When asked if he believes CO2 is the primary contributor to global warming, EPA chief Scott Pruitt said "no," on Squawk Box this morning.
"I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do and there's tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact, so no, I would not agree that it's a primary contributor to the global warming that we see."
NASA and NOAA released independent analyses in January showing earth's surface temperatures were the warmest on record, a change driven largely by CO2, and it is the overwhelming scientific view that human induced carbon emissions are the most important force behind current warming.
Amid all the optimism here about the oil industry's rebound, prices took a dive yesterday to their lowest levels of the year. U.S. crude prices dropped almost $3 per barrel to close at slightly above $50.
Why? New federal data showed we're swimming in the stuff. Markets got spooked when the federal Energy Information Administration reported that U.S. commercial stockpiles jumped by 8.2 million barrels over the prior week. Per Reuters, that is "stoking concerns a global glut could persist even as OPEC tries to prop up prices with output curbs."
None of the oil industry execs gathered in Houston have been as overtly political or rah-rah-rah about Donald Trump as Harold Hamm. The billionaire fracking magnate opened a session about North American drilling by declaring Trump "unique in the political world because he keeps his promises."
Venture capitalist Peter Thiel, a Donald Trump backer and top Silicon Valley confidante, spent about 45 minutes chatting onstage with energy analyst Dan Yergin at a glitzy dinner last night in Houston. Their talk roamed all over the place, but here are some takeaways:
