Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Is Climate Change Real? Trump Turns To Man Who Compared Holocaust To C02 Reductions To Find Out

William Happer, an official on the National Security Council, will likely head up a proposed committee to explore whether or not climate change is a national security threat, The Washington Post reports.

Happer is an atomic physicist who founded the CO2 Coalition, a group he calls, “The CO2 anti-defamation league,” explaining, “There is the CO2 molecule, and it has undergone decade after decade of abuse, for no reason.” His group seeks to combat restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions.

That 2016 comment isn’t the first time Happer has likened the plight of the molecule to the plight of the Jewish people, CNN notes. In 2014, speaking to CNBC, Happer said, “The demonization of carbon dioxide is just like the demonization of the poor Jews under Hitler. Carbon dioxide is actually a benefit to the world, and so were the Jews.”

According to the Post, the Presidential Committee on Climate Security, which Happer is set to lead, may be established through an executive order.

It’s odd for a public official to compare human mass murder to the feelings of a single carbon atom covalently bonded to two oxygen atoms. The Holocaust has more in common with climate change than with CO2 — both have been labeled hoaxes, and both become more deadly the longer they’re ignored.

Jenny Singer is the deputy life/features editor for the Forward. You can reach her at Singer@forward.com or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly. 

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at editorial@forward.com, subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.

Exit mobile version