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Trump Administration Appoints Climate Contrarians to Department of Energy

Scientists warn the hires will craft an alternative climate assessment that undermines federal greenhouse gas regulations.

Left to right: Steven E. Koonin, John Christy, and Roy Spencer.
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Overview

  • DOE’s internal directory lists Steven Koonin as a special government employee, John Christy as an expert and Roy Spencer as a consultant under Secretary Chris Wright.
  • Officials have not clarified the exact responsibilities of the three hires as warnings arise that their work could steer climate research toward contrarian conclusions.
  • The appointments follow the administration’s recent layoffs of climate scientists, removal of National Climate Assessment drafts and the climate.gov website, and an EPA-led review to overturn the 2009 endangerment finding.
  • Andrew Dessler says the moves signal an effort to secure predetermined results and Zeke Hausfather cautions that elevating minority views risks distorting federal reports.
  • Observers fear Koonin, Christy and Spencer will develop a fringe-skewed version of the National Climate Assessment to justify rolling back greenhouse gas regulations.