Ed Miliband hopes to determine ‘widespread floor’ with Donald Trump on local weather change – after US president-elect repeatedly referred to the problem as a ‘hoax
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has spoke of his hope to establish ‘common ground’ with Donald Trump on the climate issue.
The US president-elect has repeatedly referred to climate change as a ‘hoax’ and has also vowed to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement, which commits it to cutting greenhouse emissions as part of the effort to curb global warming.
Speaking about the move towards clean energy, Mr Miliband said: ‘What I think is so striking about what’s happening – whether you talk to businesses or talk to other countries – people are getting on with the transition.
‘This is an unstoppable transition.’
In further comments at the Cop29 summit in Azerbaijan, he added ‘that the economics now point in the direction of clean energy’, adding: ‘So we will seek to find common ground with Donald Trump.’
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has spoke of his hope to establish ‘common ground’ with Donald Trump on the climate issue
Trump has repeatedly referred to climate change as a ‘hoax’ and has also vowed to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement
Asked about critical remarks Mr Miliband had made in the past that Mr Trump was ‘a racist, misogynistic, self-confessed groper’, he said:
‘Look, I’ve said things in the past. My job now as a government minister is to work with the new US administration.
‘I genuinely don’t think that Donald Trump is reading my tweets, I don’t have such a high opinion of myself.’
Meanwhile, Mr Trump revealed that Lee Zeldin, a former New York congressman, will head the US Environment Protection Agency, the most powerful environmental role in America. Mr Zeldin said in 2018 he did not support the Paris Agreement.
Mr Trump said Mr Zeldin, a fellow New Yorker, ‘will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions … while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet’.
Environmentalists have criticised Trump’s plans to deregulate, warning that it could undermine safeguards designed to make it harder for companies to get away with pollution.
Zeldin in 2015 he voted to overturn a ban on fracking – a method for extracting oil and gas from shale rock – and has regularly opposed measures to counter air pollution, the Clean Air Act.
Zeldin tweeted yesterday: ‘It is an honor to join President Trump’s Cabinet as EPA Administrator. We will restore US energy dominance, revitalise our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI. We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water.’
