President Donald Trump claimed he is an environmentalist when asked about his views on climate change at the G7, despite missing a session on the issue.
But he said American wealth is based on energy and he will not jeopardise that for “dreams and windmills.”
Mr Trump pulled the United States out of the landmark 2015 Paris climate accord involving nearly 200 countries, and has previously described global warming as a "hoax.”
He told a press conference: "I feel that the United States has tremendous wealth. The wealth is under its feet. I've made that wealth come alive.
“We are now the No. 1 energy producer in the world, and soon it will be by far, with a couple of pipelines which have not been approved. It’ll have a huge impact.
"I'm not going to lose that wealth, I'm not going to lose it on dreams, on windmills, which frankly aren't working too well.
“In a nutshell, I want the cleanest water on earth, I want the cleanest air on earth, and that’s what we’re doing.
“I’m an environmentalist, a lot of people don’t understand that.
“I have done more environmental impact statements probably than anybody that's ever been president. And I think I know more about the environment than most people.”
Mr Trump's administration has reversed US environmental protections put in place by his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama and has weakened the Endangered Species Act wildlife conservation law.
The Republican president skipped a session on climate change and biodiversity at the summit, instead holding bilateral meetings with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The G7 leaders discussed the rainforest fires in Brazil and agreed to draw up an initiative for the Amazon to be launched at the UN General Assembly in New York next month.
French President Emmanuel Macron downplayed Trump's absence.
He said: "He wasn't in the room, but his team was.
"You shouldn't read anything into the American president's absence. The US are with us on biodiversity and on the Amazon initiative."
Environmental activists heaped scorn on Trump's remarks.
Travis Nichols, a Greenpeace USA spokesman, said in a statement: "Trump's phony brand of 'environmentalism' means gutting the Endangered Species Act, bowing down to polluting industries, and denying climate change while the world burns.”
