Pompeo downplays climate change, suggests 'people move to different places'

[left-of-center2012]

Source: CNN

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo downplayed climate change as a longstanding trend, suggesting that that modern societies could adapt to a changing environment, possibly with people moving to different places.

"The climate's been changing a long time. There's always changes that take place," Pompeo said.
"Societies reorganize, we move to different places, we develop technology and innovation," he added. "I am convinced, I am convinced that we will do the things necessary as the climate changes."

The comments aren't Pomepo's first foray into controversial climate assessments.

In May, Pompeo praised the Arctic's rapidly shrinking sea levels for their subsequent economic opportunities, despite continued warnings about the catastrophic effects of climate change.
"Steady reductions in sea ice are opening new passageways and new opportunities for trade -- this could potentially slash the time it takes to travel between Asia and the West by as much as 20 days," he said during remarks in Rovaniemi, Finland.

"Arctic sea lanes could become the 21st century Suez and Panama Canals."



Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/07/politics/pompeo-climate-change-washington-times/index.html

[democratisphere]

1. And this guy is the Secretary of State.?

[walkingman]

2. Might as well be a circus clown - Trump has a record of choosing the best people (ex. Rick Perry)

[Roy Rolling]

21. First Migration

All Republican climate-deniers move out of Washington, DC.

[comradebillyboy]

54. Compared to Trump's other appointments Perry is the

model of integrity and competence. I'm surprised he's lasted so long.

[walkingman]

56. Having lived with his (Perry) legacy in Texas since the mid 80's and seeing how it

changed Texas from a people oriented state to a "business friendly" state I think he is despicable. I would argue that Texas might be the GOP flagship that supported the ideology for anti-environment, perpetual war, "W" Bush of course, and he left the state firmly in the hands of like-minded people. If there is one state that more responsible for the mess we find ourselves these days, now sure who it would be. No Perry has no integrity or competence - simply a career politician who represents the worst of political tribalism.

[comradebillyboy]

57. I agree Perry is awful, but I am comparing him to Trump's

other appointment who are all even worse than he is.

[Bengus81]

63. He's from Kansas so you get this kind of SHIT............

Now we have a Sedgwick County Commissioner (no doubt BOUGHT and paid for by the Koch Cartel) wanting a vote to make wind generation ILLEGAL in all of Sedgwick County.

The old "aircraft might hit them" routine--and maybe some dead birds thrown in too. Never mind that just 10 miles out or so we have 1300 foot TV antenna's that have been there since the 50's and have yet to be hit.

[applegrove]

3. Easy enough for him to say as he minimizes the slow starvation death

farmers are going through around the equator and if they just move they end up traumatized by violence and poverty along the route. It is like Bush II with his "they were told to leave New Orleans" excuse for others to not feel sorry for them. That went well. Statements like this are just meant to separate us from our fellow human beings.

[Dennis Donovan]

4. 30 years from now, his legacy will be shit...

...like every other climate change denier. I hope a plaque will be placed on every seawall, in half-mile segments, listing the name of every climate-denying politician who, not only ignored the threat, but were active liars about it.

[certainot]

6. one shitty part is we let 88 major universities support 260 of the loudest limbaugh/GWdenying

radio stations in the country

those schools have no excuse not to find apolitical and more responsible radio stations to broadcast sports on

[hatrack]

15. Seawall? Don't you mean the Diving Park?

[certainot]

5. what a stupid ignorant motherfucking republican

no clue

[DBoon]

7. Just don't try to migrate to the USA

of Italy, Hungary, Poland, or any other country with a right wing nationalist climate change denying government

[ancianita]

38. +100

[NRaleighLiberal]

8. the abject stupidity and ignorance of these people is truly breathtaking.

[Wellstone ruled]

9. Frank Luntz talking points.

[Chicago1980]

10. Move to different places...

Like the migrants making their way here from Guatemala?

[truthisfreedom]

11. Opportunities for trade. Between countries in complete crisis.

Such a lovely black vision these cynical bastards have adopted as they snigger up their sleeves at the little plebes.

