Obama Criticizes Trump During Climate Conference: ‘Active Hostility Towards Climate Science’

Former President Barack Obama took a swipe at former President Donald Trump during a climate conference over his decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord.

During the international climate conference in Glasgow on Monday, Obama expressed disappointment in what he believes was Trump’s “four years of active hostility towards climate science,” as CNN reported.

He explained, “I recognize that we’re living in a moment when international cooperation has atrophied — in part because of the pandemic, in part because of the rise of nationalism and tribal impulses around the world, in part because of a lack of leadership on America’s part for four years on a host of multilateral issues.”

Obama argued “some of our progress stalled when my successor decided to unilaterally pull out of the Paris Agreement in his first year in office. I wasn’t real happy about that.”

He continued, “And yet, the determination of our state and local governments, along with the regulations and investment that my administration had already put in place, allowed our country to keep moving forward despite hostility from the White House.”

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Acknowledging President Joe Biden’s decision to rejoin the agreement, Obama said, “The U.S. government is once again engaged and prepared to take a leadership role.”

Obama’s comments come just a week after the president apologized for Trump’s withdrawal from the agreement, as IJR reported.

“I guess I shouldn’t apologize, but I do apologize for the fact that the United States under the last administration pulled out of the Paris accord,” Biden said.

He told other world leaders Americans have to realize that “making these investments in a clean energy future isn’t just a need to fight 🌍Climate Change…It’s an enormous opportunity to create good paying jobs for our own workers today and to spur long term economic growth that’s going to improve the quality of life for all people.”

In November of 2020, the United States officially dropped out of the agreement. The country rejoined in February.