--- title: EPA Head Creating Program to Challenge Climate Change Data description: Scott Pruitt, administrator of the EPA, is reportedly launching a program within the department to "critique" mainstream climate science canonical: https://time.com/4842380/scott-pruitt-epa-climate-science/ author: Aric Jenkins article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-30T19:32:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T06:11:54.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: EPA Head Reportedly Launching Program to 'Critique' Climate Science og:description: The EPA chief has repeatedly rejected claims of mainstream climate science og:url: https://time.com/4842380/scott-pruitt-epa-climate-science/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbffe1e1e6205cf8e/6988be8f0a4a22b9fa9cd4f1/republicans-coming-out-climate-closet.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: republicans-coming-out-climate-closet-Gabriella-Demczuk og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: EPA Head Reportedly Launching Program to 'Critique' Climate Science twitter:description: The EPA chief has repeatedly rejected claims of mainstream climate science twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbffe1e1e6205cf8e/6988be8f0a4a22b9fa9cd4f1/republicans-coming-out-climate-closet.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # EPA Head Scott Pruitt Reportedly Launching Program to 'Critique' Climate Science > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Aric Jenkins](https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Updated: Dec 13, 2023 6:11 AM UTCPublished: Jun 30, 2017 7:32 PM UTC  EPA chief Scott Pruitt, seen at a January confirmation hearing, has disputed a key cause of global warming. EPA chief Scott Pruitt, seen at a January confirmation hearing, has disputed a key cause of global warming. Gabriella Demczuk—The New York Times/REDUX by [Aric Jenkins](https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Updated: Dec 13, 2023 6:11 AM UTCPublished: Jun 30, 2017 7:32 PM UTC [Scott Pruitt](http://time.com/4697551/epa-scott-pruitt-carbon-dioxide/), administrator of the [Environmental Protection Agency](http://time.com/4696104/environmental-protection-agency-1970-history/), is reportedly launching a program within the department to “critique” mainstream climate science, a senior administration official said, according to reports. The initiative, reportedly set to be coordinated by government-recruited experts, will attempt to offer a “back-and-forth critique” of climate science utilizing military-style exercises that identify potential vulnerabilities in field operations, according to environmental trade publication [E&E News](https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060056858). “The administrator believes that we will be able to recruit the best in the fields which study climate and will organize a specific process in which these individuals … provide back-and-forth critique of specific new reports on climate science,” the official said, according to E&E News. “We are in fact very excited about this initiative,” the official reportedly added. “Climate science, like other fields of science, is constantly changing. A new, fresh and transparent evaluation is something everyone should support doing.” A spokesperson from the EPA declined a request for comment. Pruitt, a Senate-confirmed nominee of President Donald Trump, has repeatedly rejected claims of established climate change data that has been widely-accepted by scientists. “I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do and there’s tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact, so no, I would not agree that it’s a primary contributor to the global warming that we see,” [Pruitt said](http://fortune.com/2017/04/29/epa-climate-change-website-changes/) on CNBC’s _Squawk Box_ back in March. “But we don’t know that yet,” he added. “We need to continue the debate and continue the review and the analysis.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4842380/scott-pruitt-epa-climate-science/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4842380/scott-pruitt-epa-climate-science/"},"headline":"EPA Head Scott Pruitt Reportedly Launching Program to 'Critique' Climate Science","datePublished":"2017-06-30T19:32:28.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T06:11:54.000Z","description":"The EPA chief has repeatedly rejected claims of mainstream climate science","url":"https://time.com/4842380/scott-pruitt-epa-climate-science/","keywords":["climate change","Environment","EPA","onetime","Scott Pruitt"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbffe1e1e6205cf8e/6988be8f0a4a22b9fa9cd4f1/republicans-coming-out-climate-closet.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Aric Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbffe1e1e6205cf8e/6988be8f0a4a22b9fa9cd4f1/republicans-coming-out-climate-closet.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"republicans-coming-out-climate-closet-Gabriella-Demczuk","caption":"republicans-coming-out-climate-closet-Gabriella-Demczuk","creditText":"Gabriella Demczuk—The New York Times/REDUX","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/climate-change/","name":"climate change"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4842380/scott-pruitt-epa-climate-science/","name":"EPA Head Scott Pruitt Reportedly Launching Program to 'Critique' Climate Science"}}]}] ```