Trump Administration's Climate Change Denial Sparks Scientific Backlash

The Trump administration's proposal that carbon emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants do not contribute significantly to climate change has been met with widespread criticism from the scientific community. Climate experts and researchers have called the proposal scientifically wrong and disinformation. In response to the proposal, climate scientist Zeke Hausfather compared it to saying that smoking doesn't cause lung cancer, emphasizing the well-established relationship between CO2 emissions and global temperatures.

Key Takeaways:

• Nineteen out of thirty scientists, experts in climate, health, and economics, responded to the Associated Press, all stating that the proposal was scientifically wrong.
• The proposal is akin to saying that arsenic is not a dangerous substance to consume, as stated by University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Michael Mann.
• Climate economist R. Daniel Bressler of Columbia University estimated that adding one year's worth of emissions from an average-sized coal-fired plant in the U.S. causes 904 expected temperature-related deaths and over $1 billion in total climate damages.
• University of Arizona climate scientist Kathy Jacobs pointed out that the statement is in direct conflict with evidence presented by thousands of scientists from almost 200 countries for decades.
• Climate change increases the risk of heat waves, catastrophic storms, infectious diseases, and many other health threats, as stated by Dr. Howard Frumkin, former director of the National Center for Environmental Health.
• President Trump's denial of the basic science behind climate change sets him up for international court charges against him for crimes against humanity, according to Andrew Weaver, a professor at the University of Victoria.
• Chris Field, a Stanford climate scientist, summed up the decision as "putting the short-term interests of oil and gas companies ahead of the long-term interests of our children and grandchildren."

Statistics:

• 904: the number of expected temperature-related deaths caused by one year's worth of emissions from an average-sized coal-fired plant in the U.S., estimated by R. Daniel Bressler.
• $1 billion: the total climate damages caused by one year's worth of emissions from an average-sized coal-fired plant in the U.S., estimated by R. Daniel Bressler.
• 30: the number of scientists, experts in climate, health, and economics, who responded to the Associated Press.
• 19: the number of scientists who stated that the Trump administration's proposal was scientifically wrong.
• Over $1 billion: the total climate damages expected from the emissions of an average-sized coal-fired plant in the U.S., according to the social cost of carbon.

Sources:

• Associated Press
• Stripe and the temperature monitoring group Berkeley Earth, as cited by Zeke Hausfather
• University of Pennsylvania, as cited by Michael Mann
• Columbia University, as cited by R. Daniel Bressler
• University of Arizona, as cited by Kathy Jacobs
• Oregon State University, as cited by Phil Mote
• University of Victoria, as cited by Andrew Weaver
• Stanford University, as cited by Chris Field
• National Center for Environmental Health, as cited by Dr. Howard Frumkin