In an interview with CNN, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt dismissed human activity as a main cause of climate change.
“I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do and there’s tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact,” Pruitt said. “So no, I would not agree that it’s a primary contributor to the global warming that we see.” By contrast, in his confirmation hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee he acknowledged climate change, saying, “science tells us that the climate is changing, and that human activity in some manner impacts that change.”
“The ability to measure with precision the degree and extent of that impact, and what to do about it, are subject to continuing debate and dialogue, and well it should be,” Pruitt said. He also called the Paris climate agreement a “bad deal” though noted that the decision whether to keep the U.S. in the deal is a State Department matter.
Pruitt indicated the agency would soon pull back on the Clean Power Plan and fuel economy standards for automakers.