Donald Trump had a simple message for emergency officials in California: "It's going to get cold."
The US president, who has previously
accused the government of poor forest management, visited the state on Monday.
Wade Croft, California's national resource
secretary, told Mr. Trump: "We had temperatures this summer. You know we
broke a world record in Death Valley. 130 degrees Fahrenheit." 54 degrees
Celsius], but even higher at 120 plus degrees in LA.
If we ignore this science, put our heads
in the sand and think it's all about plant management, we won't be able to
protect the people of California.
The president smiled and replied:
"Okay. It's going to get cold. You see."
The official replied: "I want science
to agree with you."
Mr. Trump added: "Oh well. I don't
think science really knows."
More than 30 people have been killed’ in
wildfires in the western coastal states of Oregon, California and Washington.
Since August, thousands of homes, more
than 4 million acres of small towns have been’ destroyed.
In Oregon, where state officials say they
"expect large-scale crashing," search and rescue teams are passing
through cabins in search of human remains in more than half a dozen
communities.
About 40,000 people in the state have been
forced’ to flee their homes.
In the November presidential election, Mr.
Trump's Democratic champion Joe Biden denounced his rival's lack of
"leadership" in the fight against climate change, calling him a
"climate fire brand."
California Governor Gavin Newsom told
reporters that the state could do a better job of managing forests.
But he insisted that it was
"self-evident that climate change is real and is exacerbating it."
READ MORE
0 Comments