Thomas Catenacci on February 24, 2022
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) will hold a roundtable Thursday to discuss how officials can combat climate denialism and delay, The Washington Post reported.
The OSTP will host nearly 20 climate scientists, social scientists, economists and engineers from across the country for the first-of-its-kind event, the Post reported.
“Clearly, we see tangible evidence of climate change all around us with sea-level rise, increases in extreme heat, increases in drought, wildfires, ocean acidification (and) floods,” OSTP Deputy Director for Climate and Environment Jane Lubchenco told the Post, confirming the roundtable.
Haunted By Ghosts
“What we’re seeing now is a result of past inaction. That past inaction is haunting us,” Lubchenco said. “And so the question is, how do we accelerate effective action?”
Lubchenco said that the event will not focus on promoting President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan, which includes a major investment in green energy, but will instead investigate why some are hesitant to act on emissions reductions.
“To deny the urgency is to deny the science,” Naomi Oreskes, a science historian who will attend the roundtable, told the Post. “We have so much evidence now that serious extreme weather events like wildfires and floods and hurricanes have become substantially worsened by climate change. And it’s hurting people right here and right now.”
Oreskes is a long-time climate advocate who has argued that the fossil fuel industry uses disinformation tactics similar to those employed by the tobacco industry in the 20th century.
Who Needs a Scientist?
On Feb. 16, President Joe Biden appointed Alondra Nelson, a social scientist specializing in inequality, to head the OSTP, a position historically given to physicists and environmental scientists. The office’s former director, Eric Lander, resigned earlier in the month after an internal White House investigation concluded he had bullied and demeaned subordinates.
“You know, this is just more clueless timing,” Steve Milloy, a member of former President Donald Trump’s transition team in 2016, told reporters during a press call Thursday in reference to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“We have this major situation going on, one that definitely affects us and what’s the White House doing?” Milloy said. “They’re trying to figure out how to cripple our economy with their pointless energy policy.”
Dark Days
Heartland Institute President James Taylor said that the timing was like a “dark comedy” during the call.
“It’s absolutely astounding that they’re going ahead with this, they’re going ahead with this today of all days and that this is their highest priority,” Taylor said.
The OSTP didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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