Environmentalists on Wednesday said they are appalled by President Donald Trump's decision to promote yet another "anti-science, anti-climate, pro-pollution" figure to a key diplomatic role during such a perilous moment for the planet.
Trump nominated GOP mega-donor and climate denier Kelly Knight Craft as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations last week.
"We have little confidence that Ms. Craft will be a competent advocate for clean air, safe water, and adequate public health either here or abroad if her nomination is confirmed."
--Wenonah Hauter, Food & Water Watch"Trump's nomination of Kelly Craft for U.N. ambassador is a slap in the face of climate science and human rights," Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch, said in a statement.
Hauter said she is "disgusted but not surprised" by Trump's decision--which comes after the president's previous nominee, former State Department spokesperson and Fox News commentator Heather Nauert, withdrew her name from consideration--and added, "[A]t a time when the United States should be working harder than ever with the rest of the world to address our deepening climate crisis, to select an admitted climate denier to represent us before the U.N. is especially egregious."
"We have little confidence that Ms. Craft will be a competent advocate for clean air, safe water, and adequate public health either here or abroad if her nomination is confirmed," Hauter concluded. "We strongly urge the Senate to reject Ms. Craft's nomination out of hand."
Both Craft and her billionaire coal magnate husband are major donors to the Republican Party and Trump. According to the New York Times, "the couple donated more than $2 million to Mr. Trump's candidacy and inauguration."
Craft, who is currently serving as U.S. ambassador to Canada, made headlines in 2017 after she said during an interview with the Canadian Broadcast Corporation that she respects "both sides" of climate science, despite the overwhelming scientific consensus that human activity is driving global warming and threatening the future of the planet.
"I believe there are scientists on both sides that are accurate," Craft declared. "I think that both sides have their own results from their studies and I appreciate and I respect both sides of the science."
Watch:
