Nancy Pelosi has been elected as the Speaker of the House.
In a Thursday speech given just after being sworn in as Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi referred to climate change as the "existential threat of our time," reports Politico. "The American people understand the urgency. The people are ahead of the Congress, and the Congress must join them," she also stated. Pelosi continued: "The entire Congress must work to put an end to the inaction and denial of science that threaten the planet and the future." She may have been referring to President Trump, who has long expressed skepticism about climate change, dismissing it in the past as a "hoax."
Back in 2012, Trump tweeted: "The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive."
In his 2017 speech announcing the withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, Trump cited America's self-interest as the primary reason for the decision.
"I can put no other consideration before the wellbeing of American citizens," the president said at the time. "The Paris Climate Accord is simply the latest example of Washington entering into an agreement that disadvantages the United States to the exclusive benefit of other countries, leaving American workers -- who I love -- and taxpayers to absorb the cost in terms of lost jobs, lower wages, shuttered factories, and vastly diminished economic production."
