Robert Reich:
Trump’s new Environmental Protection Agency administrator, Scott Pruitt, finally said what he actually thinks, this morning on CNBC: “I would not agree that [human activity] is a primary contributor to the global warming.”
There you have it, folks. Despite:
1. The overwhelming consensus among scientists all over the world (see Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report: https://www.ipcc.ch/…/as…/ar5/wg1/WGIAR5_SPM_brochure_en.pdf ),
2. Despite the overwhelming conclusion of scientists at the EPA (see https://www.epa.gov/climate-change-sc…/causes-climate-change),
3. Despite the fact that two federal agencies — the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — have announced that 2016 was the warmest year since modern record-keeping began, in 1880. It was the third year in a row to smash previous records for warmth, a trend that prompted the Times to observe that “temperatures are heading toward levels that many experts believe will pose a profound threat.”
Despite all this, the top U.S. government official on environmental protection, doesn’t believe it.
Pruitt also questioned EPA’s role in regulating carbon dioxide or any greenhouse gas emission, including methane – ““Nowhere in the equation has Congress spoken,” said Pruitt. “The legislative branch has not addressed this issue at all.”
Pruitt is in the pocket of oil and gas, and Koch industries. He was in their pockets when he was the anti-environmental Attorney General of Kentucky. He is in their pockets now. He will do huge harm to public health. He will imperil the future of the planet.
Bottom line: We must get these people out of power as quickly as we can.
By Chris Mooney and Brady Dennis
