As of September 2, 2025, a group of over 85 scientists has issued a joint rebuttal to a recent US Department of Energy (DOE) report about climate change, suggesting that it misrepresents climate science. [1] The group submitted a 400-page review of the assessment written by five scientists selected by Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who allegedly share a contrarian view of mainstream climate science. [2] This comes weeks after the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Environmental Defense Fund filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration that alleges that the secretive selection process of scientists who share only one perspective violates the law. [3] The DOE’s Climate Working Group consisted of four scientists and one economist who have all questioned the scientific consensus that climate change is a threat, sometimes framing global warming as beneficial. The group of climate scientists found several examples where the DOE authors cherry-picked evidence and neglected to mention the negative impacts of heat and climate-change-fueled extreme weather events. They also suggested that the DOE relied too heavily on debunked research, misinterpreted other research, and failed to undertake a peer-reviewed process to ensure credibility.
[1] https://library.edf.org/AssetLink/0kdlw6oq5v8hsvj152eqx01b0qn74uuq.pdf
[2] https://sites.google.com/tamu.edu/doeresponse/home?authuser=0