President Donald Trump’s chief economic adviser has cast doubt on the United Nation’s warning to fix climate change quickly or else face dire environmental consequences.
“Personally, I think the U.N. study is way, way too difficult. I won’t say it’s a scare tactic, but I think they overestimate,” Larry Kudlow, director of the White House National Economic Council, said during a Sunday interview with George Stephanopoulos. “These models have not been very successful in the last twenty years and we have to be cognizant of the work that needs to be done.”
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow speaks in front of a TV camera at the White House in Washington, U.S., October 5, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Kudlow’s comments pertain to a recent U.N. Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change report that claims the world has only 12 years to dramatically reduce its carbon emissions or else face irreversible warming. The study — which was conducted by 91 scientists from 40 different countries — finds that keeping global temperatures from rising 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2100 is needed in order to prevent the worst possible outcomes from climate change. The report urged a 45 percent reduction in global greenhouse gases by 2030 and total carbon neutrality by 2050.
However, the U.N. report also found “little basis” for believing that global warming has caused extreme weather such as flood, drought, tornadoes and hurricanes to exacerbate.
“I’m not denying any climate change issues. “I’m just saying,” Kudlow continued, “How much of it is man made? How much of it is solar? How much of it is oceanic? How much of it is rain forests and other issues? I think we’re still exploring all of that. I don’t think we should panic. I don’t think there’s an imminent catastrophe coming.” (RELATED: Larry Kudlow Says American Energy Can Upend Russia’s Influence)
Kudlow has not been the only person in the Trump administration to express doubt on the U.N.’s dire warnings. Trump himself expressed hesitation over the report, telling the media he wished to “look into” the people who wrote it.
“[The report] was given to me. It was given to me,” the president said on Tuesday. “And I want to look at who drew it. You know, which group drew it. Because I can give you reports that are fabulous, and I can give you reports that aren’t so good. But I will be looking at it. Absolutely.”
U.S. officials have criticized some of the language in the study and its failure to recognize fossil fuels as a major resource for lifting countries out of poverty.
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