Reject Kathleen Hartnett White, Trump's climate-denying pick to run the Council on Environmental Quality

The petition to the Senate reads: "Kathleen Hartnett White is a dangerous right-wing climate change denier who holds extreme, anti-science views. Block and resist her nomination to lead the Council on Environmental Quality." Add your name:

Kathleen Hartnett White isn't just your run-of-the-mill extreme right-wing climate-denier. She's a senior fellow at the Koch brothers and Exxon-funded Texas Public Policy Foundation, believes carbon dioxide is harmless "plant food," equates belief in climate change to "paganism," and calls solar and wind power "unreliable and parasitic."1,2If Donald Trump's long list of climate-denying nominees wasn't terrifying enough, his pick to lead the Council on Environmental Quality might be the most extreme and dangerous one yet. But her most egregious argument against climate change asserts that coal use in the 1800s actually ended slavery in the United States, saying "fossil fuels dissolved the economic justification for slavery."3 A person with such heinous, racist, climate-denying views has no business overseeing environmental policy in our country. We must speak out now to pressure the Senate to block and resist her confirmation before it comes up for a vote. Tell the Senate: Reject climate-denier Kathleen Hartnett White's nomination to run the Council on Environmental Quality. Click here to sign the petition. The little-known Council on Environmental Quality plays a big role in the White House in directing environmental policy across agencies and implementing the National Environmental Policy Act, which oversees environmental permit applications. An extreme climate-denier leading this council could have an oversized and dangerous influence over permit applications for fossil fuel infrastructure projects, like dirty oil pipelines or coal and fracked natural gas export terminals. Remember this embarrassing moment? In her recent Senate confirmation hearing, Hartnett White struggled to hide her anti-science views and long-time contempt for climate science. When asked if she believed the climate was changing, she first replied "I am uncertain," then fumbled to correct herself. Later in the hearing, when progressive champion Sen. Jeff Merkley asked Hartnett White if she believed carbon dioxide levels have increased dramatically, she replied with a sigh and said "no."4 Political pundits have said if Harnett White is confirmed it will be "a huge win for Steve Bannon," but activism resisting Trump's climate-denying nominees is working.5 After hundreds of thousands of progressives – including more than 170,000 CREDO members – took action, urging the Senate to reject Sam Clovis, Trump's racist, climate-denying pick to be the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientist, Clovis withdrew his nomination from consideration.6 We must speak out again in full force to block another dangerous nominee from setting foot in the Trump regime. Tell the Senate: Reject climate-denier Kathleen Hartnett White's nomination to run the Council on Environmental Quality. Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/reject_hartnett_white?t=7&akid=26340%2E3130208%2E-dkBnk Josh Nelson, Deputy Political Director CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name: Andrew Kaczynski, "Trump pick for top environmental post called belief in global warming a 'kind of paganism,'" CNN, Oct 18, 2017. Democracy Now!, "Climate Denier Kathleen Hartnett White Named White House Environmental Adviser," Oct. 16, 2017. Christopher Hooks, "Top TPPF Analyst: Coal Ended Slavery," Texas Observer, Sept. 30, 2014. Alexander C. Kaufman, "5 Times Trump’s Pick For Top Environmental Adviser Struggled To Defend Her Climate Denial," HuffPost, Nov. 8, 2017. Alexander C. Kaufman, "Trump’s Pick For White House Environmental Post Once Said Coal Helped End Slavery," HuffPost, Oct 13, 2017. Alexander C. Kaufman, "Trump’s USDA Pick With Ties To Russia Investigation Withdraws Nomination," HuffPost, Nov. 2, 2017.