President Donald Trump speaks during a briefing on Hurricane Michael in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C. on October 10, 2018. (Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)
Refusing to Take Real Climate Action, Trump Reportedly Suggests Using Nukes to Stop Hurricanes
"What if instead of dropping nuclear bombs on hurricanes we just passed a Green New Deal and made fossil fuel billionaires pay for the devastation of climate disasters?"
As he refuses to take action to combat the climate crisis, which scientists say is making extreme weather events more intense and devastating, President Donald Trump reportedly suggested deploying America's vast nuclear arsenal to stop hurricanes from reaching the United States.
"We cannot believe we have to say this but elected officials should get their climate policy recommendations from frontline communities and science, not the movie Sharknado."
-- 350.org
Axios reported Sunday that Trump asked, "Why don't we nuke them?" during a hurricane briefing in the White House.
"They start forming off the coast of Africa, as they're moving across the Atlantic, we drop a bomb inside the eye of the hurricane and it disrupts it. Why can't we do that?" Trump said, according to Axios, which cited sources who heard the president's remarks.
Trump has reportedly invoked the idea of nuking hurricanes "multiple times" in meetings with U.S. national security officials.
"Trump also raised the idea in another conversation with a senior administration official," Axios reported. "A 2017 NSC memo describes that second conversation, in which Trump asked whether the administration should bomb hurricanes to stop them from hitting the homeland. A source briefed on the NSC memo said it does not contain the word 'nuclear'; it just says the president talked about bombing hurricanes."
In a tweet Monday morning, Trump called Axios's story "fake news" and said he never raised the idea of bombing hurricanes, which commentators described as "dangerously moronic" and "absolutely nuts."
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has a page on its website dedicated to addressing the question, "Why don't we try to destroy tropical cyclones by nuking them?"
"During each hurricane season, there always appear suggestions that one should simply use nuclear weapons to try and destroy the storms," the page reads. "Apart from the fact that this might not even alter the storm, this approach neglects the problem that the released radioactive fallout would fairly quickly move with the tradewinds to affect land areas and cause devastating environmental problems."
"Needless to say," NOAA concludes, "this is not a good idea."
Environmentalists were quick to ridicule the president's reported suggestion and demand action to confront the climate crisis and protect vulnerable communities from extreme weather events.
"We cannot believe we have to say this but elected officials should get their climate policy recommendations from frontline communities and science, not the movie Sharknado," tweeted 350.org. "What if instead of dropping nuclear bombs on hurricanes we just passed a Green New Deal and made fossil fuel billionaires pay for the devastation of climate disasters?"
Urgent. It's never been this bad.
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 from the outset was 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 and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just three days to go in our Spring Campaign, we're falling short of our make-or-break goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
As he refuses to take action to combat the climate crisis, which scientists say is making extreme weather events more intense and devastating, President Donald Trump reportedly suggested deploying America's vast nuclear arsenal to stop hurricanes from reaching the United States.
"We cannot believe we have to say this but elected officials should get their climate policy recommendations from frontline communities and science, not the movie Sharknado."
-- 350.org
Axios reported Sunday that Trump asked, "Why don't we nuke them?" during a hurricane briefing in the White House.
"They start forming off the coast of Africa, as they're moving across the Atlantic, we drop a bomb inside the eye of the hurricane and it disrupts it. Why can't we do that?" Trump said, according to Axios, which cited sources who heard the president's remarks.
Trump has reportedly invoked the idea of nuking hurricanes "multiple times" in meetings with U.S. national security officials.
"Trump also raised the idea in another conversation with a senior administration official," Axios reported. "A 2017 NSC memo describes that second conversation, in which Trump asked whether the administration should bomb hurricanes to stop them from hitting the homeland. A source briefed on the NSC memo said it does not contain the word 'nuclear'; it just says the president talked about bombing hurricanes."
In a tweet Monday morning, Trump called Axios's story "fake news" and said he never raised the idea of bombing hurricanes, which commentators described as "dangerously moronic" and "absolutely nuts."
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has a page on its website dedicated to addressing the question, "Why don't we try to destroy tropical cyclones by nuking them?"
"During each hurricane season, there always appear suggestions that one should simply use nuclear weapons to try and destroy the storms," the page reads. "Apart from the fact that this might not even alter the storm, this approach neglects the problem that the released radioactive fallout would fairly quickly move with the tradewinds to affect land areas and cause devastating environmental problems."
"Needless to say," NOAA concludes, "this is not a good idea."
Environmentalists were quick to ridicule the president's reported suggestion and demand action to confront the climate crisis and protect vulnerable communities from extreme weather events.
"We cannot believe we have to say this but elected officials should get their climate policy recommendations from frontline communities and science, not the movie Sharknado," tweeted 350.org. "What if instead of dropping nuclear bombs on hurricanes we just passed a Green New Deal and made fossil fuel billionaires pay for the devastation of climate disasters?"
As he refuses to take action to combat the climate crisis, which scientists say is making extreme weather events more intense and devastating, President Donald Trump reportedly suggested deploying America's vast nuclear arsenal to stop hurricanes from reaching the United States.
"We cannot believe we have to say this but elected officials should get their climate policy recommendations from frontline communities and science, not the movie Sharknado."
-- 350.org
Axios reported Sunday that Trump asked, "Why don't we nuke them?" during a hurricane briefing in the White House.
"They start forming off the coast of Africa, as they're moving across the Atlantic, we drop a bomb inside the eye of the hurricane and it disrupts it. Why can't we do that?" Trump said, according to Axios, which cited sources who heard the president's remarks.
Trump has reportedly invoked the idea of nuking hurricanes "multiple times" in meetings with U.S. national security officials.
"Trump also raised the idea in another conversation with a senior administration official," Axios reported. "A 2017 NSC memo describes that second conversation, in which Trump asked whether the administration should bomb hurricanes to stop them from hitting the homeland. A source briefed on the NSC memo said it does not contain the word 'nuclear'; it just says the president talked about bombing hurricanes."
In a tweet Monday morning, Trump called Axios's story "fake news" and said he never raised the idea of bombing hurricanes, which commentators described as "dangerously moronic" and "absolutely nuts."
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has a page on its website dedicated to addressing the question, "Why don't we try to destroy tropical cyclones by nuking them?"
"During each hurricane season, there always appear suggestions that one should simply use nuclear weapons to try and destroy the storms," the page reads. "Apart from the fact that this might not even alter the storm, this approach neglects the problem that the released radioactive fallout would fairly quickly move with the tradewinds to affect land areas and cause devastating environmental problems."
"Needless to say," NOAA concludes, "this is not a good idea."
Environmentalists were quick to ridicule the president's reported suggestion and demand action to confront the climate crisis and protect vulnerable communities from extreme weather events.
"We cannot believe we have to say this but elected officials should get their climate policy recommendations from frontline communities and science, not the movie Sharknado," tweeted 350.org. "What if instead of dropping nuclear bombs on hurricanes we just passed a Green New Deal and made fossil fuel billionaires pay for the devastation of climate disasters?"