Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that he is not concerned Republican President-elect Donald Trump thinks of climate change as a “hoax” even as New York City grapples with a historic drought and a recent spate of wildfires.
Hizzoner, during his weekly off-topic news conference, told reporters that he is not worried about Trump’s pledge to roll back the Biden administration’s efforts to rein in carbon emissions because he believes the city will still be able to tackle the crisis on the local level. His comments come as the city has seen an explosion of brush fires in its parks over the past couple of weeks caused by ongoing drought-like conditions.
Adams also projected confidence that his administration would get the fires under control.
“What is there to concern me, we’re gonna put out the brush fires,” Adams said. “We’re going to continue to lead the way with everything that is improving our climate. Everything from electrifying vehicles to all the other actions that we’re doing. National leaders have their opinions; agency heads have their opinions. We believe that climate change is a real issue. And we’ve been leading the way with what we’re doing here.”
Over the past 10 weeks, the city has received 8.23 inches less rain than normal, according to city officials. The severe lack of precipitation has led the city to issue a drought warning on Monday, which is the second stage in drought preparedness before it moves to a drought emergency, which carries mandatory water usage restrictions for city residents.
Adams administration officials said Monday that the drought has greatly depleted the Hudson Valley reservoirs that supply the city’s drinking water to 60% capacity from the average for this time of year of 79%.
Under the drought warning, the administration has ordered city agencies to limit their water use. Those limitations apply to how frequently they wash city vehicles, run artificial fountains in parks, and water public golf courses.
The drought has caused several brush fires in the city, including blazes in Manhattan’s Inwood Hill Park and Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. On Tuesday afternoon, another brush fire broke out — this time at Highbridge Park in Upper Manhattan.
Adams and other top administration figures have frequently said climate change caused the drought and resulting brush fires.
“This is not normal, and I’m pretty sure if you’re outside, you may enjoy the beautiful weather in November, but the reality is climate change is real and is impacting our city,” the mayor said. “And while we cannot make it rain, we can take actions to reduce the risk of drought emergencies in our city.”
The president-elect has not been shy about his intention to dismantle the Biden administration’s climate agenda — similar to how he rolled back former President Barrack Obama’s climate policies during his first term.
During his campaign, Trump signaled that he wanted to repeal President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which pumped billions of federal dollars into the production of electric cars, batteries, and other clean energy production technology. He has signaled that he wants to lift restrictions on burning fossil fuels and open up more federal land to drilling for oil and gas.
The mayor has noticeably avoided criticizing Trump over the past few months, a trend that continued after Trump’s victory over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. His reluctance to challenge Trump has fed speculation that he wants the president-elect’s help dismissing his own legal troubles.
Adams pleaded not guilty to federal corruption charges in late September and is set to go on trial in April next year. Trump has publicly expressed sympathy with Adams and suggested, without evidence, that Biden’s Justice Department drummed up the case as payback for Adams’ outspokenness on the migrant influx.
