A group of more than 80 climate experts has formally rebutted the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s report on climate change released July 29, stating that the five scientists who comprised the Climate Working Group cherry-picked studies and facts to draw conclusions that run counter to decades of consensus reached by scientists from around the world. 

The report is significant because its conclusions—that climate change is real, but its impacts on global economies and public health have been overstated—are cited as part of the rationale for revoking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s endangerment finding, currently the underpinning of most current federal regulations governing air quality and greenhouse gas emissions restrictions at powerplants and from vehicles, and which dictate the types of infrastructure projects that are permitted, funded and built. 

EPA proposed repealing the endangerment policy the same day it released the DOE study. 

The scientists submitted their 400+ page document on August 30 as part of the public comment process on the DOE report, which ended Sept. 2. The group states that the DOE report cites “outdated or discredited” studies and ignores or misrepresents the “overwhelming weight of scientific evidence.” 

The climate scientists noted that normally, hundreds of authors—all or whom are experts in their respective fields of research—collaborate through a public process to produce a report over the span of several years. The five-member DOE Climate Working Group took two months, and as a result, there are errors. “The DOE CWG report, due to its very small writing team, covers areas in which the authors are not experts and has led to many errors in the report caused by a lack of familiarity with the science,” the group members wrote. 

In a statement, Robert Kopp, a professor at Rutgers University and a lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment and the ongoing IPCC Seventh Assessment reports, described the DOE report as “not scientifically credible.” 

Abigail Swann, a professor of atmospheric and climate science at the University of Washington, said in a statement, “This report is not an accurate reflection of climate science knowledge, it is an agenda draped in a veneer of plausible-looking scientific statements.” 

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and the Union of Concerned Scientists August 16 filed a legal challenge to both the DOE report and EPA’s proposal to roll-back the endangerment finding with the federal district court of Massachusetts. EDF Senior Attorney Erin Murphy said, “Secretary Wright unlawfully formed, in secret, a group of climate skeptics to write a report filled with inaccuracies and misrepresentations about climate change—and EPA Administrator Zeldin is trying to use it to undermine pollution limits. That would make life less safe and less affordable for millions of people all across the country.”

According to news reports, DOE Secretary Chris Wright has called for a review of past IPCC climate assessment reports. 

EPA extended the public comment period on the repeal of the endangerment finding to Sept. 22.