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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Scientific Community: "Climate Change Must be Acknowledged"

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Friday, March 10, 2017   

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Folks in the scientific community in Ohio and elsewhere are scratching their heads over comments made by the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Scott Pruitt, sworn in as EPA administrator just weeks ago, told reporters on Thursday that carbon dioxide is not a major source of global warming and questioned human activity as a culprit.

Dr. Noah Diffenbaugh, professor of earth system science at the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University, said these claims run counter to vast scientific evidence showing that climate change is real and that humans are the primary cause.

"We also know that we are already being impacted here in the United States," Diffenbaugh said. "The 1 degree Celsius of global warming that's already happened we know with very, very high confidence that global warming is already causing climate changes that are impacting Americans, here and now."

Besides rising temperatures, Diffenbaugh said those climate effects include extreme weather events such as heat waves and increasing flooding in states such as Ohio.

Pruitt's remarks are being countered for the most part, by scientists, environmentalists and the former head of the EPA. Pruitt did note that continued analysis on climate change is needed, and Diffenbaugh said in order to build resilience to protect Americans from climate stresses, there also must be acknowledgement "from the top" that the climate is changing.

"The good news," he said, "is that we have a lot of opportunities to create win-wins - to create infrastructure and resource management systems, how we manage our water and agriculture and other resources - in ways that protect ourselves from climate change now and make us more prepared for the future."

Pruitt's comments are in line with President Trump's take on the issue. Trump has described climate change as a hoax and promised on the campaign trail to roll back policies he sees as "over-regulation," even as they curb pollution that spurs climate change.


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