It is reported that President Trump has privately said he supports a public debate to challenge mainstream climate science, according to administration officials. But there’s infighting about how it should occur — if at all.
The President has reportedly told U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt during several conversations that he supports Pruitt’s plan for a “red-team, blue-team” debate aimed at challenging the prevailing scientific consensus about humans’ impact on climate change, a senior administration official reportedly told E&E News.
Pruitt has been pushing the idea of a climate science critique for months. Pressed by a House Republican at a Congressional hearing last week to offer a timeline for the red team, Pruitt said work on the initiative is “ongoing” but that details could be unveiled as early as next month. “We may be able to get there as early as January next year,” he testified.
But the administration isn’t unified behind the idea. “Pruitt has not been given authorization to go ahead with red team, blue team; there are still many issues to be ironed out,” another administration official reportedly told E&E News.
Myron Ebell of the Competitive Enterprise Institute does not think EPA is the correct agency to lead the charge, suggesting instead that it be situated within the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where the president’s top science adviser typically works. But Trump has not nominated a leader for the Office of Science and Technology Policy yet.
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via Carlin Economics and Science
December 11, 2017 at 12:02PM
Iowa Climate Science Education 