encourage the burning of coal and the increase of greenhouse gas pollution.
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“This is a new frontier of disavowance of science, of disdain for facts,” said William K. Reilly, who headed the Environmental Protection Agency under the first President George Bush.
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Mr. Trump has made it a centerpiece of his administration’s policy to undo these rules. He has directed the Environmental Protection Agency to sharply weaken the nation’s two major policies for curbing planet-warming pollution: One rule would limit greenhouse emissions from vehicle tailpipes, the other from power plant smokestacks.
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More significantly, however, White House officials made the calculation that Mr. Trump’s core base of supporters most likely would not care that the report’s findings are so at odds with the president’s statements and policies.
Trump Administration’s Strategy on Climate: Try to Bury Its Own Scientific Report
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Oh well, no worries about Trump policy... I mean, we are not gassing Jews or lynching Negros, so what's to be concerned about...?
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“This report will be used in court in significant ways,” said Richard L. Revesz, an expert in environmental law at New York University.“I can imagine a lawyer for the Trump administration being asked by a federal judge, ‘How can the federal government acknowledge the seriousness of the problem, and then set aside the rules that protect the American people from the problem?’ And they might squirm around coming up with an answer.”
.
The 1,656-page National Climate Assessment, which is required by Congress, is the most comprehensive scientific study to date detailing the effects of global warming on the United States’ economy, public health, coastlines and infrastructure, and it describes in precise detail how the warming planet will wreak hundreds of billions of dollars of damage in coming decades. President Trump has often questioned or mocked the basic science of human-caused climate change, and is now working aggressively to encourage the burning of coal and the increase of greenhouse gas pollution.
.
“This is a new frontier of disavowance of science, of disdain for facts,” said William K. Reilly, who headed the Environmental Protection Agency under the first President George Bush.
.
Mr. Trump has made it a centerpiece of his administration’s policy to undo these rules. He has directed the Environmental Protection Agency to sharply weaken the nation’s two major policies for curbing planet-warming pollution: One rule would limit greenhouse emissions from vehicle tailpipes, the other from power plant smokestacks.
.
More significantly, however, White House officials made the calculation that Mr. Trump’s core base of supporters most likely would not care that the report’s findings are so at odds with the president’s statements and policies.
Trump Administration’s Strategy on Climate: Try to Bury Its Own Scientific Report
.
----------------------------------------------------------------
.
Oh well, no worries about Trump policy... I mean, we are not gassing Jews or lynching Negros, so what's to be concerned about...?
