Donald Trump has said of the dire economic warning in his own government’s climate change report: “I don’t believe it.”
The president said he read “some” of the report, which predicted climate change will cause severe economic harm to the US.
The paper said the country faces losing billions of dollars by the end of the century, but Mr Trump appeared unconcerned at a White House briefing on Monday.
He told reporters: “I've seen it, I've read some of it, and it's fine." Asked about the projected economic impacts, he said: "I don't believe it."
“You know, it addressed our country. Right now, we’re at the cleanest we’ve ever been, and that’s very important to me.
“But if we’re clean and every other place on Earth is dirty, that’s not so good. So I want clean air, I want clean water. Very important.”
Mr Trump has made a number of hotly-disputed claims about climate change during his presidency.
Only last week, Mr Trump was ridiculed after he suggested the recent freezing weather in the US was proof that global warming didn’t exist.
Last year, Mr Trump announced he would pull the US out of the Paris Agreement, a treaty in which nations pledge to reduce carbon emissions. It could leave America the only country in the world not to be signed to the deal if Mr Trump fulfils his pledge.
He also rolled back Barack Obama-era environmental and climate rules such as the Clean Power Plan, while seeking to boost output of oil, gas and coal for domestic use and for shipping to allies and partners.
The latest climate change report, written with the help of more 12 government agencies and departments, said the effects of climate change would harm human health, damage infrastructure, limit water availability, alter coastlines and increase costs in various industries.
