Despite the ongoing onslaught of abnormal weather events, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt does not think it's time to talk about climate change. In an interview with CNN published late Thursday, Pruitt suggested that it's unfair to hurricane victims to be discussing why these devastating storms might be happening.
"Here's the issue: To have any kind of focus on the cause and effect of the storm, versus helping people, or actually facing the effect of the storm, is misplaced," Pruitt said, pushing for the focus to remain on access to clean water and fuel in the wake of these horrible storms — whose likely cause, it seems, shall not be named.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
The pressure of South Korea's celebrity cultureIn The Spotlight South Korean actress Kim Sae-ron was laid to rest on Wednesday after an apparent suicide
-
Should lying in politics be a criminal offence?Today's Big Question Welsh government considers new crime of deliberate deception by an elected official
-
Store closings could accelerate throughout 2025Under the Radar Major brands like Macy's and Walgreens are continuing to shutter stores
-
Rain helps Los Angeles wildfires, risks mudslidesSpeed Read The weather provided relief for crews working to contain wildfires, though rain over a burn area ups the chances of flooding and mudslides
-
Death toll rises in LA fires as wind lull allows progressSpeed Read At least 24 people have died and 100,000 people are under mandatory evacuation orders
-
Biden cancels Italy trip as raging LA fires spreadSpeed Read The majority of the fires remain 0% contained
-
Fast-spreading Los Angeles wildfires spark panicSpeed Read About 30,000 people were under an evacuation order as the inferno spread
-
Hundreds feared dead in French Mayotte cycloneSpeed Read Cyclone Chido slammed into Mayotte, a French territory in the Indian Ocean
-
Thirteen missing after Red Sea tourist boat sinksSpeed Read The vessel sank near the Egyptian coastal town of Marsa Alam
-
Global plastics summit starts as COP29 endsSpeed Read Negotiators gathering in South Korea seek an end to the world's plastic pollution crisis, though Trump's election may muddle the deal
-
Biden visits Amazon, says climate legacy irreversibleSpeed Read Nobody can reverse America's 'clean energy revolution,' said the president, despite the incoming Trump administration's promises to dismantle climate policies
