{"id":403,"date":"2017-03-11T11:03:33","date_gmt":"2017-03-11T16:03:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/?p=403"},"modified":"2017-03-11T11:03:33","modified_gmt":"2017-03-11T16:03:33","slug":"eps-chief-pruitts-office-deluged-with-phone-calls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/403","title":{"rendered":"EPS Chief Pruitt’s Office Deluged With Phone Calls…"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is no secret really that conservatives and the religious right hold a very dim view of science in general and climate change science in particular. They prefer to hold to the beliefs that God, in his infinite wisdom and power, will make everything all right in the world. So, their view is, not to worry, everything is going to be alright.<\/em><\/p>\n

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt\u2019s phones have been ringing off the hook \u2014 literally \u2014 since he questioned the link between human activity and climate change<\/span><\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The calls to Pruitt\u2019s main line, 202-564-4700, reached such a high volume by Friday that agency officials created an impromptu call center, according to three agency employees. The officials asked for anonymity out of fear of retaliation.<\/p>\n

By Saturday morning calls went straight to voice mail,\u00a0which was full and did not accept messages. At least two calls received the message that the line was disconnected, but that appeared to be in error.<\/p>\n

Before the number was disabled, interns were dispatched to answer some of the incoming calls, according to one employee. At times, calls to that number ended up going to voice mail.<\/p>\n

EPA did not respond Friday to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

While constituents sometimes call lawmakers in large numbers to express outrage over contentious policy issues, it is unusual for Americans to target a Cabinet official.<\/p>\n

Pruitt\u2019s comments on\u00a0the CNBC program \u201cSquawk Box\u201d \u2014 that \u201cwe need to continue the debate and continue the review and the analysis\u201d over climate change \u2014 prompted an immediate pushback from many scientists and environment groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do, and there\u2019s tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact, so no, I would not agree that it\u2019s a primary contributor to the global warming that we see,\u201d Pruitt said.<\/p>\n

The U.N.\u00a0Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has concluded that it is \u201cextremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century\u201d \u2014 a position reiterated on\u00a0EPA\u2019s own website.<\/p>\n

On Friday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rose at a record pace for the second straight year<\/span><\/u><\/a>, reaching 401.5 parts per million. The two-year surge in carbon concentrations that took place in 2015 and 2016 has no precedent in the 59 years in which the agency has been tracking the level of CO2 in the atmosphere. {Full Story Continues<\/a>}<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is no secret really that conservatives and the religious right hold a very dim view of science in general and climate change science in particular. They prefer to hold to the beliefs that God, in his infinite wisdom and power, will make everything all right in the world. So, their view is, not to … Continue reading EPS Chief Pruitt’s Office Deluged With Phone Calls…<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[30],"tags":[31],"class_list":["post-403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-climate-changeenvironment","tag-climate-changeenvironment"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8ovtF-6v","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":441,"url":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/441","url_meta":{"origin":403,"position":0},"title":"Trump Dropping Climate Change, No Longer To Be Included In Environmental Reviews..\/.","author":"Les","date":"March 14, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"With republicans controlling both houses\u00a0of congress and Trump in the Oval\u00a0Office we knew environmental concerns, especially climate change, would be a very low priority. One of Trump's stated first order of business was to cut regulations. Giving those businesses who have impact on our environment and climate a clearer path\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Climate Change\/Environment"","block_context":{"text":"Climate Change\/Environment","link":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/climate-changeenvironment"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":130,"url":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/130","url_meta":{"origin":403,"position":1},"title":"Jewish Community Centers Being Terrorized By Phone…","author":"Les","date":"February 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"With Donald J. Trump's campaign and rise to power\u00a0 threats made to Jewish Community Centers have increased as well. 48 JCCs in 27 states and one Canadian province received upwards of 60 bomb threats during January. The majority of the threats were made\u00a0during three days: January 9, 18 and 31.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Crime\/Law Enforcement"","block_context":{"text":"Crime\/Law Enforcement","link":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/crimelaw-enforcement"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":320,"url":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/320","url_meta":{"origin":403,"position":2},"title":"Levin Going Bonkers In Support Of Trump’s Conspiracy Theory…","author":"Les","date":"March 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Mark Levin, another right-wing nut job is making the case that the Obama administration\u00a0was\u00a0involved in wiretapping candidate Trump. Of course the only reference he makes to evidence supporting the allegation\u00a0is to unnamed right-wing sources. Zero hard-core credible evidence was presented, which\u00a0is typical of right-wing conspiracy nut jobs like Levin. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Humor"","block_context":{"text":"Humor","link":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/humor"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":163,"url":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/163","url_meta":{"origin":403,"position":3},"title":"As Trump Continues To Struggle…","author":"Les","date":"February 18, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"It is an understatement to say the Trump administration is in disarray bordering on total chaos. Maybe it is by design. After all Trump selected Stephen Bannon, the former executive director\u00a0of Breitbart News\u00a0to be his Chief White House Strategist. As you probably know Breitbart is one of the right's biggest\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Government"","block_context":{"text":"Government","link":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/government"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":581,"url":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/581","url_meta":{"origin":403,"position":4},"title":"Obama Era Police Reforms Face Potential Reversal By Trump…","author":"Les","date":"April 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"With the Trump and Sessions \"tough on crime\" agenda it now appears Justice Department investigations into police department abuse of civilians civil rights, as well as physical abuse by police officers, may come to a grinding halt. \u00a0There exists a fine line between enforcement of the law to protect the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Crime\/Law Enforcement"","block_context":{"text":"Crime\/Law Enforcement","link":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/crimelaw-enforcement"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":360,"url":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/360","url_meta":{"origin":403,"position":5},"title":"Trump Quietly Installing Hundreds of Officials Across the Federal Bureaucracy…","author":"Les","date":"March 8, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"President Trump\u00a0may be slow in filling government positions requiring senate confirmation but such has not been the case for more obscure but\u00a0still important jobs spreading across the\u00a0federal bureaucracy\u00a0. Since taking office Trump has filled more than 400 of the approximate \u00a0520 staffers the administration said it was hiring for \"beachhead\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Education"","block_context":{"text":"Education","link":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/education"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":404,"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403\/revisions\/404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}