[paleotn]

12. Ugh!

He doesn't get it. He just doesn't get it. We're talking climate change well beyond the little ice age. Well beyond the medieval warm period. We're talking climate shocks humans haven't seen since the younger dryas. A time that hammered Homo sapien populations. Much of the middle latitudes uninhabitable even by Mad Max. Taiga, muskeg and other soils in newly warmed, higher latitudes will take centuries to become arable, if ever. With 7+ billion humans, it's a recipe for disaster beyond anything Hollywood could dream up. Oh, and that little patch of security he and his ilk are banking on in New Zealand? Forget it. They can't run and they can't hide.

[Rural_Progressive]

33. Actually we're talking about climate chaos

Humans have never seen the likes of that.

[raccoon]

53. Elucidate, my dear Watson. How come?

Taiga, muskeg and other soils in newly warmed, higher latitudes will take centuries to become arable, if ever.

[paleotn]

55. Acidity, depth......etc.

The fact that much of the soils in the far north contain vast quantities of partially decayed plant matter, particularly evergreen needles, thus very high levels of acidity. Secondly, due to relatively recent glaciation events, many northern soils are very thin to extremely thin. And not just to subsoil....to bedrock. Yellowknife is a prime example. Of course we could expend vast amounts of CO2, to transport in lime, chem fert, formed topsoil and other missing materials, plus greatly increasing the natural CO2 release from all that partially decayed organic matter deposited over millennia...but what the hell...3,4 or 8 degrees of warming....who's counting?

[stopbush]

13. RW idiot Ben Shapiro sez that if you're affected by rising sea levels, you simply sell your home

and relo.

Er, sell to who? Who is waiting in line to buy your now-permanently waterlogged property?

[Kurt V.]

51. i saw that. and he's suppose to be the intellectual one. ugh

[hatrack]

14. Oh, you mean like people in Guatemala whose crops have failed coming here?

Right, Mike, you pompous bag of shit?

[rockfordfile]

16. That un-American pos should be locked up.To what's coming to the younger generation with the climate

Remember that pos will be in a grave when the climate change kicks in.

[airplaneman]

17. I am convinced that we will do the things necessary as the climate changes.

As the Earth becomes inhabitable - we will all move to our graves.

-Airplane

[global1]

18. I Hear Trump Is Building Trump Tower Siberia......nt

[Eugene]

19. Of course the "we" in "we move to different places" doesn't apply to people of color moving North

into the industrialized world. The administration's stated policy is that refugees should resettled close to the disaster zone they left.

[0rganism]

20. while he and his buddies proceed to make it ever more difficult for people to move

this ain't the stone age anymore, it's a lot harder to follow those great herds across the plains when we can get busted for trespassing on BLM grazing land.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

22. Waiting for Canada to start building their southern border wall.

3.....2.....1...........

[Hortensis]

44. Better build fast! This talk of people just moving to different places

suggests we may be planning to invade. Where else are we going?

[KY_EnviroGuy]

59. Wish we could zoom forward 100 years and take a peek.

Probably too scary to see. Our territorialism will kill millions and we're trudging backwards away from the solutions.

A while back, I saw a map of the current arable land on earth and it was both revealing and frightening. Many areas I would have guessed to be potential good farming zones have very poor soil, such as in much of Africa.

Loss of fresh water supply may actually be our final downfall, or at least the end of civilization as we know it.

The human species has yet to be told en masse that we need to slowly but drastically reduce populations in order to simply survive.

....

[Bernardo de La Paz]

23. Keep cages filled by Pompeo suggestion. It is one more reason migrants move north. . . . nt

[nitpicker]

24. The rich usually can move

Everyone else (from people underwater on their homes and businesses on down to homeless people) find it very tough to move.

[True Blue American]

27. Farmers

Have 4 feet of water in their fields. It will be late July before they go down. And Farmers do not want bailouts.

