Trump Puts Climate Denier in Charge of National Climate Assessment
The White House has quietly revived the U.S. Global Change Research Program, only to appoint Matthew Wielicki—a vocal critic of mainstream climate science—to lead the production of the country's most critical report on environmental impacts, a move experts describe as a profound threat to scientific integrity.
Wielicki, a former University of Alabama geochemist who labels himself a "professor in exile," has frequently used social media to attack climate research, once dismissing the field as little more than "stamp collecting." In his new capacity, he will oversee the National Climate Assessment, a congressionally mandated document designed to detail how climate change affects American infrastructure and the economy.
Wielicki has openly solicited input for the upcoming report via X, the platform owned by Elon Musk. His appointment has triggered sharp criticism from the scientific community. Dr. Carlos Martinez of the Union of Concerned Scientists warned that placing such a high-stakes resource under the direction of an unqualified skeptic jeopardizes its objective, multi-agency process. Ryan Katz-Rosene, a professor at the University of Ottawa, compared the decision to "putting a Flat Earther in charge of NASA."
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