It would be great if observers could take for granted that the White House acknowledges and engages with science — but in the era of President Donald Trump and his “fake news,” that’s an inaccessible luxury. Trump and his cronies have consistently dismissed basic scientific fact in developing their policies for dealing with issues ranging from the Coronavirus pandemic to climate change. This Tuesday, former President Barack Obama spoke out against the belligerence and urged young people to turn out this fall and vote the nonsense out of office. Obama was speaking in direct response to the Trump administration’s rollback this week of fuel efficiency demands for vehicle manufacturers that Obama’s own administration had put in place.
Obama shared:
‘We’ve seen all too terribly the consequences of those who denied warnings of a pandemic. We can’t afford any more consequences of climate denial. All of us, especially young people, have to demand better of our government at every level and vote this fall.’
We've seen all too terribly the consequences of those who denied warnings of a pandemic. We can't afford any more consequences of climate denial. All of us, especially young people, have to demand better of our government at every level and vote this fall. https://t.co/K8Ucu7iVDK
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) March 31, 2020
The Trump administration’s fuel efficiency standards rule change was dramatic. The Obama administration had demanded that vehicle manufacturers hit an average of 55 miles per gallon by 2025, and the Trump administration slashed that to a demand of just 40 miles per gallon by 2026. The increased emissions because of the concurrent gas guzzling could put the climate further in precarious jeopardy than it already is, not to mention the hundreds of billions of dollars in additional money for gas that consumers could have to cough up over the lifetime of their gas guzzling vehicles.
The Trump admin rolled back ambitious Obama-era vehicle mileage standards, raising the ceiling on damaging fossil fuel emissions for years to come and gutting one of the United States' biggest efforts against climate change.https://t.co/KKEtBC2Zvn
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 31, 2020
These developments come amidst Trump’s increasingly failed, flailing response to the Coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., which has claimed the lives of over 3,400 Americans and counting. Local authorities around the country have been struggling to get crucial supplies like Coronavirus testing kits and medical supplies and equipment.
Check out Twitter’s response below
