Trump dismisses climate change study by his own government: 'I don't believe it'

Donald Trump has dismissed a damning climate change study produced by his own government, simply telling reporters, "I don't believe it."

The U.S. president rejected the findings of the report, which was produced by over 300 prominent climate scientists and 13 federal agencies and departments.

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The Congress-commissioned report, of which Trump told reporters, "I've read some of it," warns that climate change will not only continue to contribute to weather extremes and impact global health, but it will cost the U.S. economy hundreds of billions of dollars every year.

When asked by reporters outside the White House on Monday about such a devastating impact on the national economy, Trump said he didn't believe it.

Like countless reports before it, including the UN's special report from October, the study also concludes, based on extensive evidence, that human activities are the dominant cause of global warming.

But Trump diverted attention away from the responsibility and contribution of the U.S. to climate change to the emissions produced by other countries, telling reporters that America is "the cleanest we've ever been."

"You're going to have to have China and Japan and all of Asia and all these other countries, you know, it [the report] addresses our country," he said, as reported by the BBC.

"Right now we're at the cleanest we've ever been and that's very important to me. But if we're clean, but every other place on Earth is dirty, that's not so good.

"So I want clean air, I want clean water, very important."

Trump may say he wants clean air, but he doesn't want to put policies in place to reduce emissions, preferring to support the fossil fuel industry instead.

According to the bombshell report, how the U.S. responds to greenhouse gas emissions will make a big difference. 

"The impacts of global climate change are already being felt in the United States and are projected to intensify in the future — but the severity of future impacts will depend largely on actions taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to the changes that will occur," the report states.

Trump's lack of support for the report shouldn't really come as a surprise, considering his history of dismissing climate change. But it's another form of backflip for Trump, who called climate change a "hoax" in June 2017, then reconsidered his stance a year later, telling 60 Minutes, "I don't think it's a hoax," and that climate change will "change back again." 

Yeah, it's tough keeping up.

If you want to read the whole report, grab a coffee and dig in. It's quite frankly terrifying.

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