White House shelves climate science challenge

E&E News reports, "The proposed White House panel that would conduct an 'adversarial' review of climate science is dead for now, as President Trump grapples with negative perceptions of his environmental record at the outset of his reelection campaign."

Why it matters: The move suggests the White House isn't interested in a head-on attack on mainstream climate science before the election — even as the administration's dismantling of Obama-era emissions rules continues apace.

That's also how conservative activist Myron Ebell of the Competitive Enterprise Institute is reading it.

What they're saying: "The reelect campaign has been completely taken over by the usual cast of Republican establishment consultants who are primarily concerned with making very large amounts of money on the campaign," Ebell, who rejects the scientific consensus on human-cased warming, told E&E.

Where it stands: The White House declined to comment on the report. The review was reportedly slated to be undertaken via the National Security Council, which would have enabled a broad challenge to the science on security risks from extreme events, sea-level rise and more.