Donald Trump, climate vandal, springs to action on the environment

Happy days are here to stay longer? Exxon
Mobil's Billings Refinery in Billings, Montana.

Washington: He lied – again. US President Donald Trump had car manufacturers in on Tuesday, giving them the rounds of the kitchen for locating their factories abroad – but assuring them he'd reduce "out of control" environmental regulations.

And lest he be seen as the climate vandal that most in the environmental movement fear he is, Trump touted his greenie credentials at the meeting: "I'm a very big person when it comes to the environment – I've received awards on the environment."

Nope! And when reporters asked for a list of the awards, the White House referred them to a book. Nope, again – instead of listing what the President had won, it listed what the author, Trump's longtime environmental consultant, thought he should have won.

But Trump's encounter with the car makers proved to be just a warm-up act for his inner vandal – later in the morning fears that he would drag the US back towards the yesteryears of fossil fuels were confirmed with his decision to revive two controversial projects, the Keystone XL and the Dakota Access oil pipelines.

Read Paul McGeough’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Donald Trump, climate vandal,springs to action on the environment.”