Erik Solheim, executive director of the UN Environment Program, says he’s troubled by president-elect Trump’s appointments so far, says Reuters. ” I am concerned that some elite American politicians deny science. You will be in the Middle Ages if you deny science,” he said.
At least three of Trump’s picks have denied climate change or called for expanding fossil fuels. Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, who Trump has tapped to head the EPA, has criticized the agency’s “activist agenda.” Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry once suggested dismantling the Energy Department, but if confirmed he will soon lead it. And Rex Tillerson, chief executive at Exxon Mobile Corp., is Trump’s choice for Secretary of the State.
Trump promised during his campaign that he would pull out of the Paris climate deal, which more than 190 countries have signed. If he does, Solheim said, the fight against climate change will go forward without the U.S. “If the United States, in the worst case, were to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, we will depend more on China,” he explained. “China and … many others will provide the global leadership we need.”