Tag: climate change denial

White House to set up panel to counter climate change consensus, officials say

The idea of an ad hoc group to reassess the government’s climate science findings represents a modified version of a plan championed by William Happer, the National Security Council’s senior director. Credit: Jabin Botsford, The Washington Post

The White House plans to create an ad hoc group of select federal scientists to reassess the government’s analysis of climate science and counter conclusions that the continued burning of fossil fuels is harming the planet, according to three senior administration officials.

The National Security Council initiative would include scientists who question the severity of climate impacts and the extent to which humans contribute to the problem, according to these individuals, who asked for anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

The group would not be subject to the same level of public disclosure as a formal advisory committee.

View the complete February 24 article by Juliet Eilperin, Josh Dawsey and Brady Dennis on The Washington Post website here.

Young people suing the Trump administration over climate change won’t stop until they get a trial

The following article by Natasha Geiling was posted on the ThinkProgress website February 5, 2018:

The youth climate lawsuit against the Trump administration was supposed to start today.

The Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals has Currently Put the Youth Climate Lawsuit on Hold. Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

If Jacob Lebel were to be in district court today, as originally planned, he would want people to know that every action has a reaction.

“When you take an action or vote for somebody, that translates to killing the Barrier Reef or killing-off ecosystems or affecting some of our natural resources that we depend on,” said Lebel, a 20-year-old student who is a part of an unprecedented move to take the federal government to court over climate. “That is like killing an organ in our collective body. That has real impacts on people.” Continue reading “Young people suing the Trump administration over climate change won’t stop until they get a trial”

Meteorological Society Schools Trump On Global Warming

The following article by Mary Papenfuss was posted on the Huffington Post website February 1, 2018:

The nonprofit offers to put the president in touch with federal scientists who know what’s going on.

The American Meteorological Society has informed Donald Trump that the organization can connect him with scientists so he can get his facts straight on global warming.

The letter was sent in the wake of Trump’s extraordinary statements concerning climate change in his interview Sunday with British journalist Piers Morgan. The president insisted that the polar ice caps were “going to be gone by now” due to global warming. Instead, they’re “setting records,” he said. They are, in fact, setting records — for melting rates, according to data tracked by his own federal agencies.

Continue reading “Meteorological Society Schools Trump On Global Warming”

Zinke reprimanded park head after climate tweets

The following article by Timothy Cama was posted on the Hill website December 15, 2017:

© Getty Images

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke brought the leader of a California park to his office last month to reprimand him for climate change-related tweets the park had sent via Twitter, two sources close to the situation said.

Zinke did not take any formal disciplinary action against David Smith, superintendent of Joshua Tree National Park. And the tweets at issue weren’t deleted, because they didn’t violate National Park Service or Interior Department policies. Continue reading “Zinke reprimanded park head after climate tweets”

Promising to ‘Make Our Planet Great Again,’ Macron lures 13 U.S. climate scientists to France

The following article by Steven Mufson was posted on the Washington Post website December 11, 2017:

Former secretary generals of the United Nations Kofi Annan, left, and Ban Ki-moon, right, sit across from French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Dec, 11, 2017. (Pool photo by Michel Euler via Reuters)

What initially looked like an impish dig at President Trump by French President Emmanuel Macron over climate policy has turned into a concrete plan.

First, when the Trump administration proposed slashing federal science budgets and then, on June 1, when Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris climate accord, Macron took to social media to offer (in perfect English) to greet with open arms — and research dollars — American scientists worried about the political climate as well as global warming.

Macron urged worried climate scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs to see France as a “second homeland” and to come work there because “we all share the same responsibility: make our planet great again.” Continue reading “Promising to ‘Make Our Planet Great Again,’ Macron lures 13 U.S. climate scientists to France”

California gov: Trump doesn’t fear God or ‘existential consequences’

The following article by Julia Manchester was posted on the Hill website December 9, 2017:

California Governor Jerry Brown. Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) says President Trump‘s stance on climate change demonstrates that he does not appear to fear the “wrath of God” or have any regard for the “existential consequences” of his environmental policies.

