EPA chief Scott Pruitt kicked off Sean Spicer's daily press briefing Friday by commending President Trump for his decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris accord. "The president made a very courageous decision yesterday. He put America first," he said.
As soon as the briefing opened up to questions, Pruitt was immediately asked whether Trump believes climate change is real. Pruitt, like other senior WH officials who have repeatedly been asked the same question, refused to answer. He was asked 3 times. Spicer was later asked the same question, and he also failed to respond, instead saying "I have not had an opportunity to have that discussion."
Vladimir Putin spoke with Megyn Kelly during a panel at St. Petersburg's Economic Forum on Friday. Kelly grilled him on questions about alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. election, NATO, and Syria, and Putin didn't shy away:
"Ten years ago, 'An Inconvenient Truth,' the documentary about Al Gore giving a slideshow presentation about an obscure scientific issue, became an unlikely blockbuster that sparked a global conversation about the climate crisis."
The most revealing moment of President Trump's announcement that he is withdrawing from the Paris climate deal came in an off-hand response of a White House official after Trump's speech. Asked whether Trump thinks climate change is real, the official said: "Can we stay on topic?"
Why this matters: To the Trump administration, the Paris climate deal has nothing to do with climate change. It's an economic issue. To Trump, withdrawing from the accord represents a triumph of populist America over greedy globalism.
Unlike other policy goals (healthcare and tax reform) Trump isn't even acknowledging climate change is a problem. That makes his overtures about being open to renegotiate and re-enter the Paris deal suspect. Speaking after Trump, administration officials didn't offer any specific ways in which Trump would do that, with one official beginning but not finishing the following sentence before switching topics: "You'll see actions in the coming weeks..."
Environmentalists and scientists aren't the only ones who are upset about President Trump's decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord. Leaders at many of the country's largest hospital systems are grumbling behind the scenes that the withdrawal is a mistake after pleading with the Trump administration this month to stay.
Between the lines: Hospitals are on the front lines of climate change, as studies have shown climate change increases the incidence of infectious diseases, respiratory illnesses and other health problems.
