Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., sparred with CNN host Chris Cuomo Friday over President Donald Trump's decision to end U.S. involvement in the Paris climate accords.
"This was not agreement on the science behind global warming," Collins said while defending Trump, according to Raw Story. "This was a bad deal for the United States."
"On global warming," Cuomo said. "That is what this was about, international recognition of a recognized problem by all. We have problems with greenhouse gasses and we all need to address it. Do you accept that premise?"
"Well, I do accept it," Collins responded. "I traveled to the Arctic Circle a week ago to meet with the scientists. We discussed this in great depth. They pointed out that most of the models they put out there are not playing out for a variety of reasons. There is some level of warming. With that, we are getting more vegetation, and the vegetation is absorbing the CO2 at rates which were not expected."
"Did any of the scientists tell you that global warming isn't a problem?" the "New Day" anchor asked. "Did any of them tell you that, -- any of them?"
"We did not use those terms," Collins replied. "We tried to stay away from the political terms."
"We talked about hard numbers, the numbers are not going up the way they were predicted," the congressman added. "At some point, you know, we have all kinds of climate change issues going on. We need jobs. We need to focus on jobs."
"I don't know why you would have to deny science to make jobs," Cuomo said. "I don't get it. You can dance if you want, but no scientist told you that there's no global warming problem and our president says it's a hoax. You don't see a disconnect there? That's a problem."
The congressman started to reply that he hadn't talked with Trump yet about climate change before Cuomo asked, "Shouldn't you?"
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