Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt is being investigated for violating the agency’s rules for scientific integrity by making public statements that carbon dioxide emissions are not to blame for global warming.
The Sierra Club petitioned the agency’s Office of Inspector General this month to investigate the comments, and the agency is reviewing the matter, according to emails obtained by Reuters Friday.
Pruitt made the statement that is the source of the complaint during a March 9 interview on CNBC. After being asked if carbon dioxide is to blame for climate change, Pruitt responded, “I would not agree that it’s a primary contributor to the global warming that we see.”
Many scientists blame carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels as a prime contributor to rising global temperatures, resulting in sea level rise, more severe storms and drought.
The agency’s inspector general’s office told Sierra Club attorneys on Thursday that the matter is under review by the EPA’s scientific integrity officer, Francesca Grifo, who is a holdover from the Obama administration.
“If after the [scientific integrity officer] review, she concludes there is some aspect of the letter itself, or her findings or conclusions that she believes are appropriate for further consideration by the [Office of the Inspector General], she will so notify the OIG,” an email from the office said.
EPA’s scientific integrity policy states that its employees “ensure scientific integrity throughout the EPA and promote scientific and ethical standards, including quality standards.” It adds that “[s]cience is the backbone of the EPA’s decision-making.”
