SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Trump Didn't Even Have to Ask CDC to Cancel Climate Summit
"Some might argue they should have said, 'We're going to do this and make them tell us no.' But that was the decision they made."
Jan 24, 2017
In another signal of the anti-science chill that has descended upon federal government, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has quietly cancelled a long-planned climate summit in anticipation of its unpopularity within the Donald Trump administration.
The February summit--intended to provide a forum for public health officials to discuss the risks that climate change poses to human health--was reportedly called off before Friday's inauguration, according to emails obtained by E&E News, which broke the story on Monday before the CDC confirmed the cancellation to news outlets.
"Unfortunately, we are unable to hold the Summit in February 2017," said the emails, which were sent to scheduled speakers beginning on Dec. 22. "We are currently exploring options so that the Summit may take place later in the year."
Though no official explanation was provided, Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association (APHA), who was scheduled to be keynote speaker at the CDC summit, told the Washington Post that "agency officials decided to preemptively call off the event, rather than risk running afoul of an incoming president who has repeatedly called climate change a 'hoax' and has nominated climate change skeptics to his Cabinet," as the newspaper put it.
"They ran it up the flagpole and realized that it was so close to the inauguration, the chances of it being canceled were pretty real with the administration that was coming in," Benjamin said. "Some might argue they should have said, 'We're going to do this and make them tell us no.' But that was the decision they made. We should think of this as a strategic retreat."
Since Trump won the election and in the mere days since his inauguration, it has been made clear that the study and mitigation of climate change is no longer a priority for the federal government. All mention of the crisis has been scrubbed from the White House website, replaced with an "America First Energy Plan" that calls for doubling down on domestic fossil fuel extraction.
Such moves were not a surprise to many, given Trump's stated beliefs on global warming and the climate-change deniers chosen to lead his cabinet, including Environmental Protection Agency nominee Scott Pruitt and newly-confirmed Secretary of State and former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
In another signal of the anti-science chill that has descended upon federal government, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has quietly cancelled a long-planned climate summit in anticipation of its unpopularity within the Donald Trump administration.
The February summit--intended to provide a forum for public health officials to discuss the risks that climate change poses to human health--was reportedly called off before Friday's inauguration, according to emails obtained by E&E News, which broke the story on Monday before the CDC confirmed the cancellation to news outlets.
"Unfortunately, we are unable to hold the Summit in February 2017," said the emails, which were sent to scheduled speakers beginning on Dec. 22. "We are currently exploring options so that the Summit may take place later in the year."
Though no official explanation was provided, Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association (APHA), who was scheduled to be keynote speaker at the CDC summit, told the Washington Post that "agency officials decided to preemptively call off the event, rather than risk running afoul of an incoming president who has repeatedly called climate change a 'hoax' and has nominated climate change skeptics to his Cabinet," as the newspaper put it.
"They ran it up the flagpole and realized that it was so close to the inauguration, the chances of it being canceled were pretty real with the administration that was coming in," Benjamin said. "Some might argue they should have said, 'We're going to do this and make them tell us no.' But that was the decision they made. We should think of this as a strategic retreat."
Since Trump won the election and in the mere days since his inauguration, it has been made clear that the study and mitigation of climate change is no longer a priority for the federal government. All mention of the crisis has been scrubbed from the White House website, replaced with an "America First Energy Plan" that calls for doubling down on domestic fossil fuel extraction.
Such moves were not a surprise to many, given Trump's stated beliefs on global warming and the climate-change deniers chosen to lead his cabinet, including Environmental Protection Agency nominee Scott Pruitt and newly-confirmed Secretary of State and former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson.
Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
In another signal of the anti-science chill that has descended upon federal government, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has quietly cancelled a long-planned climate summit in anticipation of its unpopularity within the Donald Trump administration.
The February summit--intended to provide a forum for public health officials to discuss the risks that climate change poses to human health--was reportedly called off before Friday's inauguration, according to emails obtained by E&E News, which broke the story on Monday before the CDC confirmed the cancellation to news outlets.
"Unfortunately, we are unable to hold the Summit in February 2017," said the emails, which were sent to scheduled speakers beginning on Dec. 22. "We are currently exploring options so that the Summit may take place later in the year."
Though no official explanation was provided, Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association (APHA), who was scheduled to be keynote speaker at the CDC summit, told the Washington Post that "agency officials decided to preemptively call off the event, rather than risk running afoul of an incoming president who has repeatedly called climate change a 'hoax' and has nominated climate change skeptics to his Cabinet," as the newspaper put it.
"They ran it up the flagpole and realized that it was so close to the inauguration, the chances of it being canceled were pretty real with the administration that was coming in," Benjamin said. "Some might argue they should have said, 'We're going to do this and make them tell us no.' But that was the decision they made. We should think of this as a strategic retreat."
Since Trump won the election and in the mere days since his inauguration, it has been made clear that the study and mitigation of climate change is no longer a priority for the federal government. All mention of the crisis has been scrubbed from the White House website, replaced with an "America First Energy Plan" that calls for doubling down on domestic fossil fuel extraction.
Such moves were not a surprise to many, given Trump's stated beliefs on global warming and the climate-change deniers chosen to lead his cabinet, including Environmental Protection Agency nominee Scott Pruitt and newly-confirmed Secretary of State and former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.