“I don’t think President Trump has a fear of the Lord, the fear of the wrath of God, which leads one to more humility … this is such a reckless disregard for the truth and for the existential consequences that can be unleashed,” Brown said in an interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes,” which is set to air on Sunday.

Brown, who studied to become a Jesuit priest prior to entering politics, has been a vocal critic of the Trump administration. Continue reading “California gov: Trump doesn’t fear God or ‘existential consequences’”

Trump’s top environmental pick says she has ‘many questions’ about climate change

The following article by Chris Mooney was posted on the Washington Post website November 8, 2017:

This story has been updated. 

Kathleen Hartnett White, President Trump’s pick to lead the White House Council on Environmental Quality. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Kathleen Hartnett White, President Trump’s pick to serve as his top White House environmental official, told the Senate Wednesday that she had doubts about the link between human activity and climate change.

“I’m not a scientist, but in my personal capacity, I have many questions that remain unanswered by current climate policy,” Hartnett White, Trump’s nominee to lead the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality, told senators Wednesday at her confirmation hearing. “I think we indeed need to have more precise explanations of the human role and the natural role.”

She did acknowledge that there was probably some human contribution, “the extent to which I think is very uncertain.” That contradicts leading scientific assessments on the matter, which have pinned climate change largely on human greenhouse gas emissions. Continue reading “Trump’s top environmental pick says she has ‘many questions’ about climate change”

President Trump’s War on Science

The following editorial by the New York Times‘ Editorial Board was posted on their website September 9, 2017:

Credit: Celia Jacobs

The news was hard to digest until one realized it was part of a much larger and increasingly disturbing pattern in the Trump administration. On Aug. 18, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine received an order from the Interior Department that it stop work on what seemed a useful and overdue study of the health risks of mountaintop-removal coal mining.

The $1 million study had been requested by two West Virginia health agencies following multiple studies suggesting increased rates of birth defects, cancer and other health problems among people living near big surface coal-mining operations in Appalachia. The order to shut it down came just hours before the scientists were scheduled to meet with affected residents of Kentucky.

The Interior Department said the project was put on hold as a result of an agencywide budgetary review of grants and projects costing more than $100,000. Continue reading “President Trump’s War on Science”

Florida governor has ignored climate change risks, critics say

The following article by Brady Dennis and Darryl Fears was posted on the Washington Post website September 8, 2017:

Florida Gov. Rick Scott gives an update on Hurricane Irma on September 6, 2017 in Doral, Florida. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

TAMPA — Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) has been ubiquitous in recent days as Hurricane Irma bears down on the Sunshine State, warning of deadly winds and storm surges and imploring residents to heed evacuation orders.

“This is a catastrophic storm our state has never seen,” he cautioned at one of many news conferences.

By all accounts, Scott and other officials have aggressively tried to prepare the state and its residents for the destructive storm’s impact and immediate aftermath. Continue reading “Florida governor has ignored climate change risks, critics say”

DFL Chair Ken Martin denounces Trump plan to abandon Paris Climate Agreement

May 31, 2017

ST. PAUL, MN — Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Chair Ken Martin released the following statement in response to reports today that President Donald Trump plans to pull the United States from the Paris Climate Accord.

“President Trump’s plan to abandon the Paris climate agreement is an affront to Minnesotan values, an embarrassing blow to U.S. leadership, and a grave threat to the future of our earth. Minnesota is on the cutting edge of clean energy development, and this decision would jeopardize the good-paying jobs this innovative industry creates in our state. While the Administration may turn its back on the fight against climate change, Minnesotans never will. DFLers across the state are more committed than ever to advancing policies that protect our planet, support clean energy, and preserve our state’s natural resources.”