Climate change is “fake news.” Environmentalists’ “only goal is power.” The government “has completely corrupted science.” Recycling is “pretty useless.”
Those were just a few of the claims made at a CPAC panel on Thursday entitled “Fake climate news camouflaging an anti-capitalist agenda—and what President Trump plans to do about it.” It was organized by the Energy and Environment Legal Institute (E&E), a coal industry–funded non-profit best known for filing lawsuits against climate scientists. Among the panelists was Steve Milloy, a paid advocate for the tobacco and coal industries, who argued that excessive air pollution is not linked to premature death, and that, in fact, those activists at the EPA are “paying for the science it wants.” Consequently, Milloy said, Trump must completely overhaul the scientific research process at the EPA and other federal agencies. “Our government is lying to us,” Milloy said.
This can’t be dismissed as fringe rhetoric. Trump is listening to people like Milloy. E&E’s legal counsel, David Schnare, is a member of Trump’s transition landing team for the EPA. And Schnare has partnered with Milloy in legal action against the agency.
You can watch the whole panel below.