Trump delivers dumbest climate speech of all time
The president's easily-debunked 10-minute climate tirade at the U.N. was so stupid and unoriginal, it was actually kind of funny.
President Donald Trump has implemented a new rule in the White House: No one is allowed to say “coal.”
”I have a little standing order in the White House: Never use the word coal,” Trump said Tuesday in a speech to the United Nationals General Assembly. “Only use the words: Clean, beautiful coal. Sounds much better, doesn't it?”
“Clean, beautiful coal” does sound much better than “coal.” Just like “healthy, patriotic smog” sounds much better than “smog.” And “safe, glistening pools of American abundance” sounds much better than “oil spills.”
But oil spills aren’t safe, smog isn’t healthy, and coal isn’t clean, no matter what Trump would like the world to believe. Fortunately, in his 10-minute tirade on Tuesday about how climate change is the “greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world,” Trump didn’t say anything all that novel, intelligent, or convincing.
Mostly, Trump just regurgitated the same, tired, easily-debunked talking points he and the oil industry have been repeating for twenty years. It was so unoriginal it was actually kind of funny—in a sad, pathetic way.
Some highlights, and responses:
“We're getting rid of the falsely named renewables. By the way, they're a joke. They don't work. They're too expensive.”
Compared to what? Most renewable energy is cheaper than fossil fuels. On average, solar is currently 41 percent cheaper than the lowest-cost fossil fuels for electricity generation. Offshore wind is 53 percent cheaper.
“You lose money, the governments have to subsidize [renewable energy]. You can't put them out without massive subsidies."
Again—compared to what? Because fossil fuels currently receive nine times as much government consumption subsidies as renewables. Global fossil fuel subsidies amounted to $620 billion in 2023, compared to $70 billion for renewables, according to the International Energy Agency.
“The executive director of the United Nations Environmental Program predicted that by the year 2000, climate change would cause a global catastrophe. He said that it will be irreversible as any nuclear holocaust would be. This is what they said at the United Nations. What happened?”
He was mostly right. Climate change is causing a global catastrophe and many of the impacts are irreversible. Mostafa K. Tolba’s prediction was not correct on timing, but he made it literally 43 years ago. Since then, the field of climate science has only gotten more advanced, with tens of thousands of papers published, leading to more accurate predictions over time. Amazing, right?
“Another U.N. official stated in 1989 that within a decade, entire nations could be wiped off the map by global warming. Not happening!”
Yeah, it is happening. Low-lying island nations like Tuvalu, Kiribati, and Fiji are literally being swallowed by the rising ocean, and populations are being forced to evacuate. Because of this, Australia has had to create a new type of visa for climate refugees.
(Also, the official Trump is talking about—Noel Brown, the director of the U.N. Environment Program’s New York office—did not actually predict these nations would sink “within a decade.” He said we needed to reverse the trend of increasing emissions by the end of the decade, or else the world would eventually see catastrophic, irreversible impacts. Reading is hard, I know!)
“You know, it used to be global cooling. If you look back years ago, in the 1920s and the 1930s, they said, ‘Global cooling will kill the world. We have to do something.’”
Not true. While there may have been some individual researchers expressing concern about potential cooling in the 1920s, it was not a widespread scientific prediction. In fact, more scientists at this time were sounding the alarm about rising temperatures due to burning coal.
“Then they said global warming will kill the world, but then it started getting cooler. So now they could just call it climate change, because that way they can’t miss. Climate change, if it goes higher or lower, whatever the hell happens, it’s climate change. It’s the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world, in my opinion.”
Look, I understand the urge to call things a scam when they’re slightly complicated and hard to understand. But when you’re the president, you have to do hard things. So I’ll spell it out as simply as I can: When you raise the average temperature across the entire planet, sometimes weather patterns in certain areas do wacky, unexpected things that aren’t just getting hotter! For example: A warming Arctic produces a weaker jet stream, which then can bring Arctic air further south, causing more cold snaps in certain places. That’s not a scam; it’s science!
“I’m really good at predicting things. I don’t say that in a braggadocios way, but it’s true. I’ve been right about everything. And I am telling you that if you don’t get away from the green energy scam, your country is going to fail.”
Well, that’s enough evidence for me. Wrap it up, everyone!
Catch of the Day: Living in the Northwest, Yosemite Sam is accustomed to cold water. But when he has it warm, he prefers it be from a heat pump water heater.
Thanks to reader Thomas for the submission.
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This would all be funnier if the implications weren't so deadly serious. That's what's so frustrating about this situation. Trump and his cronies aren't serious people, but they've been given the keys to the car, so we need to reckon with the damage they can do. It's like a toddler putting a colander on his head like a helmet and laughing at him...until you realize that the toddler is somehow holding a loaded handgun. Suddenly, the silly child being silly isn't a joke anymore.
Thank you for addressing Trump’s ridiculous comments in such a timely manner.