Trump has a new climate adviser. He’s only been working at the Energy Department for about a year, but he’s fast on his feet.
Up until this past year, the extent of Wells Griffith’s experience in energy was working at his grandpa’s gas station in Alabama. Now, he’s heading up the Trump administration’s international energy and climate strategy, a position that could be permanent after a three-month trial run. Griffith supports Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, according to E&E News. That doesn’t bode well for the environment.
Griffith may be in charge of setting Trump’s climate agenda, but he doesn’t seem too keen on discussing his strategy with the public. He literally jogged away from Democracy Now! cofounder and veteran investigative journalist Amy Goodman when she tried to ask him some questions at the U.N. climate summit in Poland.
The incident occurred on Tuesday at an event that Griffith chaired. During his speech, he said, “If we are serious about eradicating poverty and providing universal access to affordable, reliable energy, it is clear that energy innovation and fossil fuels will continue to play a leading role.” But he was interrupted by laughter from climate protesters.
When Goodman tried to approach him after his speech, Griffith told her he was late for a meeting. Not taking no for an answer, the legendary reporter kept pushing him for a position on climate change, trotting to keep up with him as he quickened his pace. Before he started taking stairs two at a time, Griffith told Goodman that she was harassing him. “A reporter asking you a question, sir, is not harassment,” she said. Iconic.
Anyway, you can watch the video for yourself below (the power-walking starts around minute 42). But long story short Trump’s climate guy didn’t want to answer Goodman’s questions so desperately that he tried to escape for about a quarter mile before taking refuge in the U.S. delegation office. You can’t hide forever, chappy. Amy Goodman will find you eventually.
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