Sigh.
For a few brief, shining hours on Monday night, it seemed possible that Donald Trump might actually acknowledge the reality of climate change. In the first presidential debate, he denied his statements denying climate change, entering the rarely-charted territory of denial denial. This, while not great, allowed us a night of peaceful sleep with dreams that he would make a statement denying his denial and accepting the reality that burning fossil fuels causes climate change.
But the harsh light of morning dashed those dreams. On Tuesday, Trump’s spokeswoman was quick to set the record straight, telling CNN that Trump doesn’t actually believe that it’s a hoax, but rather he just doesn’t think climate change is man-made. So it is happening, just not because of human actions. (Pence partially agrees, saying “there’s no question” that humans have “some impact” on the environment and climate.)
Given the addition of Myron Ebell to Trump’s transition team (to focus on the EPA), no one should be surprised that Trump’s stance on climate change remains the one preferred by fossil fuel-funded groups like the one that has employed Ebell for decades.
Speaking of whom, CMD has a new exposé showing that at the Republican Attorneys General Association Summit last July, Alabama AG and anti-ExxonKnew activist Luther Strange gave a presentation, alongside none other than Myron Ebell.
Oh, and Ebell’s group, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, got a mention in a fairly in-depth Senate report detailing the many nodes of the fossil fuel network that are opposing the Clean Power Plan in court. CEI, they note, has gotten “over $6 million from Koch-connected, identity-scrubbing Donors Trust and Donors Capital, in addition to $1 million directly from the Koch family foundations and David Koch, and over $1.6 million from ExxonMobil.”
Corporations using surrogate groups to advance their interests in court and manipulate the political process to their advantage? If only that were just a hoax.
Sigh.
Top Climate and Clean Energy Stories:
There Is No Good Way To Explain Donald Trump's Climate Change Tweet | How can someone deny having said something with such conviction when there is readily available evidence that he did? This is the question The Huffington Post posed to several of Trump’s surrogates
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