Bill Nye Saturday slammed President Donald Trump’s Twitter post on Earth Day, saying that "he's being strongly influenced by the fossil-fuel industry – and he's not seeing the big picture."
"It certainly looks as though the administration is being very strongly influenced by the fossil-fuel industry, sort of its last gasp as an economic force," Nye, former host of the PBS children's series "The Science Guy," told Ana Cabrera on CNN.
Trump tweeted Saturday that "I am committed to keeping our air and water clean, but always remember that economic growth enhances environmental protection.
"Jobs matter," the president said.
"It has a 'but' in it," Nye told Cabrera. "The people surrounding him don't fully grasp the opportunities.
"The big picture is that we could have three million new jobs in the United States if we went to renewable energy – wind, solar, some tidal and geothermal.
"We could have new jobs, new sectors that would be sustainable.
"We would not need a military on the other side of the world protecting fossil-fuel fields to keep our economy going the way that it is and degrade the atmosphere."
Nye was among the thousands who participated Saturday in the global March for Science to bring attention to climate change and related issues.
He also ripped the Trump administration's plan to slash the EPA's budget by 30 percent and to withdraw from global environmental treaties, warning that the plans "sound very bad for the world.
"Politically, this may not work out," Nye cautioned. "It may backfire.
"You can't unilaterally withdraw from an international agreement without many ramifications.
"Other countries around the world may impose what amounts to tariffs on the United States for withdrawing from what is essentially an international treaty."