EPA Chief Scott Pruitt Says Carbon Dioxide is NOT a Primary Contributor to Global Warming

"The climate has changed and is always changing. As the Climate Science Special Report states, the magnitude of future climate change depends significantly on 'remaining uncertainty in the sensitivity of Earth's climate to [greenhouse gas] emissions,'" said White House principal deputy press secretary Raj Shah, in a statement.

March 20, 2017

[CNN] - Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt said Thursday he does not believe carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to global warming.

"I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do and there's tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact, so no, I would not agree that it's a primary contributor to the global warming that we see," he told CNBC's "Squawk Box."

"But we don't know that yet. ... We need to continue the debate and continue the review and the analysis."

The statement contradicts the public stance of the agency Pruitt leads. The EPA's webpage on the causes of climate change states, "Carbon dioxide is the primary greenhouse gas that is contributing to recent climate change."

Pruitt's view is also at odds with the conclusion of NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"The planet's average surface temperature has risen about 2.0 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere," NASA and NOAA said in January.

Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, co-chair of the Senate Climate Action Task Force, slammed Pruitt for his comments, calling his views "extreme" and "irresponsible."

"Anyone who denies over a century's worth of established science and basic facts is unqualified to be the administrator of the EPA. Now more than ever, the Senate needs to stand up to Scott Pruitt and his dangerous views," he said in a statement.

Schatz said lawmakers would hold Pruitt accountable through the appropriations process and oversight of the EPA, and by making sure he follows the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act.

Pruitt previously served as Oklahoma attorney general, where he rose to prominence as a leader in coordinated efforts by Republican attorneys general to challenge President Barack Obama's regulatory agenda. He sued or took part in legal actions against the EPA 14 times.

Democrats and environmentalists opposed Pruitt's nomination to lead the EPA due to his close relationship with fossil fuel companies and his history of casting doubt on climate change. Conservatives and the energy industry have cheered his efforts to push back on what they view as over-regulation under Obama.

Pruitt maintained on Thursday it's possible to be pro-growth, pro-jobs and pro-environment all at once.

"This idea that if you're pro-environment you're anti-energy is just something we've got to change so that attitude is something we're working on very much," he said.

Asked whether he would seek to roll back the EPA's 2009 determination that carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases are a danger to public health, Pruitt suggested he would like to see Congress take up the issue.

"I think all those things need to be addressed as we go forward but not least of which is the response by the legislative branch with respect to the issue," he said.

The Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that the EPA has the authority to regulate heat-trapping gases from automobiles. In 2014, it determined the agency could also regulate some sources of greenhouse gases, such as power plants.

Pruitt also called the Paris Agreement, an international accord aimed at mitigating the impacts of climate change, "a bad deal." He said it puts the United States on a different playing field than developing countries like China and India.

The United States has vowed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. In comparison, China has committed to reach peak carbon emissions levels by 2030, but will try to reach that point sooner.

"I happen to think the Paris accord, the Paris treaty, or the Paris Agreement, if you will, should have been treated as a treaty, should have gone through senate confirmation. That's a concern," he said.

The Paris Agreement was negotiated by the State Department, and future adherence to U.S. commitments made under Obama will be guided by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Tillerson, the former chief of Exxon Mobil, said during his Senate confirmation hearing that he believes the United States should remain a party to the Paris Agreement.

White House-approved Report Concludes Humans are Behind Climate Change

Humans activity is behind the accelerated warming of the planet since the mid-20th century, the latest U.S. National Climate Assessment finds.

The report was prepared by 13 federal agencies and approved by the White House.

Its conclusion contradicts public statements by President Donald Trump and top administration officials who have cast doubt on humans' role in climate change.

November 3, 2017

[CNBC.com] - 2016 is likely to have been the hottest year since global temperatures were recorded in the 19th century.

2016 is likely to have been the hottest year since global temperatures were recorded in the 19th century.

Human activity is the primary cause of rising global temperatures in recent decades, and there is no convincing evidence to the contrary, according to a report issued Friday by 13 U.S. agencies. The assessment, approved by the White House, contradicts public statements by President Donald Trump and several top members of his administration.

The findings came in the Fourth National Climate Assessment, an authoritative review of climate science. The assessment finds that the period from 1901-2016 was the warmest in modern civilization and warns that temperatures and sea levels will rise much more if no action is taken.

"This assessment concludes, based on extensive evidence, that it is extremely likely that human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases, are the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century," the report finds.

"For the warming over the last century, there is no convincing alternative explanation supported by the extent of the observational evidence."

Trump has called climate change a "hoax." Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt and Energy Secretary Rick Perry both told CNBC earlier this year that carbon dioxide emissions from human activity are not the primary driver of climate change.

Donald J. Trump ✔@realDonaldTrump
The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.
3:15 PM - Nov 6

The Trump administration has rolled back a series of Obama-era rules and initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change. Trump announced in June that he will pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement, a global effort to prevent world temperatures from rising 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.

Temperatures in the United States have risen by 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit, or 1 degree Celsius, since 1901, the report finds. The authors forecast that between 2021 and 2050 U.S. temperatures could rise by 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit above 1975-2005 levels in all "plausible future scenarios."

"The magnitude of climate change beyond the next few decades will depend primarily on the amount of greenhouse gases (especially carbon dioxide) emitted globally," the authors wrote.

Annual average temperatures could increase by 9 degrees Fahrenheit above preindustrial levels by the end of the century if humans do not reduce emissions, they warn.

"In addition to warming, many other aspects of global climate are changing, primarily in response to human activities," the report finds. Those include "changes in surface, atmospheric, and oceanic temperatures; melting glaciers; diminishing snow cover; shrinking sea ice; rising sea levels; ocean acidification; and increasing atmospheric water vapor," according to thousands of studies.

'Climate Change-denying' House Science Chairman is Retiring

Many see it as a win for the scientific community and the climate.

November 3, 2017

[Engadget] - Lamar Smith, the chairman of the US House of Representatives' Committee on Science, Space and Technology, has announced that he'll retire when his term ends next year. The Texas representative, an avid climate change denier, has been a controversial and, to many, an unwelcome head of the committee. During his tenure, he has published multiple opinion pieces on climate change, including some that claim it isn't a reality and others that state it's real but beneficial. 

Smith has also made a point of going after scientists, government agencies and organizations -- such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration -- making wild accusations of wrongdoing and data manipulation when their findings didn't mesh with his own beliefs. He has also attempted to push his own agenda onto the NSF's funding decisions and tried to pass legislation that would require the foundation to only give grants to projects that serve the "national interest." 

While it may seem like a win for those that accept the scientific consensus on the reality of climate change and its negative impacts, Smith was nearing his six-year term limit as committee chair and would've had to vacate the position in 2019 anyway. However, that hasn't kept some from celebrating the announcement. Katharine Hayhoe, the director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University told Nature News, "It is a relief." And Derrick Crowe, a climate activist who had planned on challenging Smith for his House seat told the Huffington Post that Smith's retirement was "great news for the climate."