Trump dismisses need for climate change action: ‘We have the cleanest water we’ve ever had, we have the cleanest air’

(The Guardian, 1 Jul 2019) ‘It doesn’t always work with a windmill,’ says US president as he rejects green energy.

Donald Trump has again dismissed the need to tackle climate change by saying the US has the cleanest air and water “ever”.

The president, speaking at the G20 Summit in Japan, also claimed that wind power “does not work” because it has to be heavily subsidised.

“We have the cleanest water we have ever had, we have the cleanest air we’ve ever had, but I’m not willing to sacrifice the tremendous power of what we’ve built up over a long period of time and what I’ve enhanced and revived,” he said.

“I’m not sure that I agree with certain countries with what they are doing, they are losing a lot of power. I am talking about the powering of a plant.

“It doesn’t always work with a windmill. When the wind goes off, the plant isn’t working. It doesn’t always work with solar because solar’s just not strong enough, and a lot of them want to go to wind, which has caused a lot of problems.

“Wind doesn’t work for the most part without subsidy. The United States is paying tremendous amounts of subsidies for wind. I don’t like it, I don’t like it.” 

External link

The Guardian, 1 Jul 2019: Trump dismisses need for climate change action: ‘We have the cleanest water we’ve ever had, we have the cleanest air’