Dem lawmaker to Trump: ‘Tweet all you want’ but climate change is happening

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) fired back Friday at President Trump’s tweet that the U.S. could use some “good old Global Warming” to heat up the currently freezing East Coast, saying he was “grateful” that cities and states are working to combat climate change where Trump is not.

Global #ClimateChange is happening, with life and death implications for untold millions around the world. Tweet all you want, but I’m grateful the international community (and many US cities & states) are working together to provide leadership where the US President has not. https://t.co/ApE3Cf4dTT

— Congressman Tim Ryan (@RepTimRyan) December 29, 2017

Ryan was responding to Trump’s Thursday evening tweet saying the U.S. “could use” some global warming as record-breaking cold weather blankets much of the country.

In the East, it could be the COLDEST New Year’s Eve on record. Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming that our Country, but not other countries, was going to pay TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to protect against. Bundle up!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 29, 2017

Eastern and Great Plains states are expected to see record-breaking cold temperatures over New Year’s weekend, with some areas expected to have low temperatures in the negative 40s.

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Ryan joined a host of Democratic lawmakers who slammed Trump following the tweet. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) tweeted that the U.S. has a “moral obligation” to combat climate change, and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) blasted Trump’s tweet as “embarrassing.”

Trump has denied that global warming exists in the past, claiming it was “created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.”

In June, Trump announced the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris climate change agreement, a worldwide pact to cut back on carbon emissions to reduce global warming.

The U.S. is now the only country on Earth not part of the accord.

In response to Trump pulling the U.S. out of the Paris deal, a number of states and cities have announced their intention to honor the guidelines in the agreement independently.

On Wednesday, 10 more U.S. cities signed on to the Chicago Climate Charter, a now 67-city pact to fight climate change. The pact also includes leaders from Mexico City, Paris and Vancouver.