Watch Trump’s Nominee For A Key Environmental Post Reject Basic Science

Kathleen Hartnett White, President Trump’s pick for Council on Environmental Quality, sat before her first senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday and like many of Trump’s appointees, White demonstrated an astounding lack of knowledge on the very subject she would be in charge of overseeing. A former Texas environmental state regulator who once actually compared belief in global warming to “paganism,” at best, stammered through the line of questioning.

When asked by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) roughly how much of the excess heat captured by greenhouse gasses has been absorbed the the ocean, White countered by saying she didn’t “have numbers like that.” Even when Whitehouse followed up, asking her if she knew whether it was more or less than 50 percent, White asked for him to repeat the question, noted that she had “read about that,” but ultimately could not provide an answer.

White then incorrectly noted, “I believe there are difference of opinions on that, that there’s not one right answer,” to which Whitehouse incredulously shot back, “Really? Do you think there’s actual serious difference of opinion on whether it’s below 50 percent?” “Um, unless I’m mistaken, yes,” White responded.

When asked a followup about the basic principles of thermal expansion, and whether or not that applies to seawater, White gave another mind boggling response. “Again, I do not have any kind of expertise or even much layman’s study on the ocean dynamics and the climate change issues,” she stated. “Just enough to know that you think there’s enough science that establishes clearly how much of the heat has been taken up by the oceans — you knew that, you said you knew that,” Whitehouse fired back, before exasperatedly shutting down the line of questioning.