After President Donald Trump watched a story aired on CNN — a network he says he never watches — which detailed the devastating impact climate change has had on a small island in the Chesapeake Bay, he called the mayor of the island to inform him that everything would be just fine.
Virginia's Tangier Island is shrinking at a rate of 15 feet each year, the Washington Post noted, and the Army Corps of Engineers has said the cause is from "coastal erosion and rising sea levels." But that wasn't enough to convince the president, or even the island's Mayor James Eskridge.
"Donald Trump, if you see this, whatever you can do, we welcome any help you can give us,” Eskridge told CNN. "I love Trump as much as any family member I got."
Eskridge got his wish, and the president gave him a call.
"He said we shouldn’t worry about rising sea levels," Eskridge told the Post. "He said that 'your island has been there for hundreds of years, and I believe your island will be there for hundreds more."
Trump and the island's mayor both agreed that sea level rise is not a concern of theirs. "Like the president, I’m not concerned about sea level rise," Eskridge told the Post. "I’m on the water daily, and I just don’t see it."
The main concern for Eskridge as well as many other residents on the island are worried "about the erosion caused by the Chesapeake’s water pounding on the island’s shores. He said he believes this is why his home is disappearing at an alarming rate, the Post reported. Trump seemed to agree with him and suggested that he may stop by so the two could discuss it.
Scientists have said the island's 450 residents, who overwhelmingly supported Trump in the November election, may need to completely abandon the island in the next few decades. Many of the residents are descendants of its first settlers back in the 17th century, according to the Post.
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