Trump’s Climate Lies And How To Respond

Trump lies a lot about climate action. Below are Trump’s most frequent climate lies and some quick facts to help you respond to the B.S.!

Want more? Get more info here about Trump’s lies, links to independent fact checks, and information about the threats from Trump’s rollbacks of public health protections.

  • LIE: The Green New Deal will bankrupt us.
    • Fact: Nope. The cost of ignoring climate action will bankrupt us. So far this year, the US has been hit by 16 billion-dollar climate disasters. This season’s Iowa storms were the costliest in history. More acres burned in California than ever before. Bold climate action, like the Green New Deal and Biden’s climate plan, is critical. It’s the only viable solution to averting the economic and environmental crumbling of our communities.
    • Quick link: Be Ready With The Facts When Trump Lies About Costs
  • LIE: We have the cleanest air and cleanest water ever!
    • Fact: We wish. Trump and his allies put oil and coal lobbyists in charge of our air, water, and climate and they immediately went to work rolling back 100 environmental safeguards. Air pollution has gotten worse under Trump. And in August, the AP reported that thousands of oil & gas operations got the green light to pollute our air and water during the COVID-19 pandemic by Trump and his team.
    • Quick link: Be Ready With The Facts When Trump Lies About Clean Air and Clean Water
  • LIE: California needs to sweep/clean/vacuum its forest floors.
    • Fact: The record-breaking fires we’re seeing are showing us the costs of Trump’s climate denial. Large fires are occurring more often as a result of climate-driven rising temperatures, early snowmelt, dry conditions, and in some places, a history of poor forest management. The situation will only be worsened by the climate crisis. Fire season today is almost 20% longer than it was 35 years ago as a result of rising global temperatures, and experts say wildfire seasons will expand to cover more areas across the country. Despite the scientific evidence, Trump continues to offer “advice” rather than an aid to the communities being devastated by these wildfires.
    • Quick link: NASA: Longer, More Frequent Fire Seasons
  • LIE: Climate action (and the Green New Deal! and the Paris Agreement) will cost us trillions of dollars.
  • LIE: China is trying to harm the US economy and they’re not taking any action.
    • Fact: Well, no. This is another distraction from Donald Trump to try to change the subject and blame his failures on China. And China is actually taking action: they just announced an ambitious climate goal to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2060. We’re falling behind the world on climate action and clean energy under Donald Trump.
    • Quick link: Be Ready With The Facts When Trump Lies About Global Climate Leadership
  • LIE: Biden will abolish American energy and jobs.
    • Fact: Independent fact-checkers say these claims are simply “false.” Joe Biden does not support a ban on oil, coal, and natural gas, or a ban on fracking. He supports common-sense safeguards to protect our water from contamination by toxic chemicals and investing in clean energy to combat climate change and create 10 million good-paying jobs across the country.
    • Quick link: Be Ready With The Facts When Trump Lies about Energy and Fracking
  • LIE: Joe Biden wants to get rid of windows (?)
    • Fact: Joe Biden has a plan to create 1 million jobs upgrading 4 million buildings and weatherizing 2 million homes over 4 years. PolitiFact called Trump’s attack on energy-efficient buildings as “False,” noting “Biden’s task force document doesn’t mention windows at all.” and pointing out that “buildings with windows can have net-zero emissions.” CNN also called this attack “nonsense,” as the most energy-efficient buildings in the U.S. all have a large number of windows.
    • Quick link: PolitiFact: Trump said Biden wants to mandate net-zero emission buildings and get rid of windows. He’s wrong
  • LIE: We’re going to plant a billion… or a trillion… trees.
    • Fact: Yes, planting trees is great, but Trump is greenwashing his polluter-ridden agenda with this lie. This is the latest attempt from Trump to distract voters from four years of destructive climate policies, including removing millions of acres of public lands from protection and rolling back more than 100 environmental protections. Not only that, but at the same time that Trump is bragging about planting trees, he’s trying to remove protections for nine million acres in the Tongass National Forest.  
    • Quick link: Trump’s Energy Policies Put Alaska in the Climate Crosshairs
  • LIE: Trump “didn’t really” roll back clean car standards.
  • LIE: Fighting climate change will make us uncompetitive with China and the rest of the world.