Carbon Dioxide Not Primary Climate Change Cause, Says DOE Head
Stirring the ongoing global warming debate, Energy Secretary Rick Perry said on Monday he believed carbon dioxide was not the primary reason for climatic change.
Talking to CNBC, Perry said the most likely factors controlling climate change are ocean waters and the environment we live in.
"The fact is this shouldn't be a debate about, is the climate changing, is man having an effect on it?” Perry said. He further said questions should be raised on what policy changes need to be made to address the situation.
READ: Who Is Rick Perry?
This is not the first time Perry has made such a statement regarding climate change. As a presidential candidate in 2015, he had said “the science is not settled on it.”
In January he said he believed the climate was changing and some of it was happening due to natural occurrings but some of it was caused by man-made actions.
Perry had also come out in support of President Donald Trump’s announcement on the Paris climate agreement. Pulling out from the Paris climate accord, Trump termed climate change a hoax made up by China.
In an official statement Perry had said, “Trump’s decision will prove to be the right course of action and one I fully support. Instead of preaching about clean energy, this Administration will act on it. Our work and deeds are more important than empty words.”
Perry had further said the United States would serve as an example to the rest of the world on how to achieve economic, energy, and environmental goals simultaneously.
Perry is the second top aide to President Donald Trump to deny humans are the main cause of climate change. In March, Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt also rejected links between carbon dioxide emissions and climate change, reports said.
Under Trump, the United States has also backed away from a pledge to double research and development spending on energy technology to $6.4 billion by 2021.
Scientists have been of the opinion that humans are the main reason for climate change across the world. Reports claim the EPA website used to state - “Carbon dioxide is the primary greenhouse gas that is contributing to recent climate change” — until the page was recently taken down.
READ: Leonardo DiCaprio Stand By Climate Change After Trump Ditches Paris Agreement
Perry’s statement came a week after the Department of Energy (DOE) confirmed it was closing its international climate office as they were looking for ways to consolidate many duplicative programs.
The DOE's Office of Science funds climate research at the national labs. It is slated for a 17 percent cut. The administration wants to cut research and development funding at the Office of Fossil Energy by more than half. A chief focus of the office is supporting carbon capture and sequestration technology, which Perry has supported publicly, reports said.
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