EPA chief addresses climate change report

DES MOINES - Scott Pruitt, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said Tuesday he has not yet read a draft report on climate change that disputes previous opinions he has given regarding climate change.

The draft report from scientists in 13 federal government agencies says the evidence shows human activity is 'primarily responsible” for recent climate change. The report, which had not yet been made public, was obtained and published Monday by the New York Times.

Pruitt in May told CNBC that he does not think human activity is a primary cause of climate change.

'I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do and there's tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact. So no, I would not agree that it's a primary contributor to the global warming that we see,” Pruitt told CNBC.

But the new draft report, required by Congress every four years, says there is a direct tie between human activity and climate change.

'Many lines of evidence demonstrate that human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse (heat-trapping) gases, are primarily responsible for recent observed climate changes,” the report says.

Pruitt said Tuesday that he has not yet read the report and that federal agencies are reviewing it, as well as its 'methodology and discussion points.” He noted the U.S. has been a world leader in reducing greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide emissions, and encouraged people who support steps to address climate change to embrace hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling.

- Gazette Lee Des Moines Bureau