Trump Spurns Science On Climate: 'Don't Think Science Knows'

Speaker 1: 00:00 President Trump used a visit to California yesterday to scold state leaders over forest management and clash with them about whether a warming climate is a critical cause in the death and destruction caused by the state's record setting wildfires that place climate change at the center of the presidential election is Democrat Joe Biden, blasted Trump for his remarks, joining me as Katie or a Sacramento based political reporter for KQBD public radio. Katie, welcome back to midday edition. Hi Mark. So you covered Trump's visit yesterday, set the scene for us. Where was this confrontation who was there? Speaker 2: 00:35 Right. Uh, Trump flew into, uh, an old air force base. What used to be an air force base in Sacramento? Um, primarily to get a briefing from governor Gavin Newsome and, uh, state, uh, Cal fire and, um, natural resources officials about what exactly is happening with these fires and what we're looking at here, what the state has been dealing with. Uh, Trump landed the plane. He, uh, briefly spoke to reporters, including me. I got to ask him a question about what he thinks. Um, the role of climate change is in these fires. He said, primarily he believes that it's a, an issue of forest management versus climate change. Speaker 1: 01:19 Well, that sets up the meat of the things here. Here's this exchange between Trump and Wade. Crowfoot, he's the California secretary for natural resources and Crowford starts. And then Trump, we want to work with you to really recognize the changing climate and what it means to our forest and actually work together with that science, that science is going to be key because if we, if we ignore that science and sort of put our head in the sand and think it's all about vegetation management, we're not going to succeed together, protecting Californians. Okay. It'll start getting cooler. I wish you just watch. I wish science agreed with you. I think science is actually Katie governor Gavin Newsome seen restrained in his comments compared with his denigration last week of climate change deniers, right? He really didn't confront Trump course. There's a lot of money on the line with federal disaster aid, Speaker 2: 02:11 Right? And I think that's the tight rope that governor Gavin Newsome is playing, especially being in the room directly with Trump. He knows that, um, he has to, to some extent stroke Trump's ego, uh, because like you said, there is a lot of federal disaster money that the state relies on. And president Trump has said that, you know, if, if governors aren't nice to him, don't say nice things to him. Then he is, uh, you know, has threatened to withhold that money. And that's not something that governor Gavin Newsome, uh, wants. Uh, and it is interesting too though, because while he was restrained with Donald Trump, he did not give him an opportunity to like, get a picture in front of reporters in front of air force one, uh, governor Gavin Newsome declined to stand in front the press with the president on this trip. Speaker 1: 03:02 I noticed of course, Newsome and other state leaders there had masks on at the advent. And Trump did not. You mentioned the a U S Trump. The question about climate change at all, were you surprised the president keeps making his claims about the climate getting cooler and science lacking answers? Speaker 2: 03:18 Well, this is a message that we've seen him repeat, uh, for several years, uh, when he toward wildfire areas, uh, back when, uh, governor Jerry Brown was leaving office and governor Gavin Newsome was coming into it, he, uh, Trump again, made that infamous comment about raking the forest, you know, forest management and Newsome says there is a role for that, uh, in, in fire suppression. However, it's not in Newsome's opinion. And in many people's opinion, it's not the, uh, overarching, uh, driver of why we're having these fires, but it's not unusual to hear Trump use that as the main, um, as his main theory for why we're seeing so many fires in the West on the West coast. Speaker 1: 04:05 And it's not at all clear, Trump understands that the majority of forests in California are federally owned and operated maintained. Well, let's play part of the stride and response from former vice president Biden. He was speaking from his home state of Delaware. Donald Trump climate denial may not have caused these fires and record floods and record hurricanes. But if he gets a second term, these hellish events will continue to become more common, more devastating and more deadly Katy. Trump appears to have no chance to win California November 3rd, but how do you think climate change is going to play out in the debates and this national campaign going forward, Speaker 2: 04:47 Right? As you mentioned, he's not going to win California. It's a, it's a democratic state. It, um, that is something that Joe Biden can count on this year, but there are those people, the swing voters in those, in those certain States that he is trying to reach. And a lot of people, um, despite what we know now about the science still have, um, still are a bit skeptical about whether or not climate change is something that is causing, um, the, the changes in the weather and these fires that we have been experiencing. And he's trying to reach those voters. Uh, but obviously it's something that Biden feels like is a topic that he can score points on. Otherwise he wouldn't be coming out with these big speeches. So I think we will see this, you know, be a theme that they keep coming back to throughout, throughout the campaign. Speaker 1: 05:41 I've been speaking with Katie or Sacramento based political reporter for KQBD public radio. Thanks, Katie. You're welcome.