Ivanka Trump in Twitter spat with CNN host over emissions facts

Ivanka Trump has been caught up in a war of words with a CNN anchor, after she claimed the US had experienced a decline in carbon emissions.

Outgoing first daughter and adviser to the US President, Ivanka Trump, has been caught up in a war of words with CNN anchor Jake Tapper, after she claimed the US had experienced a decline in carbon emissions.

The spat began when Mrs Trump shared a “fact” on Twitter, posting recent finding she claimed came from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

“FACT: Greenhouse gases generated by the U.S. will slide 9.2% this year, tumbling to the lowest level in at least three decades,” she said, citing the EPA.

However, Tapper pointed out the reason for the massive decline in emissions is due to a shutdown in travel, caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which has crippled the US, and killed more than 250,000 Americans.

Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, who are both senior advisers to US President Donald Trump, their father and father in law respectively. Picture: Mandel Ngan / AFP

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“This is largely because of the pandemic and the economic catastrophe it wrought,” Tapper wrote.

“The biggest drop in emissions this year came from the transportation sector, where emissions fell 14 per cent, dragged down by a steep drop in air travel and automobile trips.”

He said in a follow up tweet, “Kind of an important detail,” adding a link to a report from The Washington Post.

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2/ Kind of an important detail. https://t.co/L6eRe0SDUP

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) November 24, 2020

Tom Rowlands-Rees, the Head of North America analysis, Bloomberg New Energy Finance Limited (BloombergNEF) also responded to Mrs Trump, saying the figure she’d shared was not from the EPA, as she’d claimed.

He said it was based on figures put together by his own team. He also said 2019 was not at its “lowest level in at least three decades” as she had claimed, but was lower in 2017. For those playing at home, this level spiked in 2018.

He added the decreasing emissions cited by Mrs Trump were “still not enough from a climate change perspective”.

This is due to the declining use of coal in the power sector, with natural gas and to some extent renewables replacing it. Coal did not make a recovery, as some had hoped, during the past four years. So the trend has continued. 2/2

— Tom Rowlands-Rees (@Tomrrees) November 24, 2020

But Mrs Trump responded to Tapper again, arguing emissions in the US in the year before the pandemic “were the lowest they have been since 1992” and said per capita emissions were lower ”than they’ve been at any time since at least 1950”.

US CO2 emissions in 2019 were the lowest they have been since 1992. Per capita emissions were lower in 2019 than they’ve been at any time since at least 1950. https://t.co/iXebSmyXRR

— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) November 24, 2020

Tapper again responded, noting the year they were discussing had changed, and said the reduction in emissions had nothing to do with Trump era policy.

“Ah so now we’re talking about last year? OK cool yes that’s true. So why was that?” Tapper asked, sharing a quote from Inside Climate News.

“The story of the emissions decline has largely been one of market forces — rather than policies — that have made utilities close coal plants in favour of cheaper natural gas and renewable energy.’”

The article also noted there’d been a “sharp increase (in emissions) in 2018”, although emissions had overall been trending down.

A number of commentators took sides in the debate, including those from the political right, who said Tapper had credited a “free market” for Mrs Trump’s claim of a reduction in emissions.

“That’s … awesome, actually,” Daily Wire senior editor Emily Zanotti, editor of right wing publisher Daily Wire said.

“Capitalism wins again!” Noam Blum, associate editor of Tablet Magazine added.

However others were baffled by the statements from Mrs Trump, and accused her of “claiming credit where there is none, just like her daddy,” and “playing scientist”.

A recent analysis from The Washington Post found the Trump administration weakened or removed more than 125 rules that had been in place to protect US water, air and land, and 40 more rollbacks were in place in October. Mr Trump’s administration had also worked to frustrate climate change policy implemented during Barack Obama’s administration.

This included lessening the caps on how much carbon pollution power plants could emit, and degrading the federal government’s ability to control dumping of contaminated waste, and dredge wetlands.

The Trump administration also blocked individual state’s own abilities to control their own air quality standards and withdrew the US from the 2015 Paris Climate agreement.