Leonardo
DiCaprio meets Donald Trump as climate sceptic appointed
Meeting
at New York Trump Tower comes as US president-elect picks climate
science sceptic to head Environmental Protection Agency
Oliver Milman and
Associated Press
@olliemilman
Thursday 8 December
2016 05.12 GMT
Leonardo DiCaprio
and the head of his foundation met on Wednesday with US
president-elect Donald Trump to discuss how jobs centring on
preserving the environment can boost the economy, hours after Trump
announced a climate science sceptic to head the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA).
In a statement to
the Associated Press, Terry Tamminen, the CEO of the Leonardo
DiCaprio Foundation (LDF), confirmed the meeting at Trump Tower in
New York. Tamminen said the pair gave a presentation to Trump,
daughter Ivanka, and other members of Trump’s team on how focusing
on renewable, clean energy could create millions of jobs.
It came as Trump
chose Scott Pruitt, attorney general of Oklahoma and a sceptic of
climate science, as the next EPA administrator, in what was widely
viewed as a signal of Republicans’ desire to dismantle Obama’s
climate legacy.
Pruitt has called
the EPA’s rule “unlawful and overreaching” and has cast doubt
on the overwhelming scientific evidence that human activity is
causing the planet to warm. “That debate is far from settled,” he
said in May. “Scientists continue to disagree about the degree and
extent of global warming and its connection to the actions of
mankind.”
Pruitt is also part
of legal action waged by 28 states against the EPA to halt the Clean
Power Plan, an effort by Barack Obama’s administration to curb
greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants.
Environmental groups
said that Pruitt was a “puppet” of the fossil fuel industry,
pointing to his intervention in 2014 to push back against air
pollution standards by using a three-page letter penned by Devon
Energy, one of Oklahoma’s largest oil and gas companies.
“Having Scott
Pruitt in charge of the US Environmental Protection Agency is like
putting an arsonist in charge of fighting fires,” said Michael
Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club. “He is a climate
science denier who, as attorney general for the state of Oklahoma,
regularly conspired with the fossil fuel industry to attack EPA
regulations. Nothing less than our children’s health is at stake.”
Trip Van Noppen,
president of Earthjustice, which has joined in defence of the Clean
Power Plan in court, said “every American should be appalled” by
Pruitt’s nomination.
“The head of the
Environmental Protection Agency should be making sure that our air is
clean to breathe and our water is safe to drink, not working to make
sure polluters make more money,” he said.
His appointment
comes hot on the heels of claims by Trump that global warming was a
hoax masterminded by China and his promise to pull the US out of the
Paris climate agreement.
The DiCaprio meeting
focused on the economic benefits of renewable energy, Tamminen said.
“Today, we
presented the president-elect and his advisors with a framework –
which LDF developed in consultation with leading voices in the fields
of economics and environmentalism – that details how to unleash a
major economic revival across the United States that is centred on
investments in sustainable infrastructure.
“Our conversation
focused on how to create millions of secure, American jobs in the
construction and operation of commercial and residential clean,
renewable energy generation.”
The Oscar-winning
actor has been a strong advocate of fighting climate change and
preserving wildlife, and his recent documentary Before the Flood
addresses the peril the world faces because of climate change.
Leonardo DiCaprio
joins President Obama at the White House ahead of a screening of his
new documentary, Before the Flood – video
DiCaprio met with
Ivanka Trump a few days ago and presented her with a copy of the
film.
On Monday, former
vice-president turned environmental campaigner Al Gore met with the
president-elect and Ivanka Trump, who reportedly plans to speak out
on climate change despite her father’s scepticism.
“I had a lengthy
and very productive session with the president-elect,” Gore said
after the meeting. “It was a sincere search for areas of common
ground.” He said the conversation between them was “to be
continued”.
Tamminen, who was
secretary of California’s Environmental Protection Agency under
former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, also said Trump was receptive
and suggested they meet again next month.
“The
president-elect expressed his desire for a follow-up meeting in
January, and we look forward to continuing the conversation with the
incoming administration as we work to stop the dangerous march of
climate change, while putting millions of people to work at the same
time,” said Tamminen.
If confirmed, Pruitt
will probably aid the effort to demolish the Clean Power Plan,
although this will not be a simple task as it is underpinned by the
Clean Air Act of 1970. Pruitt could choose to not defend it in court
or fail to implement its rules, however. The plan is currently on
hold pending the legal action.
This year is set to
be the warmest on record, following a trend of rising temperates over
the past century. Scientists have warned that the US faces
unprecedented coastline inundation, extreme weather events, drought
and displacement of people should climate change not be addressed.
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