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Police and pro-Palestinian demonstrators clash in tense scene at UCLA encampment; PA groups monitoring soot pollution pleased by new EPA standards; NYS budget bolsters rural housing preservation programs; EPA's Solar for All Program aims to help Ohioans lower their energy bills, create jobs.

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Campus Gaza protests continue, and an Arab American mayor says voters are watching. The Arizona senate votes to repeal the state's 1864 abortion ban. And a Pennsylvania voting rights advocate says dispelling misinformation is a full-time job.

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Bidding begins soon for Wyoming's elk antlers, Southeastern states gained population in the past year, small rural energy projects are losing out to bigger proposals, and a rural arts cooperative is filling the gap for schools in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Climate Change is Real, Scientific Community Asserts

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Monday, March 13, 2017   

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Folks in the scientific community in Tennessee 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 last week that carbon dioxide is not a major source of global warming, and he questioned human activity as a culprit.

As a professor of Earth Systems Science and senior fellow at Stanford University's Woods Institute for the Environment, Dr. Noah Diffenbaugh says 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," said Diffenbaugh. "The 1 degree Celsius of global warming has 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 says these climate effects include such extreme weather events as the recent wildfires that ravaged Tennessee.

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.

Diffenbaugh believes that, 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 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," he said.

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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