WATCH: “Just because we pulled out of the Paris Accord doesn’t mean we don’t believe in climate protection.” –@nikkihaley pic.twitter.com/4H7opjNDO1
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) August 8, 2017
The morning after a new federal report on climate change was leaked to the New York Times, Today co-host Matt Lauer asked Nikki Haley point blank about whether or not Donald Trump’s administration would accept it. Considering the administration’s counter-stance to the existence and ill effects of climate change, let alone the president’s decision to exit the Paris Climate Accord, Lauer’s question for the former South Carolina governor put her on the spotlight. “Will the administration embrace the results of this study?” he asked Trump’s UN ambassador. Surprisingly, Haley’s answer was closer to a “yes” than a “no.”
“Just because we pulled out of the Paris accord doesn’t mean we don’t believe in climate protection,” she said. “I don’t see any reason why they wouldn’t. I think a lot of this is, we’re not saying that climate change is not real. It is real. It’s how do you have that balance between making sure you’ve got jobs and businesses moving and then also making sure you protect your climate.”
The newly minted diplomat was quick to point out that the White House’s otherwise anti-climate change science efforts had more to do with “not [selling] out American businesses.” That is to say, the Trump administration values the promotion and growth of American industry above combating whatever possibly damning ill effects of climate change, current or forthcoming, may require in terms of further regulations. Even so, Haley’s answer sounded less like Scott Pruitt’s EPA or Rick Perry’s Energy Department, and more like a market-minded, lay supporter of Al Gore
(Via Today)