Recommendations of the Editorial team
Harrison Ford criticized Donald Trump’s administration and its administration in a new interview lack of action against climate change.
“He has no politics, just whims”
Speaking to the Guardian, Ford – a long-time critic of Trump – expressed concern about the future of the environment, especially after the devastating wildfires in the Los Angeles area that affected thousands of Californians, including himself.
“[Trump] has no politics, he has moods. This scares the hell out of me,” Ford said. “The ignorance, the hubris, the lies, the meanness. [Trump] knows better, but he’s an instrument of the status quo, earning himself stupidly and stupidly while the world goes to hell in a basket. Incredible. I know of no greater criminal in history.”
As a historic Category 5 hurricane rages near Jamaica – fueled by rising water temperatures caused by global warming, experts say – Ford also pointed to the nearly annual wildfires in the U.S. as evidence of Trump’s harmful policies or inaction. This includes, among other things, withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement and calling on oil companies to continue drilling.
“Everything we said came true”
“I knew it was coming, I’ve been preaching this for 30 years,” said Ford, who had to evacuate his home in California because of the fires. “Everything we said about climate change has happened. Why isn’t that enough to alarm people enough to change their behavior? Because of the entrenched status quo.”
The actor, who received the EO Wilson Legacy Award for Transformative Conservation Leadership at the Field Museum in Chicago on Wednesday, also warned: “We are on the brink. Indigenous peoples are the guardians of many of the last remaining forests and carry the hope that these precious places will be preserved. Science has long proven their value, but that does not protect them from interference – and the protection they enjoy is extremely fragile in some countries.”