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Trump Admits 'Some Connectivity' Between Climate Change and Human Activity (cnn.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNN: President-elect Donald Trump conceded Tuesday there is "some connectivity" between human activity and climate change and wavered on whether he would pull the United States out of international accords aimed at combating the phenomenon, which scientists overwhelmingly agree is caused by human activity. The statements could mark a softening in Trump's position on U.S. involvement in efforts to fight climate change, although he did not commit to specific action in any direction. During the campaign, he vowed to "cancel" the U.S.'s participation in the Paris climate agreement, stop all U.S. payments to UN programs aimed at fighting climate change and continued to cast serious doubt on the role man-made carbon dioxide emissions played in the planet's warming and associated impacts. "I think there is some connectivity. Some, something. It depends on how much," Trump said Tuesday in a meeting with New York Times reporters, columnists and editors. He has previously called climate change a "hoax" invented by the Chinese. Asked if he would withdraw the U.S. from international climate change agreements, Trump said he is "looking at it very closely," according to Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Mike Grynbaum, who were live-tweeting the meeting. He added that he has "an open mind to it," despite explicitly promising to withdraw from at least one climate accord on the campaign trail. The President-elect on the campaign trail repeatedly vowed to slash environmental protection regulations burdening U.S. businesses and said that beyond the consequences to the planet, he is particularly mindful of the economic impact of combating climate change. He said he is considering "how much it will cost our companies" and the effect on American competitiveness in the global market, according to a tweet from Grynbaum.

19 of 559 comments (clear)

  1. Flip flop .... by Freischutz · · Score: 5, Funny

    He's getting very good at emulating a pancake.

    1. Re:Flip flop .... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I thought he looked more like a waffle.

      But I'm not gonna complain if he flip-flops away from stupidity and toward sanity.

    2. Re:Flip flop .... by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Funny

      But I'm not gonna complain if he flip-flops away from stupidity and toward sanity.

      He has already flip-flopped on Hillary, and now says he will not send her to prison after all. The alt-right is livid. Next, he will be telling the Mexicans that they will only have to pay for their side of the wall.

    3. Re:Flip flop .... by PopeRatzo · · Score: 5, Informative

      He's long said that he wants to address climate change without crippling the economy to do so.

      Really? Let's see what he said in his own words...

      https://twitter.com/realdonald...

      http://www.snopes.com/donald-t...

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    4. Re:Flip flop .... by JoeMerchant · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Not so worried about him making crazy decisions.

      Am still worried about him filling cabinet posts with dyed in the wool crazy career politicians - that's where some real damage can be done.

    5. Re:Flip flop .... by Gussington · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You have to feel for Trump voters. He is pretty much flip flopping on every one of the reasons they voted for him. As Obama said "whatever assumptions you bring into the office, this office has a way of waking you up."
      Trump will follow in Hillary's, Obama's and Bush's footsteps because that what you have to do in politics to succeed. For some reason most people don't get this and actually think the change candidate can actually do anything different from anyone else.

    6. Re:Flip flop .... by AthanasiusKircher · · Score: 5, Insightful

      For some reason most people don't get this and actually think the change candidate can actually do anything different from anyone else.

      Well, actually it IS possible to change SOME things.

      The problem with Trump, more than perhaps most candidates, is that many of his biggest campaign claims were completely unrealistic, but supporters chose to believe them anyway.

  2. Lessons being learned by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Running for President and being President are two entirely different things.

    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    1. Re:Lessons being learned by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'll just leave this here.

    2. Re:Lessons being learned by PopeRatzo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Trump downplayed that Chinese hoax thing long ago and claimed he was joking.

      He repeated it several times. And I dare you to find the "joke" in this tweet from Donald:

      https://twitter.com/realdonald...

      In fact, he stated that he thought climate change was a "hoax" or "bullshit" no fewer than five times, and none of them seem to have any "joking" in them.

      http://www.snopes.com/donald-t...

      Or maybe you think that linking to quotes from Donald Trump is "fake news" and it's just the MSM trying to make him look stupid by linking to his actual words.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
  3. Step 1: Ignore the mouth by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There's a fact about Trump that's growing ever more apparent: his mouth is nearly useless. Only his actions matter (and they've yet to unfold).

    Forrest Trump is like a box of chocolates: you don't know what you are getting until you bite into one ... or one bites into you.

  4. Re:Ball-busting ... by Rei · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Obama and Guantanamo, for example.

    It was obvious that he really wanted to close that thing. Who knows exactly what he learned when he was office, but you could just see that combination of "frustration" and "defeat" in him when the topic came up afterwards.

    --
    Wingus, Dingus! Listen up!
  5. You Trump voters have been played by presidenteloco · · Score: 5, Insightful

    He just said whatever he thought would win him the election.

    What he said has pretty much no attachment to what he will do.

    He's a fast learner at becoming a typical lying establishment politician, after having been briefed on the actual facts of the nation and the world.

    Of course the role dictates what you have to do in it, anyway. It's all part of the machine.

    Enjoy the ride, suckers.

    --

    Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
    1. Re:You Trump voters have been played by PopeRatzo · · Score: 5, Funny

      Disingenuous politically correct virtue signalling, as it so often man(oops sexism)ifests as kicking THE GREAT SATAN and its innocent sons, is bigoted in and of itself - not to mention narcissistic.

      Is there a native English speaker who can translate this for me?

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    2. Re:You Trump voters have been played by EmeraldBot · · Score: 5, Funny

      Disingenuous politically correct virtue signalling, as it so often man(oops sexism)ifests as kicking THE GREAT SATAN and its innocent sons, is bigoted in and of itself - not to mention narcissistic.

      Is there a native English speaker who can translate this for me?

      Depends on the dialect. You can interpret it as either, "somebody swapped out my decaf" or "these new recreational marijuana laws are fantastic!", depending on what the stress is when you say it out loud - but given THE GREAT SATAN , it's proooobably the latter.

      --
      "Set a man a fire, he'll be warm for the rest of the night. Set a man afire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life."
  6. Re:Stop breathing! by LifesABeach · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm waiting for the Trump to state, "Climate Change is really huge, and you're going to love it."

  7. Re:Stop breathing! by Rei · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Many people are saying climate change is a serious issue, many people. Nobody is better at fighting climate change than me. We're going to have the best carbon controls in the world. Obama was a total failure at fighting climate change. Total failure. The rest of the world is laughing at us...."

    Maybe someone presented climate change to him as a jihadist terror plot. I can't wait to hear him repeat the phrase "radical Islamic climate change" ;)

    --
    Wingus, Dingus! Listen up!
  8. Scott Adams predicted this by taustin · · Score: 5, Informative

    Scott Adams predicted this in May.

    Predicted that Trumps real position on climate change was actually "I don't know because I haven't looked into it," and that once he did, if he decided it was a problem, he'd be the only person who could convince the Republican base that it was a problem and that something needed to be done. That no Democrat ever could, but Trump could carry the Republicans right along because they see him as one of them, and very credible.

    Mr. Adams is a very observant wingnut.

  9. Re:Ball-busting ... by whoever57 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That's why we have an outsider White man.

    "outsider"? Trump? You mean the scion of a wealthy family?

    He may have convinced millions of people that he is an outsider, but they are badly mistaken.

    --
    The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!