Trump transition wants names of Energy Dept. employees involved in climate talks
President elect-Donald Trump’s transition team has created a questionnaire with 74 questions for Energy Department officials to identify employees who have been involved in international climate talks over the past five years and employees who have helped advance Obama administration climate policies.
The questionnaire, obtained by CBS News and first reported by Bloomberg News, asks, for example, “Which programs within [the Department of Energy] are essential to meeting the goals of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan?”
Some of the other questions in the questionnaire include, “Can you provide a list of all Department of Energy employees or contractors who have attended any Interagency Working Group on the Social cost of Carbon meetings?” and “What is the Department’s role with respect to the development of offshore wind?”
The other questions pertained to various programs or offices within the department such as the Office of Nuclear Energy, Office of Science’s Laboratory Policy, Office of the General Counsel and Office of Environmental Management, among others.
This comes after Mr. Trump selected Scott Pruitt, attorney general of Oklahoma, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), who is a climate change-denier and a longtime opponent of EPA regulations.
Earlier this week, the president-elect met with former Vice President Al Gore, who has been a staunch advocate of efforts to combat climate change. While Trump has previously called climate change a “hoax,” he suggested that he had an open mind on the issue in a recent interview with The New York Times.
CBS News’ John Nolen contributed to this report.
Here’s the questionnaire:
