Pruitt starts steering EPA away from climate change, more toward clean water and air

Scott Pruitt on Thursday made clear he doesn’t believe carbon dioxide is the main driver of climate change — and his declaration touched off a firestorm among critics who interpret the remark as concrete proof that the EPA administrator plans to disregard the past eight years and take the agency in a new direction. Mr. Pruitt offered the comments during a morning interview with CNBC as President Trump was preparing to sign an executive order reversing key government regulations on carbon pollution. The EPA chief told CNBC that it’s challenging to truly measure humans’ effect on the climate and that there is “tremendous disagreement” about exactly how much carbon pollution contributes to climate change. “I would not agree that [carbon] is a primary contributor to the global warming that we see,” Mr. Pruitt said. His remarks put him on the opposite side from most climate scientists, researchers and governments, and underscore a sharp break from the EPA’s approach over the past eight years...more