FOIA Emails Show WH Thought Pruitt "Out Of Control" On Science "Debate" Plan

Last summer, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt was publicly talking up his plans to launch a debate aimed at poking holes in mainstream climate science. His policy chief, Samantha Dravis, got an email from President Trump's energy adviser Mike Catanzaro asking for an urgent meeting to talk about Pruitt's "red team" climate science review.

"There are a lot of reports about EPA's planning on this," Catanzaro wrote July 25. "None of it is being run by us. This seems to be getting out of control."

That exchange is included in a batch of EPA emails released last week to E&E News and other organizations under the Freedom of Information Act. The emails — released as a result of a lawsuit filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council — offer new details about how EPA planned to scrutinize climate science using a national climate report and about how the White House intervened to shut it down.

Pruitt's planned debate remains in limbo, and the scientist recruited by EPA to lead the exercise has abandoned hope that the Trump team will follow through (Climatewire, June 13). Despite the early pushback from White House aides, EPA was ready to launch the review in November, and top aides circulated a draft press release titled "Administrator Pruitt calls for red team exercise on climate science special report."

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