Senators accuse DeVos of ‘quick about-face’ on climate change
A conservative think tank that does not believe in human-induced climate change has been sending to hundreds of thousands of K-12 and college science teachers materials that reject basic principles on which nearly all climate scientists agree — and now, some U.S. senators are asking Education Secretary Betsy DeVos whether staff members in her department have anything to do with it.
The Education Department did not immediately respond to a query about the letter sent by Democratic Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts. The reason the senators are asking, they said, is because DeVos issued a statement last week — her first about any non-education-related White House actions — in support of President Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the landmark Paris climate agreement (which all countries had signed except Syria and Nicaragua). The Michigan billionaire said in her statement:
“The announcement made today by the President is one more example of his commitment to rolling back the unrealistic and overreaching regulatory actions by the previous Administration. President Trump is making good on his promise to put America and American workers first.”
Shortly after she issued the statement, DeVos was asked by reporters whether she believes in human-caused climate change. She responded, “Certainly, the climate changes. Yes.” Then, asked what should be done about it, she responded: “I don’t have any answer. I’m here to talk about students in schools today.”
The senators reacted with a letter that accuses DeVos of having done a “quick about-face” from statements she had made in herSenators accuse DeVos of ‘quick about-face’ on climate change - The Washington Post: