EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to launch a group to formally 'critique' climate science

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt is opening a formal "critique" of climate science, a move criticized by many experts who say the topic has "already been tested by the rigorous peer-review process in scientific research," The Hill writes.

Pruitt reportedly plans to use a "red team, blue team" style model — common with the military to debate potential field operations — to conduct the "at-length evaluation of U.S. climate science." The experts involved in the evaluation will be picked by the government.

"The administrator believes that we will be able to recruit the best in the fields which study climate and will organize a specific process in which these individuals ... provide back-and-forth critique of specific new reports on climate science," a senior administration official told Climatewire. "We are in fact very excited about this initiative. Climate science, like other fields of science, is constantly changing. A new, fresh, and transparent evaluation is something everyone should support doing."

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Critics of the approach say Pruitt's groups "could politicize scientific research and disproportionately elevate the views of a relatively small number of experts who disagree with mainstream scientists," Climatewire adds.

Pruitt is a skeptic of widely agreed-upon science that shows human activity is rapidly driving the acceleration of climate change. During his Senate confirmation hearing, Pruitt argued that "over the past two decades satellite data indicates there has been a leveling-off of warming." In May, a team of scientists published an entire paper to prove the data cited by Pruitt was incorrect.