Gary Cohn to host energy and climate change discussion in New York
Top White House economic adviser Gary Cohn will host a meeting on energy and climate change in New York on Monday before the United Nations General Assembly convenes, a White House official confirmed to CBS News.
The New York Times first reported the meeting. Top climate and energy ministers from about a dozen countries were invited, the official confirmed. President Trump's White House has been skeptical of climate change, an issue that has resurfaced with Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has said it's "insensitive" to bring up climate change in the immediate aftermath of those natural disasters, and Rick Perry, head of the Department of Energy, said climate change discussions were "secondary" to the rescue response in Harvey.
Under Mr. Trump and Pruitt, the EPA has rolled back dozens of environmental regulations.
In June, Mr. Trump announced the U.S. would exit from the Paris climate agreement, which set out goals for the nearly 200 participating countries to meet to curb carbon emissions. Mr. Trump dubbed the agreement a job killer.
"The Paris Accord is very unfair at the highest level to the United States," Mr. Trump said at the time.
Still, after Mr. Trump spoke with European leaders who urged him not to back out of the deal in May, it was Cohn who told reporters the president's views were "evolving" on climate change.
The UNGA, Mr. Trump's first as president, kicks off Tuesday.
CBS News' Katiana Krawchenko contributed to this report.
