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Even as the world reels from the hottest year<\/a> ever recorded, the Trump administration is taking unprecedented steps to make climate change denialism<\/a> the foundation of its federal policy.\u00a0<\/p>\n There is an overwhelming scientific consensus<\/a> that climate change\u2014which is fueled by human activity (mainly greenhouse gas emissions from actions like burning fossil fuels)\u2014has made extreme heat and precipitation<\/a> more intense and frequent, driving or amplifying the heat waves, floods, and hurricanes that have devastated communities across the United States.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Even as the world reels from the <\/span>hottest year<\/span><\/a> ever recorded, the Trump administration is taking unprecedented steps to make <\/span>climate change denialism<\/span><\/a> the foundation of its federal policy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There is an overwhelming <\/span>scientific consensus<\/span><\/a> that climate change\u2014which is fueled by human activity (mainly greenhouse gas emissions from actions like burning fossil fuels)\u2014has made <\/span>extreme heat and precipitation<\/span><\/a> more intense and frequent, driving or amplifying the heat waves, floods, and hurricanes that have devastated communities across the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n Yet U.S. President Donald Trump has waged an all-out war on federal climate efforts, including by <\/span>gutting<\/span> climate research efforts<\/span><\/a>, dismissing <\/span>hundreds of scientists<\/span><\/a> contributing to a flagship report, eliminating <\/span>key regulations<\/span>, and slashing <\/span>hundreds of millions of dollars<\/span> in funding<\/a> for renewable energy projects.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n At the center of Trump\u2019s blitzkrieg is a rejection of <\/span>climate science<\/span> itself.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Trump has claimed that climate change is a <\/span>\u201choax<\/a>\u201d<\/span>; Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins rejected it as <\/span>\u201c<\/span>crud<\/span><\/a>\u201d<\/span> in May. Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has dismissed<\/a> what he has referred to as <\/span>\u201cthe climate change religion.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n On Aug. 4, Energy Secretary Chris Wright was the latest to repeat such claims. \u201cThe ceaseless repeating from the media, politicians and activists claiming that climate change is making weather more dangerous and severe is just nonsense,\u201d he said in a <\/span>post on X<\/span><\/a>. \u201cThat is just NOT true.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Wright\u2019s misinformation comes just days after Zeldin announced<\/a> that the EPA aims to overturn the <\/span>landmark<\/span> \u201c<\/span>endangerment finding\u201d that determined that greenhouse gases threaten public health. That scientific determination formed the legal basis for a range of climate regulations, including ones <\/span>imposing limits<\/span><\/a> on car and power plant emissions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Zeldin has <\/span>hailed<\/span><\/a> the proposed move as \u201cthe largest deregulatory action in the history of America.\u201d \u201cThere are people who, in the name of climate change, are willing to bankrupt the country,\u201d he said in a <\/span>podcast interview<\/span>. \u201cThey created this endangerment finding and then they are able to put all these regulations on vehicles, on airplanes, on stationary sources, to basically regulate out of existence, in many cases, a lot of segments of our economy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The proposal sent shockwaves across the scientific community, sparked sharp criticism from climate research groups, and is certain to trigger a <\/span>fierce legal battle<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cRepealing this provision will have vast impacts on Americans\u2019 lives: it will make it harder for people to deal with rising household energy bills, harder to address health problems from extreme heatwaves, and harder for businesses to succeed in a changing climate,\u201d World Resources Institute U.S. director David Widawsky said in a <\/span>statement<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>\u201cDecades of EPA\u2019s own science demonstrate that managing greenhouse gases is fundamental to protecting Americans\u2019 health.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n To justify its efforts to revoke the endangerment finding, the Trump administration has cited a <\/span>151-page Energy Department report<\/a><\/span> that was <\/span>published hours<\/span><\/a> after the EPA\u2019s initial announcement and is written by four scientists and one economist\u2014all of whom are <\/span>known skeptics<\/span><\/a> of the scientific consensus on climate change.\u00a0 The report has been<\/span>\u00a0criticized<\/span> by scientists for <\/span>cherry-picking information<\/span><\/a> and misrepresenting and distorting findings.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Trump administration\u2019s embrace of <\/span>climate change denialism<\/span> comes as China races ahead in the <\/span>clean energy boom<\/span><\/a>, pushing forward with tens of billions of dollars of exports of lithium-ion batteries, solar panels, and electric cars. Last month at the European Union-China Summit, Beijing and Brussels promised to enhance climate cooperation\u2014a rare bright spot in what has been a <\/span>tenuous relationship<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The United States, EU, and China are among the world\u2019s biggest greenhouse gas emitters, and the United States was the <\/span>clear elephant in the room<\/span><\/a> in the EU and China\u2019s joint statement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIn the fluid and turbulent international situation today, it is crucial that all countries, notably the major economies maintain policy continuity and stability and step up efforts to address climate change,\u201d they said. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n