The label “flat earther” is usually reserved for skeptics of man-made global warming, but now President-elect Donald Trump’s team is comparing climate science “consensus” to the belief the world was flat.
“[W]e did a lot of things wrong in the scientific community,” Anthony Scaramucci, a member of Trump’s executive committee, said on CNN Wednesday, according to Politico. Scaramucci was responding to the often used talking point that the scientific “consensus” backs man-made global warming.
Scaramucci went on to compare “researched climate change findings to the centuries-old belief that the world was flat,” Politico reports. Effectively turning the label on politicians and activists who have spent years applying it to skeptics.
“Of course it’s a genuine commitment to clean air and clean water, Chris, whether you accept the science or not,” Scaramucci told CNN’s Chris Cuomo.
“It’s better for the United States and better for the world to have the U.S. be energy independent,” Scaramucci said. “Have us have clean air and clean water and protect the environment for future generations of Americans. All of that makes sense.”
For years, Democrats have applied the “flat earther” label to Republicans and conservative activists skeptical of federal regulations aimed at tackling global warming.
Secretary of State John Kerry said in Dec. 2015 that “we need to make clear that those members of the flat earth society are on the wrong side of history.” He was referring to opponents of the Paris climate agreement — aka Republicans.
In 2013, President Barack Obama told students at Georgetown University he lacked “patience for anyone who denies that this problem is real.”
“We don’t have time for a meeting of the flat-Earth society,” Obama said. “Sticking your head in the sand might make you feel safer, but it’s not going to protect you from the coming storm.”
Democrats and environmentalists hounded Trump throughout the presidential race for calling global warming a “hoax” and opposing federal energy regulations. Eco-criticism of Trump only grew when he announced cabinet picks labeled “climate deniers” by activists.
But Trump won the election, and now his transition team is turning the tables on Democrats, many of whom were confident they’d be dealing with a President-elect Hillary Clinton.
“The president-elect is a very common sense oriented guy and basically what he said is if we reduce carbon emissions, the air is going to get cleaner. That’s a positive thing whether you believe in climate change or not,” Scaramucci told CNN.
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