Zinke says Interior Department will continue climate research

 Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke told lawmakers Thursday that his agency is doing research on climate change, but it will be focused in one division of the sprawling department instead of four or five. "So, on the climate issue … we saddled it in one division because I want to know from a division what's going on," Zinke told the House Appropriations Committee's panel on Interior and related agencies. He said all of Interior's climate research will be done at the U.S. Geological Survey. He said the change was done partly for budget reasons, but also because too many agencies were getting involved, which was making the effort confused and unfocused. Zinke noted that the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service, with numerous other Interior sub-agencies, all have been doing separate action on climate change and muddying the waters. "We need to be on the same page, so we can address what the conclusion is," Zinke said. "And I invite you to work with us on that." Zinke was responding to questions from the full committee's top Democrat, Rep. Nita Lowey of New York, on whether the agency will be continuing climate research given President Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. "I have been pretty consistent on climate change," Zinke said. "I don't believe it's a hoax. I think man has had an influence and climate is changing."...more

 And why did the BLM, NPS, USFWS, USGS, FS, EPA, NOAA and others have their own climate change/global warming research? Because for years that was the hot ticket to a budget increase, and they all went after it.