DEP Official Unsure of His 'Belief' In Climate Change?

"Climate change. Is it real?"

It seemed a simple question, especially for someone that leads the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). But, when Pennsylvania House Rep. Matthew Bradford (D-Montgomery County) asked DEP Secretary Michael Krancer that exact question, he, and most of America, was surprised by Krancer's answer.

According to philly.com, the exchange went something like this: 

Rep. Matt Bradford (D- Montgomery County):  “Climate change. Is it real?”

Krancer: “Representative, I couldn’t be more clear, the lowering of greenhouse gases and carbon emissions is a good thing.”

Bradford (shouting): “You couldn’t be more opaque!”

The representative asked during "the House and Senate appropriations committees this week" where Krancer had come "to discuss his agency’s budget," according to StateImpact.npr.org. His response on global warming confused many.

Krancer's next comment, per the NPR article, added to confusion.

"There is no uniformity within the scientific community on how much the warming is occurring," said Krancer, "And there’s no agreement about how much is attributable to the human part of it and how much is attributable to other factors."

Krancer later told Philly.com he didn't want words put into his mouth during the hearings.

"I didn’t refuse to say what I believe," he said. "I wasn’t asked what I believe. I was presented with some statements that were … rather lengthy. I was asked to agree or disagree."

KeepWaterSafe.org commended Bradford for his line of questioning.

Bradford "deserves kudos," said the website, "for following up."

While many are still unclear about Krancer's stance, the full philly.com follow-up interview can be found here.