Donald Trump: stupid things he's said about the planet
Climate-change denier Donald Trump isn't known for being rational or courteous. But these Trump quotes may still shock you.
Don't forget, this is a man who's in charge of a nation – a particularly influential one.
1. "It’s [sea level rise] going to create more oceanfront property."
What did he mean?
Once a businessman, always a businessman. It's a classic climate denial tactic, rejecting the fact that sea levels are rising, or seriously downplaying the threat and impacts as we see here.
What's the truth?
Although Trump claimed that "the oceans are going to rise 1/100 of an inch within the next 300 years," the reality is much more dire than that. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), by the end of this century we can expect global sea levels to rise between 0.43 metres and 0.84 metres. And they won't stop there.
This will have devastating consequences for coastal and island communities. Port cities such as Tokyo, Mumbai and New York will suffer from frequent flooding and, depending on the severity of temperature rises, could even be underwater. So no, there won't be more oceanfront properties. Quite the opposite. Millions will be forced to flee their homes as they fall into the sea.
And this isn't some scary dystopian future we're talking about it. It's already happening. For example, the seaside community of Hemsby in Norfolk has seen many homes swept away or demolished due to coastal erosion. Residents have had to move into emergency accommodation and have received no compensation. And more and more people will suffer the same fate over the coming decades if governments fail to act fast on climate change.
2. "I will [...] lower the cost of energy. We will drill, baby, drill."
What did he mean?
Donald claims that by ramping up oil extraction, he'll be able to bring down the cost of gas. Hmm...
What's the truth?
Never mind the fact that more oil extraction would be terrible for the planet. It's unlikely to save people money on their energy bills either. Oil companies have expressed scepticism about rapidly increasing production, and it's likely that prices will stay relatively flat for the foreseeable future. After all, let's not forget the primary goal of oil and gas companies is generating profits for their shareholders.
If Donald really wanted to lower energy costs, he'd be all about "renewables, baby, renewables". Not only does clean energy like wind and solar help reduce climate emissions, but it's also significantly cheaper than fossil fuels.
3. "You wanna see a bird cemetery? Go under a windmill sometime. It’s the saddest – you’ve got every type of bird."
What did he mean?
Claims that large windmills used for electricity generation kill birds are common.
What's the truth?
It's true that birds die in collisions with wind turbines. But only a very small number – less than 0.01% of all human-related bird deaths in the United States.
What Donald forgot to mention is that oil and gas fields cause hundreds of thousands more bird deaths than wind farms – that’s according to a major study of bird mortality in the US.
Even the UK’s Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) – an actual bird charity – supports wind turbines as long as they're strategically located and designed with wildlife in mind. Wind farm developers should contact the RSPB for advice.
4. "Today they use the word ‘climate change,’ because [...] they were getting themselves in a little trouble with the word ‘global warming,’ because not every place is warming."
What did he mean?
It sounds like he's trying to discredit climate scientists by making them out to be devious. He also seems to be pooh-poohing average global temperature rises.
What's the truth?
Both "climate change" and "global warming" have been in use for ages. Both still exist.
Global warming refers to the planet heating up – caused by carbon dioxide and other greenhouses gases trapping heat by forming a blanket around the world. These gases build up in the atmosphere mainly due to humans burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas, and cutting down forests.
Climate change is broader. It also covers the impacts of this warming such as sea level rises and more severe droughts, floods and storms.
It's often hard to tell which planet Trump is on. But here it can't be Earth. Because since the late 1800s the average surface temperature has risen – with most of that warming happening in the past 40 years.
5. "Under the green new deal, they don’t like clean, beautiful natural gas. The green new deal don’t know what they like."
What did he mean?
Campaigners for a Green New Deal want the world's biggest economy to switch to 100% renewables by 2030. Is Donald Trump suggesting that ambitious plan could be improved – by using a planet-warming pollutant?
What's the truth?
The proponents of a Green New Deal do know what they like, and it isn't gas.
Claiming that gas is clean energy is ridiculous. Natural gas is a fossil fuel that, when burnt, releases substantial amounts of greenhouse gases. It contributes to climate change throughout its life cycle.
The production process of natural gas is also responsible for large amounts of methane emissions. Methane can leak out during this process (a gas with a very high global-warming potential).
6. "There is a cooling, and there's a heating."
What did he mean?
We think he's alluding to a common myth spread by climate change deniers. It goes something like, "The planet has warmed and cooled since time began. So climate change is natural, it isn't caused by humans."
What's the truth?
Cycles of cooling and warming have occurred throughout history. But they don't explain the current trend of rapid warming. To even hint they do is grossly misleading. The 2010s were the planet's warmest ever decade. And the 2020s are setting new highs, with 2024 the warmest year of all.
This much faster warming corresponds with increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere since the industrial age. In other words, human beings have been changing the climate primarily by burning oil, coal and gas. But Donald knows that. He was part of a business coalition demanding meaningful action on "scientifically irrefutable" climate change back in 2009.
7. "The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make US manufacturing non-competitive."
What did he mean?
It's perhaps the most creative climate change denial we've ever encountered. We're not making this up. It comes straight from his feed on X.
What's the truth?
Not that.
The vast majority of climate scientists agree that humans are causing the recent trend of rapid global warming. We're releasing climate-warming gases like carbon dioxide into the atmosphere primarily by burning fossil fuels.
We can thank Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius for alerting science to human-induced global warming. The Nobel prize winner investigated the effect that doubling atmospheric carbon dioxide would have on the global climate. That was more than 100 years ago. In 1988 the IPCC was established to understand the risk of human-induced climate change. Thousands of experts from around the world contribute to the IPCC's reports.
We guess the concept of gravity was made by and for birds in order to monopolise airspace. Right, Donald?
8. "If somebody said, go back into the Paris Accord, it would have to be a completely different deal because we had a horrible deal."
What did he mean?
In his first stint as president, Donald pulled the US out of the Paris Agreement – a global agreement to tackle climate change. Although Biden rejoined the agreement in 2021, Trump ordered another withdrawal on his very first day in office as the 47th president.
What's the truth?
The Paris Agreement was signed by world leaders in 2015 to keep the global temperature rise well below 2 °C. Why? To save lives, livelihoods and homes from sea level rises and extreme weather events like hurricanes, flooding and droughts.
The USA is the second biggest emitter of planet-warming carbon dioxide. Yet the Paris Agreement treats it exactly the same as the lowest – allowing the US to pledge whatever emission reductions it wants, without penalties for not meeting them. Trump said this was a bad deal.
Inadequate action on the Paris Agreement means we're still on track for a catastrophic 3 °C of global warming or more. Strong leaders will embrace the spirit of the agreement and make deep cuts to their greenhouse gas emissions. Weaker ones will do nothing.
9. "They never talk about the environment anymore. You know why? [...] It’s one of the great scams of all time."
What did he mean?
Donald seems to assume that, just because he doesn't care about the environment, no one else does. And he's repeating what he's claimed many times before – that the climate crisis is merely a "hoax".
What's the truth?
It seems like Trump has been living under a rock. The climate crisis is one of the most widely discussed and recognised issues of our time. Polling reveals that 80% of people in the UK are concerned about climate change. The scientific consensus is that human-caused climate change is real. And many political leaders around the world are taking the situation seriously, even if their actions don't yet match up to the level of ambition needed.
Organisations like Friends of the Earth are doing all we can to push for positive change. And we do talk about the environment – all the time!
