GOP nominee Donald Trump told the Miami Herald that “there could be some impact” from climate change, but that he doesn’t believe it’s a “devastating impact.” Trump reiterated he’s “not a big believer in manmade climate change,” indicating that the changes in sea level rise, which pose a threat to many of Florida’s coastal communities, are the result of “a change of weather patterns.”
“I would say it goes up, it goes down, and I think it’s very much like this over the years,” he said. “Certainly, climate has changed… We’ll see what happens. I mean, we’ll see what happens.”
Trump emphasized he supports “crystal clean water and air” and that “we have a lot to do with that, keeping our water clean, keeping our air clean,” but suggested American businesses cannot compete domestically because of environmental regulations. He went on to say that if local communities wanted to take adaptation measures, “they should do it.”
“If they’re doing the roads, and if they want to make them higher, I think that’s probably not the worst thing I’ve ever heard, if you’re going to do them anyway,” Trump said.