The Trump administration has appointed a noted skeptic of mainstream climate science to lead the government-wide program that compiles the National Climate Assessment, the country’s flagship report on the impact of global warming on the United States.
Matthew M. Wielicki, a former geochemist at the University of Alabama, will head the U.S. Global Change Research Program, which is mandated by Congress and last produced an assessment in 2023.
That latest iteration of that report, running more than 1,800 pages, documents a long list of the effects of human-driven warming on the United States, noting recent improvements in climate science had increased certainty about its impacts.
“The effects of human-caused climate change are already far-reaching and worsening across every region of the United States,” the report stated.
Politico first reported Wielicki’s appointment.
Soon after posting the publication’s report about his appointment on social media, Wielicki again questioned mainstream climate science.
“If every extreme weather event ends up being attributed to climate change in one way or another, is it really attribution science ... or just confirmation bias dressed up as science?” Wielicki said Thursday on X.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright confirmed the appointment in a social media post on Thursday, stating that “Matt Weilicki [sic] is an honest scientist who follows the data wherever it leads.”
The Department of Energy under Wright issued a separate report by climate skeptics last year that was widely criticized by scientists. A court later ruled the secretive way the report’s authors had been assembled was illegal.
Wielicki directed a request for comment to the White House, which said in a statement that the administration is committed to science.
“For too long, the USGCRP has been used as a vehicle for political agendas instead of sound science,” it said, in an unsigned statement. “We look forward to restoring the USGCRP and ensuring it fulfills its legal mandate.”
Environmental advocates criticized putting a skeptic in charge of the country’s most authoritative report on climate, noting his lack of training in climate science.
“It’s transparently putting a fox in charge of the hen house,” said David Doniger, a senior strategist for climate and energy at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an advocacy group.
Katharine Hayhoe, a climate scientist at Texas Tech University and chief scientist with advocacy group the Nature Conservancy, posted on social media that Wielicki “is unqualified in this area,” “cannot offer valid critiques but instead shares debunked claims” and “regularly attacks climate scientists.”
Wielicki left the University of Alabama in 2023, over complaints about diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at the university.
“I think that it was clear to me that speaking up about things like climate and DEI was career suicide,” he said on Fox News in 2023 after resigning. “Just asking questions, having discussions, now makes you a heretic.”