Trump Administration's Climate Change Proposal Criticized by Scientists

The Trump administration's proposal to reverse a landmark finding on climate change is based on a report from the Department of Energy that dozens of scientists deem flawed. The administration is seeking to use the report to overturn the "endangerment finding," which could lead to the elimination of laws and rules aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Critics argue that the administration's reports ignore, twist, or cherry-pick information to manufacture doubt about the severity and threat of climate change. The most common criticism from scientists is that the reports are biased and cherry-pick data to support the administration's claims.

Key Takeaways:

• The Department of Energy report is criticized by 53 of 64 scientists for its poor quality, with many calling it "biased" and "cherry-picked."
• The report claims that Arctic sea ice has declined by about 5% since 1980, which is accurate for Antarctica but omits the fact that Arctic sea ice has declined by more than 40% during the same period.
• Jennifer Marlon, director of data science at the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, highlighted a section on U.S. wildfires that uses unreliable data, making it seem like wildfire rates were higher in the past when, in fact, they are not.
• Nineteen scientists used the phrase "cherry pick" to describe the administration's citations, highlighting the biased nature of the reports.
• Climate scientist Zeke Hausfather called the government's process a "farce" and stated that the reports pulled a single figure from his work on climate modeling to make it seem like the models are overly pessimistic, when in fact his research concluded the opposite.
• The authors of the Energy Department report claimed that any errors found will be corrected, but experts remain skeptical.

Statistics:

• 64 scientists responded to the Associated Press' questions about the administration's reports on climate change.
• 53 of the 64 scientists criticized the reports for their poor quality and biased nature.
• Arctic sea ice has declined by more than 40% since 1980, not 5% as claimed in the Department of Energy report.
• Nineteen scientists used the phrase "cherry pick" to describe the administration's citations in the reports.
• The administration's reports cited only one figure from Zeke Hausfather's work on climate modeling, which concluded that climate models have performed well, not poorly as claimed.

Sources:

• The Associated Press
• Energy Department report
• Yale Program on Climate Change Communication
• Zeke Hausfather's work on climate modeling
• National Academy of Sciences