French President Emmanuel Macron says fires in the Amazon rain forest should take precedence when President Trump and leaders from the rest of the Group of Seven nations meet this weekend along his country’s picturesque coast.
More than 2,000 fires are burning in the Amazon, prompting global alarm and political turmoil in Brazil, where President Jail Bolsonaro has pushed for development in the region and suggested, without evidence, that nongovernmental organizations set the fires in retaliation for losing funds from his administration.
Mr. Macron, who has pushed for global action on climate change, said the crisis must shoot to the top of the agenda in Biarritz.
“Our house is burning. Literally. The Amazon rain forest — the lungs which produces 20% of our planet’s oxygen — is on fire,” he said on Twitter. “It is an international crisis. Members of the G7 Summit, let’s discuss this emergency first order in two days!”
The French president’s push to deal with climate issues has put him at odds with Mr. Trump, who’s emphasized energy production and economic growth instead and once called climate change a “hoax” invented the Chinese.
Senior administration officials said the president will emphasize America’s clean air and water and its 14% decline in carbon emissions since 2005.
“We have a winning record on the environment, but we don’t think that environmental protection needs to necessarily cost economic growth or energy security and dominance,” an official told reporters Thursday. “And we have a proven track record across all of those.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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