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PRO-CON
Will President Trump’s new climate
change panel give him good advice?
AP Photo/Noah Berger
Firefighters monitor a backfire while battling the Ranch Fire in 2018 near Ladoga, Calif. The years with the most acres burned by wildfires have some of the hottest temperatures, an Associated
Press analysis of fire and weather data found. As human-caused climate change has warmed the world over the past 35 years, the land consumed in flames has more than doubled.
PRO: Climate science
needs critical review
by skeptical experts
CON: Trump has
ignored every warning
about climate change
W
W
ASHINGTON — Is global
are derived from highly unrealistic sce-
narios; and positive impacts, such as less
warming a looming catastro-
phe? President Donald Trump
ferocious winter storms, are minimized
has often said he doesn’t think so, even
or ignored. What would a more honest
while his administration continues to
accounting of all the possible impacts of
release official reports warning that it is.
climate change look like?
The president will soon find out who is
Third, surface temperature data sets
right by convening a high-level commis-
appear to have been manipulated to show
sion to do a critical review of the fourth
more warming in the past century than has
National Climate Assessment issued last
occurred. The new commission should
November and other government reports.
insist that the debate be based on scrupu-
lously reliable data.
Surprisingly, most of the climate sci-
ence funded by the federal government
Since news of the proposed review
has never been subjected to the kind of
leaked out in February, a furious campaign
rigorous and exhaustive review
to stop it has been mounted by the
that is common practice for other
federal climate bureaucracy and
important scientific issues and
their allies in the climate industrial
major engineering projects.
complex.
For example, when NASA was
On the surface, this seems puz-
zling. If the alarmists are confi-
putting men on the moon, every
dent that the science contained
piece of equipment and every cal-
culation were scrutinized from
in the official reports is spot on,
Myron
every possible angle simply
they should welcome a review that
Ebell
because if anything went wrong
would finally put to rest the doubts
the mission would fail.
that have been raised.
Serious problems and shortcomings
On the other hand, their opposition sug-
gests that the science behind the climate
with official climate science have been
consensus is highly suspect and cannot
raised repeatedly in the past by highly
withstand critical review. In other words,
qualified scientists such as Princeton’s
they’ve been peddling junk and are about
brilliant physics professor William Hap-
per, only to be ignored or dismissed by the to be found out.
federal agencies in charge of producing
A press release from one alarmist pres-
sure group was headlined: “58 Senior
the reports.
Yet the conclusions and predictions
Military and National Security Leaders
made in these official climate science
Denounce NSC Climate Panel.”
reports are the basis for proposed energy
Denouncing an expert review seems
policies that could cost trillions of dollars
a most inappropriate response, and espe-
cially to one that is designed to be open
in less than a decade and tens of trillions
and subject to further review by other
of dollars over several decades.
Given the magnitude of the potential
experts, such as the National Academies
costs involved, taking on trust the bureau- of Science.
cratic processes that have led to offi-
I wonder if environmental pres-
sure groups have ever denounced doing
cial consensus is simply foolish. Thus the
another environmental review of projects
review to be undertaken by the proposed
President’s Commission on Climate Secu- — for example, the Keystone XL pipeline
rity is long overdue.
— they are trying to stop.
To mention only three major issues
Myron Ebell is a prominent climate
among many that need to be scrutinized:
change denier and director of the Cen-
ter for Energy and Environment at the
First, the computer models used have
predicted far more warming than has
Competitive Enterprise Institute, which
occurred over the past 40 years. Why have is financed in part by fossil fuel compa-
nies. He was appointed in 2016 by Pres-
such models failed and why are they still
ident Trump to lead the transition team
used are important questions.
Second, predictions of the negative
for the U.S. Environmental Protection
impacts of warming, such as sea level rise, Agency.
ity will be ignored by this panel and this
ASHINGTON — Donald
Trump has ignored every warn- administration.
ing about the dire threat that
The likelihood of fossil fuel-funded,
climate change poses to our nation.
climate-denying Happer accurately advis-
ing Trump on the security threats of cli-
Whether alarms have come from top
mate change are the same as Joe Camel
climate scientists, our military, national
security leaders, businesses or the millions telling you to quit smoking — it’s not
going to happen.
of grassroots activists demanding action,
Consider Happer’s long record of deny-
Trump has buried his head in the sand,
ing the reality of the climate crisis while
ignoring all the evidence.
taking money from the fossil-fuel industry.
That’s why every American should
He is a former chair of the board of
look skeptically at the new panel Trump
directors at the Exxon-funded George C.
claims will analyze the threat of climate
Marshall Institute. He was caught in a
change to our national security.
sting accepting payment of $250
When you look closely at the
an hour to produce a pro-fossil fuel
climate denier Trump has named
report. His CO2 Coalition raked in
to lead this panel, it’s clear that
thousands from coal companies.
it will be nothing more than a
With all this corporate-polluter
front for continued inaction and
money, it’s no surprise that Happer
ignorance.
is parroting their talking points.
After a historically strong hur-
ricane and wildfire season, we’re
In 2015, he told Congress that
Rob
already witnessing the devastation
the world has too little of the car-
Vessels
bon pollution that fuels the climate
climate change can cause — and
crisis and claimed it is too cold,
this is just the beginning.
Report after report has detailed the food even as we shatter all-time temperature
records.
shortages, droughts and global turmoil to
And that’s just part of Happer’s pat-
come as climate change gets worse.
tern of denial. He has even gone so far
The National Climate Assessment
as to say that carbon pollution should be
found that if we don’t take action, cli-
mate disruption poses a major threat to our viewed as an asset rather than a pollutant
health, safety and economy.
and compared climate science that saves
The Intergovernmental Panel on Cli-
lives to the “demonization of poor Jews
mate Change’s report shows that we have
under Hitler.”
12 years to act decisively to prevent the
It doesn’t make sense, but denial of
most catastrophic effects of the climate
reality never does. Given this, the odds
crisis.
of this panel accurately informing Trump
Furthermore, Director of National
about the many threats of climate disrup-
tion are slim to none.
Intelligence Dan Coats released a threat
We should instead expect Happer to
assessment that identified climate disrup-
tion as a significant security risk.
try to enable Trump to tear down the
As a veteran, our national security is
military and national security agencies’
important to me, and that’s why I took him sound assertions that climate change
at his word. Yet, Trump turned his back on poses a serious, immediate national secu-
these warnings and instead relies on deny- rity threat.
ing the fact that the climate is changing.
The science is already clear. Our mil-
itary leaders have spoken. As histori-
In theory, if Trump’s newly created
cally cataclysmic hurricanes and wildfires
panel took the existing science and mili-
tary analysis into account to advise him on occur, we need action, not a sham com-
mittee headed by a climate denier acting
how “a changing climate could affect the
in the interest of the people who created
security of the United States,” it could be
this crisis in the first place.
a step in the right direction.
An Army veteran who fought in Iraq
But, in reality, he has enlisted a notable
and Afghanistan, Rob Vessels heads the
climate denier, William Happer, to lead
Sierra Club’s Military Outdoors Initiative.
the committee, which ensures that real-