Frustrated by US President’s adamant ignorance of climate change, a UK-based company has named a small, blind amphibian after him.
US President Donald Trump has persistently refused to acknowledge climate change as a global problem. At different points in time, Trump has called the concept a money-making hoax and even a Chinese plot to make US less competitive. He also announced US’ withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord in June 2017, saying that he was elected to serve the people of Pittsburgh and not Paris.
The President’s insistence on ignoring the growing global consensus on the subject has earned him a dubious epithet. A recently discovered amphibian that is blind and known to bury its head in the sand has been named Dermophis Donald trump after the President himself.
EnviroBuild, a UK-based company into sustainable building materials is behind the naming, for which it bid US$ 25,000 at an auction. Its co-founder Aidan Bell stated, “Dermophis donaldtrumpi is particularly susceptible to the impacts of climate change and is therefore in danger of becoming extinct as a direct result of its namesake’s climate policies.” He further added, “Burrowing (his) head underground helps Donald Trump when avoiding scientific consensus on anthropomorphic climate change.”
Trump has consistently refused to agree with scientists stating that climate change is a man-made calamity. He said to CBS in an interview in October that temperatures could go back, without any evidence to back it. In fact, he disregarded a report by his own government that said that climate change would cost the US billions of dollars every year and harm the health of people.
His simple response to journalists on the report was, “I don’t believe it.” With the introduction of Dermophis donaldtrumpi, EnviroBuild has handed Trump a legacy that he would like to forget.
