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There’s been a lot of outrage at President Trump’s baseless dismissal of climate change at a press conference in California this past week. As the LA Times explained, the science shows us that when it comes to wildfires, the last 10 years have shattered records, and 2020 tops them all. Lives are at stake and the President flippantly dismissed the root cause of such deadly fires.
But denying a frightening reality is a pattern of behavior for Trump. As the latest recordings from journalist Bob Woodward’s interview with the President reveal the starkest account of the President’s willingness to mislead the public on matters of science and public health. Woodward’s interview reveals that Trump knew just how dangerous the coronavirus was but continued to downplay risks and attack leaders taking action to protect their citizens.
Why This Matters: What the President says matters. Estimates show that over 80% of COVID-19-related deaths could have been prevented in the U.S. through a better response. And now that President Trump is denying the urgency of climate change and supporting conspiracy theories, people are succumbing to fake news and refusing to leave their homes when prompted to evacuate.
More on Woodward: As Vox wrote about the latest recordings from the Woodward interview with Trump, the President said one thing privately, and another thing publicly.
There are many parallels between these actions and how the conservative media ecosystem is amplifying Trump’s lies. Trump apparently acknowledges science in private and denies it in public, which perhaps is a ploy to distract from the fact that he lacks a plan to address both the coronavirus pandemic as well as the climate crisis.
by Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer A new study released by Conservation International found that tuna populations will likely be pushed from the waters of 10 Pacific Small Island Developing States (SIDS) due to climate change. For nations that rely on tuna as a source of food and income, the consequences could be devastating. Conservation International urges the global […]
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By Ashira Morris, ODP Staff Writer Earlier this month, devastating floods washed through western Germany, leaving people dead and swaths of cities destroyed. It was the worst flooding Central Europe has seen in decades, and the short, intense rainfall is “one of the hallmark manifestations of a human-warmed climate,” as Yale Climate Connections put it. […]
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by Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer Carbon border taxes are gaining popularity in North America and Europe, but many are skeptical that taxing imports from countries with weak emissions policies will encourage climate action. Others are calling border taxes unjust. John Kerry, the U.S. Climate Envoy, called border tax policies a “last resort.” Nevertheless, Congressional Democrats have already proposed one […]
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