There is no substantive debate on whether the world's climate is changing, and on mankind's role as prime cause of that change. We have taken the measurements, and can track those changes from the outset of industrialization. It is not subtle. What scientific uncertainty still exists is in predictions of just how dire the situation will get, and how quickly; because atmospheric and oceanic systems are so complex, scientists are still not completely confident that some as-of-yet unknown factor could cause a more rapid and catastrophic chain-reaction than our best models are estimating. Sea levels are rising—right now. World temperatures are nudging upwards with each passing year—and can be measured. Long-predicted changes in prevailing wind and currents can be tracked, and are bearing out those past predictions.
In the meantime, Donald Trump's team of conservative c-listers is still obsessed with the notion of convening a select panel of cranks to dismiss each of the many government and military reports on the impacts and needed solutions to climate change, because of course they are. The current planned incarnation will be an "ad hoc" "working group" of climate skeptics tasked with reviewing the government's prior conclusions, as published in the National Climate Assessment, and blowing whatever smoke is necessary to delay further action.
The National Security Council initiative would include scientists who question the severity of climate impacts and the extent to which humans contribute to the problem, according to these individuals, who asked for anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
This appears to be a variation of a plan from National Security Council senior director William Happer, a climate crank who attracted significant sums from fossil-fuel tied interests before settling into a new role as one of Trump's "best" people. The original plan was to create an independent advisory committee, but that would have been hampered by federal laws mandating public release of records and other inconveniences. This "working group" appears to be a way to skirt those public records laws, maintaining a level of secrecy in their communications and consultations that a more formal committee would be barred from.
Yet again, there doesn't seem to be any public policy or issue Donald Trump's team can muster a competent, non-crooked response to. Whatever this new "working group" gets up to, expect lawsuits galore and deep-dive investigations into their backdoor dealings with polluting industries and the "think tanks" they have set up to convince the public of scientific uncertainties that simply aren't there.
What it won't do is slow the climate changes that are occurring right now and which are escalating with each passing year. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago isn't going to float above the encroaching Atlantic no matter how much hot air his underlings blow into it. It won't be the first Trump business he's put underwater, either.
