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SCIENCEFriday 10 March 2017
EPA chief: Carbon dioxide not primary cause of warming
MATTHEW DALY noting that EPA has a legal
responsibility to address
Associated Press carbon pollution.
Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Ha-
WASHINGTON (AP) — The waii, said the comments
underscore that Pruitt is a
new chief of the Environ- “climate denier” and in-
sisted lawmakers will stand
mental Protection Agency up to him.
“Anyone who denies over
said Thursday he does not a century’s worth of es-
tablished science and
believe that carbon diox- basic facts is unqualified
to be the administrator of
ide is a primary contributor the EPA,” Schatz said in
a statement. Pruitt previ-
to global warming, a state- ously served as Oklahoma
attorney general, where
ment at odds with main- he rose to prominence as
a leader in coordinated
stream scientific consensus efforts by Republican at-
torneys general to chal-
and his own agency. lenge former President
Barack Obama’s regula-
EPA Administrator Scott tory agenda. He sued or
took part in legal actions
Pruitt said measuring the against the EPA 14 times.
Pruitt said during his confir-
effect of human activity on mation hearing in January
that climate change is real
the climate is “very chal- — breaking with President
Donald Trump and his own
lenging” and that “there’s past statements. Pruitt told
Democratic senators that
tremendous disagreement he disagreed with Trump’s
earlier claims that global
about the degree of im- warming is a hoax created
by the Chinese to harm the
pact” of carbon dioxide economic competitive-
ness of the United States.
and other greenhouse “I do not believe climate
change is a hoax,” Pruitt
gases. said. The Republican has
previously cast doubt on
“So, no, I would not agree In this Feb. 21, 2017 file photo, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt the extensive body of sci-
that (carbon dioxide) is a speaks to employees of the EPA in Washington. entific evidence showing
primary contributor to the that the planet is warming
global warming that we Associated Press and man-made carbon
emissions are to blame.q
see,” Pruitt told CNBC’s temperatures were the sphere,” the agencies said research has shown that
“Squawk Box.” warmest ever. The plan- in a joint statement. increasing carbon dioxide
Pruitt’s view is contrary to et’s average surface tem- The EPA says on its website has been the dominant
mainstream climate sci- perature has risen about 2 that “carbon dioxide is the source of global warming,
ence, including NASA, the degrees Fahrenheit since primary greenhouse gas followed by methane and
National Oceanic and At- the late 19th century, “a that is contributing to re- other gases. Environmen-
mospheric Administration change driven largely by cent climate change.” The tal groups and Democrats
and the EPA itself. increased carbon dioxide agency notes that human seized on Pruitt’s com-
NASA and NOAA reported and other human-made activities, such as the burn- ments as evidence he is
in January that earth’s 2016 emissions into the atmo- ing of fossil fuels, “release unfit for the office he holds.
large amounts of CO2, “The arsonist is now in
CALL FOR OUR LIVE GIRLS SHOW causing concentrations in charge of the fire depart-
the atmosphere to rise.” ment, and he seems happy
Kerry Emanuel, professor to let the climate crisis burn
of atmospheric science at out of control,” said Sierra
the Massachusetts Institute Club executive director Mi-
of Technology, said Thurs- chael Brune.
day that “Scott Pruitt is just Pruitt “is spewing corpo-
plain wrong on this.” rate polluter talking points
Emanuel, co-director of rather than fulfilling the
the Lorenz Center at MIT, EPA’s mission of protecting
said the most authoritative our air, our water and our
compilation of scientific communities,” Brune said,
