EPA head Scott Pruitt is still dodging on whether Trump believes in climate change

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt three times on Friday avoided giving a clear answer to whether President Trump thinks climate change is a real phenomenon. He continued that evasion on Sunday, arguing that what the president believes is not the real issue of import.
"I think the whole question is an effort to get it off the point, and the issue of whether [the Paris Agreement] is good for this country or not," Pruitt said in an interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos. "The president has indicated the climate changes."
Though Stephanopoulos pushed for a more specific statement, arguing that this question is foundational to Trump's Thursday announcement that he would withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate pact, Pruitt reiterated that the president's choice was rather based on "the merits and demerits of the Paris Agreement" as well as putting "jobs and the environment first."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Trump has a long record of public climate change skepticism, most notably arguing it is a "hoax" invented by China. Watch an excerpt of Pruitt's interview below. Bonnie Kristian
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
5 weather-beaten cartoons about the Texas floods
Cartoons Artists take on funding cuts, politicizing tragedy, and more
-
What has the Dalai Lama achieved?
The Explainer Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader has just turned 90, and he has been clarifying his reincarnation plans
-
Europe's heatwave: the new front line of climate change
In the Spotlight How will the continent adapt to 'bearing the brunt of climate change'?
-
Search for survivors continues after Texas floods
Speed Read A total of 82 people are confirmed dead, including 28 children
-
EPA is reportedly killing Energy Star program
speed read The program for energy-efficient home appliances has saved consumers billions in energy costs since its 1992 launch
-
US proposes eroding species protections
Speed Read The Trump administration wants to change the definition of 'harm' in the Environmental Protection Act to allow habitat damage
-
Severe storms kill dozens across central US
Speed Read At least 40 people were killed over the weekend by tornadoes, wildfires and dust storms
-
Rain helps Los Angeles wildfires, risks mudslides
Speed Read The weather provided relief for crews working to contain wildfires, though rain over a burn area ups the chances of flooding and mudslides
-
Death toll rises in LA fires as wind lull allows progress
Speed Read At least 24 people have died and 100,000 people are under mandatory evacuation orders
-
Biden cancels Italy trip as raging LA fires spread
Speed Read The majority of the fires remain 0% contained
-
Fast-spreading Los Angeles wildfires spark panic
Speed Read About 30,000 people were under an evacuation order as the inferno spread