[Lulu KC]

25. Like where? Mars, which is part of the moon? n/t

[True Blue American]

26. Watched this

On the barriers in Britain this morning. If they go the whole coastline will vanish.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/09/climate-crisis-flooding-threat-may-force-uk-towns-to-be-abandoned

[Lulu KC]

37. Really not funny n/t

[True Blue American]

40. Who said it was funny?

There is nothing funny about Global warming, it is real! And is taking place all over the world.

Even the outer parts of Miami are flooding. Whole areas will disappear. Not in my life time but that is not important.

[Lulu KC]

41. I responded with snarky humor

about the whole Moon/Mars thing that DT said yesterday, asking if that is where we would go.
You posted a truly sad fact.
I was saying global warming is not funny.
I agree with you.

[True Blue American]

42. OK!:)

Things been worse than snarky around here the last few days.

[Lulu KC]

45. Living in a dictatorship on a burning planet can get to us

[True Blue American]

52. I know

Am one of them. Thus not catching the sarcasm.

[Jim__]

28. The Democrats need to blast this all over Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, and Nebraska.

Republican advice to farmers who've been flooded out: move.

[Bengus81]

64. Yep...farmers can MOVE and no welfare checks too boot.

[Farmer-Rick]

29. He should move to Russia. He would fit right in with Putin

He should move right now and leave our democracy (what little we have left) alone. Go to Russia where they like dicktaters. Take the wannabe dicktater with you.

[ck4829]

30. Kick

[NickB79]

31. They ARE trying to move. Your boss is stopping them at the border

So no carbon cuts and no migration. What's left then, just fucking dying?

[ck4829]

47. +1

[world wide wally]

32. I feel stupider for having read this bullshit quote

[area51]

34. Well, pompous Pompeo,

be sure and tell your BFF Donnie to move Merde-A-Lago further inland to keep it from becoming an underwater resort.

[jayschool2013]

35. Great news, Mr. Pompeo

Doctor: "Great news, Mr. Pompeo! You have cancer!"
Pompeo: "That's not great news at all. Are you kidding? I could cease to exist."
Doctor: "But this opens you to the opportunity to get medical marijuana to ease your post-radiation nausea. You've been wanting to get high, so here's your chance. Just move to a state that has MMJ."
Pompeo: "Oh, OK."
Doctor: "One last thing, Mr. Pompeo."
Pompeo: "Yes."
Doctor: "Go fuck yourself."

[Nitram]

36. I suggest Pompeo move straight to Hell.

[ck4829]

48. Indeed

[The Liberal Lion]

39. For how sad and stupid his statement is it's fucking halarious that he says

"societies reorganize" as a solution for climate change while he works for an orange moron who is hellbent on building a wall in order to thwart such a thing. *sigh* well at least the idiots are at least acknowledging that climate change exists.

[Kashkakat v.2.0]

43. "Move to different places"? You mean like in mass migrations, social disruptions, global

chaos the likes of which the world has never seen before?

What an idiot. This is exactly one of the reasons why we DONT want climate change.

[ck4829]

50. +1

[struggle4progress]

46. Anybody got any idea about anywhere Pompeo should go?

[ck4829]

49. Good question

[yonder]

58. "Arctic sea lanes could become the 21st century Suez and Panama Canals."

And if you have your way those Arctic sea lanes will have the climate of the Suez and Panama Canals.

No thanks, idiot.

[SCVDem]

60. Move where?

No polar ice to lock up the water, the mid American sea returns.

[Raine]

61. That's what many are doing now

I thought that they were opposed to all this migration. There will be many many more arriving here because where they live has become unlivable ... climate refugees.

[meadowlander]

62. Yes, it's easy for the 95% of Americans who have their life savings tied up in their home/mortgage

to just sell their property to the eager queue of buyers looking to pick up what will become worthless land in essentially uninhabitable regions of the US.

That's a completely fair trade off for allowing oil companies to squeeze the last few drops of precious precious profit out of our planet.