Scott Pruitt, EPA Chief, Doubts Carbon Dioxide's Role In Climate Change

Scott Pruitt, President Trump's recently appointed administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, voiced doubt Thursday in an interview with CNBC that carbon dioxide emissions are a primary contributor to climate change.

"I would not agree that [carbon dioxide] is a primary contributor to the global warming that we see," Pruitt said. "We don't know that yet — we need to continue debate, continue the review and analysis."

Many observers were surprised to hear the head of the EPA express these doubts, given that extensive debate and analysis has led the scientific community to agree, by very large margins, that carbon dioxide emitted by human activity is the primary cause of global climate change.

In fact, Pruitt's own department website contradicts his statement.

"Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the primary greenhouse gas pollutant, accounting for nearly three-quarters of global greenhouse gas emissions and 84% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions," according to the website. Elsewhere, it notes, "Carbon dioxide is the primary greenhouse gas that is contributing to recent climate change."

It's not just the EPA.

In a brief published by NASA: "Within only the past century, the CO2 control knob has been turned sharply upward toward a much hotter global climate."

In a post from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: "Human activities are now increasing the concentration of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, amplifying the natural warming caused by the greenhouse effect." And it continues: "The vast majority of climate scientists are concerned that the dramatic rise in carbon dioxide is causing the planet to warm."

As Oklahoma attorney general, Pruitt described himself as "a leading advocate against the EPA’s activist agenda."

Photo by Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images