The world's climate is always changing and humans contribute to it in some way, but "to what degree to measure that with precision is very difficult," and the Trump administration is interested in using a "red team, blue team" approach to examine the issue, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said Tuesday.
"The red team, blue team approach, as you have indicated, is something that puts experts in a room and let them debate an issue," Pruitt told Fox News' "Fox & Friends" program.
"With this climate change we know certain things. We know climate is always changing. Humans contribute to it in some way. To what degree to measure that with precision is very difficult. But what we don't know is we are in a situation where it's an existential threat."
The red team scientists, he continued, "are the ones that don't take for granted that you see across the spectrum that climate is in unsustainable path of existential threat and that humans are 99 percent responsible for that."
A "meaningful debate" is needed about what is being faced as a country and internationally, he continued, but one of the things that is lost in the discussion is that the United States has done more to reduce the nation's dioxide footprint than most other countries, with an 18 percent decrease.
The decreases, he said, have largely come through the generation of natural gas from electricity, and the use of clean coal.
"We are doing a really good job as a country, trying to advance technology to reduce our CO2 footprint," said Pruitt.
Meanwhile, nobody questions that the climate changes, said Pruitt, but the question remains about how much humans contribute to that, and what can be done.
"The whole thing that's lost in this whole debate is what tools are in the tool box," said Pruitt. "We only have the power that Congress gives us through statutes."
Meanwhile, on Sunday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told CBS' "Face the Nation" that President Donald Trump is willing for the United States to remain in the Paris climate accord, "under right conditions," but Pruitt insisted that the president "has been steadfast, and lauded his "courage" on the issue.
"When you look at the Paris agreement, China, India, and Russia, what steps did they take to reduce CO2 from that agreement?" said Pruitt. "Compare it to the United States as we talked about a minute ago. We are already reducing our CO2 innovations technology. India, no obligations until they received over $2.5 trillion of money. China, no obligations until the year 2030."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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