Trump now says climate change is 'serious' and not 'a hoax'

Donald Trump.
(Image credit: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

President Trump announced plans Thursday to change National Environmental Policy Act rules in order to make it easier to build gas pipelines and construct mines and highways.

As written now, the regulations require federal agencies to determine the environmental impact of such projects, including effects on the climate. "These endless delays waste money, keep projects from breaking ground, and deny jobs to our nation's incredible workers," Trump said. "From day one, my administration has made fixing this regulatory nightmare a top priority."

Trump has long been a climate change denier, calling global warming "a hoax" created "by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive." When asked by reporters on Thursday if he still believes climate change isn't real, Trump said, "No, no. Not all all. Nothing's a hoax. ... It's a very serious subject. The environment is very important to me. I'm a big believer in that word, the environment. ... I want clean air, I want clean water. I also want jobs, though."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

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.

Sign up

Environmental activists have already decried Trump's proposal to change the National Environmental Policy Act, which has been used to delay and block the construction of projects like the Keystone XL pipeline. Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement Trump is giving the fossil fuel industry "a gift," and "forcing federal agencies to ignore environmental threats is a disgraceful abdication of our responsibility to protect the planet for future generations."

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.