Trump officials urged to boycott UN climate summit as Trump seethes climate change is a ‘con job’

FIRST ON FOX: A coalition of conservative energy and environmental groups are calling on leaders within the Trump administration to snub the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference in Brazil as President Donald Trump rails against climate change as the “greatest con job ever.”

“As President Trump rightly moves our nation away from climate alarmism, there is nothing to be gained from participating in an anti-American international effort that is designed to cripple the U.S. energy system and economy, compromise our national security, and steal from U.S. taxpayers under the guise of climate aid and/or reparations,” a group of seven conservative energy and environment groups wrote in a letter exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital Friday. 

The U.N. Climate Change Conference is a yearly event that brings together leaders worldwide to map out and negotiate measures to limit climate change. The conference will be held in Brazil for 2025, running from Nov. 10 through Nov. 21. 

The letter was addressed to Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. Signatories of the letter included the Energy & Environment Legal Institute, American Energy Institute, Heartland Institute, Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), Truth in Energy and Climate, CO2 Coalition and American Lands Council.

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“It’s time America walked away from the U.N.’s endless climate conferences, which have never improved the environment but have impoverished billions while enriching China,” Jason Isaac, CEO of the American Energy Institute, told Fox News Digital of the letter. “By refusing to send a delegation to COP-30, the administration can send a clear message: America will no longer be a victim of the global climate hoax.” 

The letter to the trio of Trump administration leaders outlined that the U.S. has participated in the conference since its inaugural launch in 1995, but that the meetings and negotiations “have accomplished nothing for the environment.” 

“They have only wasted taxpayer money and squandered federal resources while: (1) harming the U.S. by motivating trillion-dollar Green New Scam policies and spending: (2) wantonly destroying the U.S. coal industry; (3) dramatically increasing higher energy prices and causing inflation; (4) compromising the U.S. electricity grid; and (5) making our energy system dependent on technology from Communist China. UN climate activities and treaties (both Kyoto in 1997 and Paris in 2015) caused Europe’s dependency on Russia for energy and financed Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine,” the letter continued. 

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Heartland Institute President James Taylor said the upcoming climate conference would only “illustrate the hypocrisy of the self-appointed ruling class,” while they “saturate the atmosphere with CO2” with their travels. 

“The annual UN climate talks exist solely to saturate the atmosphere with CO2 from people congregating from all around the globe, give traveling perks to government bureaucrats and NGOs, and illustrate the hypocrisy of the self-appointed ruling class,” Taylor said. “By not sending an official U.S. delegation, President Trump would be doing more to reduce carbon dioxide emissions than all the participating nations combined.” 

Trump has railed against strict climate policies established under previous Democratic administrations since retaking the Oval Office in January, including signing executive orders targeting “Green New Deal” initiatives, such as the “Unleashing American Energy” January executive order, which prevented the disbursement of climate-related federal funding through the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The letter comes after the U.N. General Assembly began in New York City Monday. Trump addressed the body and slammed climate change as a “con job” of massive proportions. 

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“It’s the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world, in my opinion,” Trump said Monday. “All of these predictions made by the United Nations and many others, often for bad reasons, were wrong.”

“They were made by stupid people that have cost their country’s fortunes and given those same countries no chance for success,” he continued. 

Signatories of the letter to the Trump officials argued that the U.S. snubbing the conference would send a message “that the U.S. will no longer be a victim of the global climate scam. The message it sends to the American people is that the Trump administration is putting America first.” 

“The White House should host a counter conference to emphasize economic prosperity and energy resilience for developing nations, offering the opportunity to pursue real solutions rather than the crippling green policies being pushed at COP,” they wrote. 

Steve Milloy, senior fellow at the Energy & Environment Legal Institute, told Fox Digital that Trump’s comments this week show the U.S. does not need to deploy any officials to Brazil for the conference. 

“President Trump this week called climate a hoax and a con job,” Milloy said. “He said countries embracing the green agenda were going to destroy themselves. He slammed the UN as ineffectual. So, there is no need for anyone in the Trump administration to participate in the upcoming U.N. climate conference in Brazil.” 

“Instead, President Trump should consider holding a White House event on energy and economic development for poor countries. Let’s move these people forward with proven ideas and opportunities instead of crippling them with green nonsense.”