Nominee for EPAs air office tells senator he is not familiar with climate data

[babylonsister]

https://thinkprogress.org/climate-change-is-open-question-e961c602a72b/

Nominee for EPA’s air office tells senator he is ‘not familiar’ with climate data
Industry attorney parrots Trump administration's line on climate change
Mark Hand
Oct 4, 2017, 5:41 pm


President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency’s air and radiation office told a Senate committee Wednesday that questions still exist about whether human activities are significantly contributing to climate change, a false claim that has made by countless other administration officials.

At his confirmation hearing, William Wehrum, an industry attorney with the law firm Hunton & Williams LLP, said he hasn’t seen enough data to be able to make a final judgment on humans’ role in the warming of the planet. In fact, climate scientists have high confidence that the majority — and likely all — of global warming since 1950 is due to human activity.

“Do you believe with high confidence that human activities [are] the main driver of climate change?” Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) asked Wehrum, who was nominated by Trump to be assistant administrator of the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation.

“I believe that’s an open question,” Wehrum responded.

snip//

Wehrum’s refusal to acknowledge that human activities are the major contributor to climate change, according to Merkley, is the primary factor that disqualifies him for the position at the EPA. “No one can look at what is happening on the planet and see that nothing is happening unless you are deliberately determined to ignore that information. And that makes you quite frankly unacceptable to serve in this capacity,” Merkley said at the hearing.

snip//


Wehrum has “dedicated his entire career to rolling back EPA health and clean air protections for Americans, while at EPA and serving his industry clients,” Walke said Wednesday in a statement. When he worked at the EPA in the clean air office in the George W. Bush administration, Wehrum’s tenure “was marked by extraordinarily harmful rollbacks and delays, and frequent court losses and rebukes from judges,” he said.

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. Gee I wonder who would be in charge of this if the election hadnt been stolen

[jayschool2013]

2. It's good to be reminded

It's good to be reminded that Republicans' willful ignorance and active opposition to the planet is not a new phenomenon.

"When he worked at the EPA in the clean air office in the George W. Bush administration, Wehrum’s tenure 'was marked by extraordinarily harmful rollbacks and delays, and frequent court losses and rebukes from judges,' he said."

[yardwork]

3. I wish that people remembered this before elections.