Researchers have spoken out against the Trump administration’s latest attempts to curb the climate science research performed by government agencies.
James Reilly, left, and Michael Gernhardt, right, pose for a photo with pilot Charles Hobaugh, July 15, 2001 on the middeck of the Space Shuttle Atlantis. A former astronaut, Reilly now heads the U.S. Geological Survey. NASA/Getty Images But officials said previous iterations of the report relied on “inaccurate” modeling that highlights “worst-case” scenarios over “real-world conditions.” Environmental Protection Agency spokesperson James Hewitt told the Times such research “needs to be thoroughly re-examined and tested if such information is going to serve as the scientific foundation of nationwide decision-making now and in the future.
This is the latest attempt by President Donald Trump’s administration to undermine scientific conclusions broadly accepted by researchers and governments around the world. In early May, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo surprised a meeting of the Arctic Council by claiming shrinking sea ice levels offered “opportunity and abundance ” in the form of new passageways for trading vessels.