Overview

• Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, President Donald Trump labeled climate change “the greatest con job” and described the concept of a carbon footprint as a hoax.
• He singled out Europe’s green agenda, claiming EU emissions cuts have harmed its economy and warning that nations prioritizing renewables will fail.
• Trump promoted U.S. fossil fuel production, saying the country has the most oil, gas and coal, and framed expanded extraction as an economic priority.
• The address followed a series of domestic moves that ease oversight and curb clean-energy growth, including Clean Air Act exemptions for dozens of facilities, an EPA plan to drop some greenhouse-gas reporting, and a July law that reduced wind and solar incentives.
• The speech came on the eve of a UN climate summit led by António Guterres that seeks new national action plans, as scientific bodies maintain that warming is real, largely human-caused, and worsening.