(Bloomberg) -- A National Security Council adviser who praised carbon dioxide and spearheaded efforts to create a presidential committee to review climate science is leaving the administration, following the departure of his patron John Bolton.
William Happer, a physicist, is stepping down from his post on Friday, according to the CO2 Coalition, a think tank that touts the benefit of carbon dioxide emissions. Happer formerly led the organization.
“We believe your work in calling attention to the problem of unscientific climate alarmism has reduced the chances of the dramatic increases in energy prices that would arise from the banning of fossil fuels that some have proposed,” the group said.
Happer, a former Energy Department official who once compared the maligning of carbon dioxide to the “demonization of the poor Jews under Hitler” was brought on to the NSC as a technology adviser by Bolton -- the White House national security adviser who President Donald Trump fired Tuesday.
Happer envisioned a presidential climate committee composed of scientists to re-assess the consensus of the threat posed by climate change, a move that critics panned as a part of a trend in which the Trump administration elevates ideological opponents of established scientific views.
However, the panel never received final approval amid concerns about how it would be perceived ahead of Trump’s re-election efforts.
NSC representatives didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ari Natter in Washington at anatter5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jon Morgan at jmorgan97@bloomberg.net, Elizabeth Wasserman, Wendy Benjaminson
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