“From day one, my administration has made it a top priority to make sure America has among the very cleanest air and cleanest water on the planet,” President Donald Trump said in a
Trump defends environmental record that critics call disastrous (Washington Post): Amid claims that his Administration is working “harder than many previous administrations” on environmental issues, Trump called for “the cleanest air, we want crystal clear water. And that’s what we’re doing…These are incredible goals that everyone in this country can rally behind, and they are rallying behind.” But keeping it real, former Rep. Carlos Curbelo said “the president’s rhetoric and the statements he’s made on climate are, at best, disingenuous.” The President failed to mention the words climate change in his speech.
Related: A Washington Post-ABC News poll released the day before Trump’s speech found that 62 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of climate change.
Donald Trump called climate change a hoax. Now he’s awkwardly boasting about fighting it (TIME) While Trump didn’t specifically mention climate change, he “bragged that the U.S. has exceeded other countries in nixing greenhouse gas emissions. ‘Every single one of the signatories to the Paris climate accord lags behind America,’ he said.” This is significant in that “the claim appears to be an acknowledgement by the President that climate change is an actual problem that the United States should be addressing, something he has previously dismissed.”
Shep Smith from Fox News responded best. (h/t to Senator Maggie Hassan’s twitter feed, the only place I could find the clip.)
President Trump left out quite a few facts when talking about his environmental record today but @ShepNewsTeam filled in the gaps on @FOXNews ?? pic.twitter.com/kyOqwccQHS
Sen. Maggie Hassan (@SenatorHassan) July 8, 2019
Many are still scratching their heads as to why this speech now, but maybe Florida’s leadership on the environment is setting the tone: How Florida’s summer of slime turned Republicans into eco-warriors. “The steps the governor has offered could clean up the state’s waterways, save its coasts, and provide a template for how a Republican executive can do right by the environment in a time when stewardship seems bitterly partisan,” the article reads.
Happy Tuesday!