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Who Is Myron Ebell? The Climate Skeptic Is One Of Trump's Advisors

by Casey Suglia

In a world where former businessman and reality star Donald Trump is now President Elect Donald Trump — there are bound to be many changes made to the United States. Trump has already begun the transition into the White House and talking to people about how to handle issues — including handling climate change. People might be wondering who is Myron Ebell — and they should know that Ebell might have a significant influence on Trump's stance about climate change.

According the The New York Times, Ebell will be Trump's "lead agent in choosing personnel and setting the direction of the federal agencies that address climate change and environmental policy more broadly." In the past few days, there has been a lot of talk about Trump's White House transition team. This means that Ebell is one small part of this large process — with so many positions to be filled for the Trump presidency and with so much lack of experience, every advisor is needed. With the environment being such a topical issue nowadays, Trump will need all the advising he can get. But is Ebell the right person to lead Trump in environmental policy? That has yet to be determined.

In Ebell's Twitter profile, he calls himself the "#1 enemy of climate change alarmism." To put it in other terms, according to Scientific American, Ebell is a "climate skeptic." Currently, Ebell works at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a Washington D.C. think tank, as the Director for Energy and Environment. It is there where he "chairs the Cooler Head Coalition, which comprises over two-dozen non-profit groups in this country and abroad that question global warming alarmism and oppose energy rationing policies." In 2015, according to The New York Times, protestors in France labeled Ebell as one of seven "climate change criminals." According to Vanity Fair, Ebell is also a father of four children — all of which take a "skeptical view on global warming." Ebell is a major skeptic, according to Vanity Fair, who actually believes in what he is saying — and his comments don't go unnoticed, either. For every pro-global warming argument featured on T.V., Ebell can provide a counter argument — he has been featured as a guest on ABC News, NBC Nightly News, and the BBC among countless other TV news programs.

"There has been a little bit of warming," Ebell told Vanity Fair. "But it's been very modest and well within the range for natural variability, and whether thats caused by human beings or not is nothing to worry about."

With global warming happening right in front of everyone's eyes, the last thing that scientists and lovers of the environment would want is to have someone who does not believe that there is a problem to be in charge of anything — especially pertaining to the environment. Unfortunately, Ebell is that man in charge for Trump. According to Scientific American, with Ebell in charge for choosing personnel for climate change, this means that "the Trump team is looking to drastically reshape the climate policies [the EPA] has pursued under the Obama administration." Now that will set a tone for the Trump administration. However, given Trump's past, this change in narrative is not surprising. Trump once said on Twitter that global warming was created "by and for the Chinese" – so his decision to put Ebell in charge should not come as a surprise.

Things will definitely be different in the Trump administration. Trump's decision to put Ebell in charge of selecting people to address climate change shows just how different his administration could be and what serious impact it might have on the U.S.