Reports involving scientific evidence published by the U.S. government have, for the most part, been regarded as accurate in their statements of facts and have demonstrated insightful conclusions upon which the nations of the world can rely. This latest, entitled “A Critical Review of Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the U.S. Climate,” however, doesn’t meet the standard both for facts and conclusions.
Produced by the Climate Working Group of the U.S. Department of Energy and released on July 23, 2025, it begins by addressing the scientific certainties and uncertainties of how increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are affecting and will affect the United States. It examines climate, extreme weather, and “selected metrics of societal well-being.” Note the use of the word “selected” in how it measures the impact that rising atmospheric CO2 and GHGs are having on America, let alone the rest of the planet.
It begins by stating:
“Elevated concentrations of CO2 directly enhance plant growth, globally contributing to greening the planet and increasing agricultural productivity. They also make the oceans less alkaline (lower the pH). That is possibly detrimental to coral reefs, although the recent rebound of the Great Barrier Reef suggests otherwise.”
The positive reflection that makes more CO2 sound like a good thing is accompanied by a small negative with a qualifier. How clever of the authors to make a bad thing sound like it is qualified as a good outcome. It describes the climate models as “overly sensitive” and “implausible,” yielding “exaggerated projections of future warming.”
It describes the increasing lengthening of wildfire seasons around the planet as caused by no more than “bad forest management” practices.
As for sea level rise, it acknowledges an increase of more than 20 centimetres (8 inches) since 1900, but then points out that local land subsidence can account for much of this and that “U.S. tide gauge measurements in aggregate show no obvious acceleration in sea level rise beyond the historical average rate.”
It then challenges extreme weather occurrences as not a phenomenon caused by human CO2 emissions but by “natural climate variability” and blames the deficiencies of the climate models for drawing their false conclusions.
It suggests that the inaccuracy of CO2 emissions modelling has led to “excessively aggressive mitigation policies” that “could prove more detrimental.”Â
In the Secretary of Energy’s Forward, Chris Wright, a former fossil fuel executive, states:
“Climate change is real, and it deserves attention. But it is not the greatest threat facing humanity. That distinction belongs to global energy poverty. As someone who values data, I know that improving the human condition depends on expanding access to reliable, affordable energy. Climate change is a challenge—not a catastrophe.”
Finally, the review concludes the U.S. contribution to climate change, regardless of policy direction, would have only “undetectably small direct impacts on the global climate and any effects will emerge only with long delays.” If ever there was a “kick the can down the road” statement, this last one takes the cake.
The response from scientists around the world is overwhelmingly disbelief and a misrepresentation of decades of climate research.
Stated Joellen Russell, an oceanographer at the University of Arizona, “This little report is designed to suppress science, not to enhance it or encourage it.”
Benjamin Santer, a climate scientist at the University of East Anglia in the U.K., stated, “I’m gobsmacked. It’s a revision of science and a revision of history.”
Andrew Dessler, an atmospheric scientist at Texas A&M University, is writing a rebuttal stating “The alternative is to do nothing.”
The Department of Energy, in releasing this report, authored by five who represent outliers in terms of their views on climate science and rising CO2 and GHGs, has invited others to comment by no later than September 2, 2025. No doubt they will receive several boatloads from experts coming from all corners of the planet.
Originally appearing in: https://www.21stcentech.com/department-energy-report-climate-change-reflects-trump-hoax-narrative/