The acting head of the nation’s environmental agency said Democrats’ proposal to combat climate change was “not ready for primetime,” in an interview with ABC News Live this week.
Acting Environmental Protection Agency chief Andrew Wheeler said he was concerned the resolution dubbed a “Green New Deal” didn’t address whether a zero-carbon energy grid would be reliable in the wake of natural disasters or other emergencies.
“I’ve read the resolution that they put out, I’ve also read the fact sheet that they later disavowed, I’d say probably the roll out was not really ready for prime time,” he told ABC News. “But, I am concerned that they really don’t seem to value a stable electricity source, grid reliability and for human health and the environment here at the agency, I have to be very concerned about that because it’s the electricity system that supplies our drinking water system that runs it.”
The proposal has been supported by congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts. Both say it provides a framework on how the country can drastically reduce carbon dioxide emissions and rework the entire economy to combat climate change.
Opposition to the Deal
Republicans have blasted the proposal, calling it overly broad and comparing it to socialism. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell recently announced it would go to the floor for a vote, though the resolution is not legally binding.
Talking climate change, Wheeler told ABC News that he’s studied the evidence from leading US climate scientists and calls global climate change a problem, not a hoax. But he said it’s one that hasn’t yet reached “crisis” stage. He was also asked in his recent confirmation hearing about climate change.
“I mean, we’re moving forward, we’re addressing climate change CO2 under our proposal, our ACE regulation. We’re also addressing it under our CAFE standard for automobiles. We’re using the tools that Congress gave us to address CO2, climate change and we’re moving forward on multiple fronts,” he told ABC News, referring to the administration’s proposals to replace the Clean Power Plan and change fuel emissions standards for cars and trucks.
During his Senate confirmation hearing last month, Wheeler was shamed by Democrats after admitting he had not reviewed his own administration’s National Climate Assessment, a 1,500-page analysis of the latest scientific data on climate change. He has also faced criticism for rejecting a consensus view among climate scientists, environmental advocates and the leading United Nations climate agency that global climate change is a looming catastrophe.
The climate assessment concludes, “the evidence of human-caused climate change is overwhelming and continues to strengthen, that the impacts of climate change are intensifying across the country, and that climate-related threats to Americans’ physical, social, and economic well-being are rising.”
The 4th Annual Environmental Leader & Energy Manager Conference takes place May 13 – 15, 2019 in Denver. Learn more here.
