A galling admission from a former official in President Donald Trump's first administration on Sunday left one analyst flustered.
On February 9, The New York Times published a report that included multiple quotes from Trump administration officials who deny that climate change is real. Russ Baker, founder and editor-in-chief of WhoWhatWhy, wrote in a new Substack essay that a quote from a former Trump official at the Environmental Protection Agency revealed that the Trump administration is continuing its efforts to ensure polluters can keep polluting.
Baker pointed to one quote included in the report from Steven Milloy, a former official in Trump's EPA during his first term.
“We’ve kept the skepticism alive,” Milloy said, adding, “I hope we don’t blow it. I don’t know when or if this opportunity will come around again.”
Baker argued that the inclusion of Milloy's quote is a sign that the legacy media is not holding Trump officials accountable.
"If that’s what these Trump officials actually believe, it’s ludicrous on its face," Baker wrote. "But even if that analysis had validity, would that justify ignoring the scientific evidence, or claiming that 99 percent of scientists are wrong or stupid or deluded into participating in a massive fraud?"
"To be clear, he’s not saying this may be our last opportunity to save humanity," he added. "He’s saying this may be our last opportunity to destroy it. By stopping those who are trying to save it."