U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin pushed back against the 'science denier' label frequently used in climate change debates, arguing that skepticism toward long-term projections is reasonable.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Zeldin emphasized that climate predictions for decades into the future are far from precise. "When someone looks at the year 2050 or 2100 and says, 'Sea level will be exactly this, temperature will be exactly this,' they are not correctly acknowledging that there is a range from optimistic to pessimistic," he said.
Future projections must be constantly updated
Speaking at the Great American State Fair, the EPA Administrator said that climate models about the future, in particular, are dynamic projections that must be continually reviewed as new data emerges. "It is extremely important to rely on today's realities rather than past bad assumptions," Zeldin said, adding, "Every day that passes, we learn what the reality is at that future point and we can compare it with the predictions."
Zeldin said that both long-term projections and current real-world data must be used together to understand the impacts of climate change.
"Listen to them, maybe they have looked at other studies"
The EPA Administrator argued that people who disagree with certain climate predictions should not be immediately stigmatized. Zeldin said:
"I don't think it's a good idea to suddenly and automatically declare someone a science denier just because they disagree with another person's prediction about exactly what the temperature will be in 2100. Listen to them. Maybe they have an opinion about another study or studies they have looked at, because especially when you look to the future, there really is a range of predictions."
Zeldin recalled that the Trump administration has begun to review a series of climate-focused regulations, including the EPA's 2009 Endangerment Finding. This finding forms the legal basis for many federal greenhouse gas regulations.
Since taking office at the EPA, Zeldin has been leading efforts to reassess the agency's 2009 Endangerment Finding and is revisiting a series of climate regulations adopted under previous Democratic administrations.
