US energy secretary dubious about CO2 as cause of climate change
Rick Perry, the US Secretary of Energy, has contradicted the international scientific community by saying he does not believe carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to global warming. In an interview with CNBC, Perry said: "The most likely primary control knob [for climate change] is the ocean waters and this environment that we live in." Perry's comments mirror those of Environmental Protection Agency chief, Scott Pruitt, who said in previous interviews with the broadcaster that there was "tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact" of carbon emissions on the world's climate.
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US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry has said he does not believe carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to global warming, putting him at odds with mainstream scientific opinion.

Mr Perry's statement is in line with Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt, but flies in the face of several scientists and studies done on climate change that all say increased carbon emissions creates a greenhouse effect - the atmosphere is clogged and the planet heats up causing melting glaciers, rising sea levels, and natural disasters.

The former governor of Texas said on CNBC that "the most likely the primary control knob [for climate change] is the ocean waters and this environment that we live in."

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He did not give further explanation on what that meant. Certainly, rising sea levels have been an oft-cited issue by those studying the North and South pole but also American coastal cities like Miami Beach and San Diego.

His view contradicts research done by NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the EPA, and his own agency.

Mr Pruitt has said in the past to CNBC that "there's tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact" of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

Both he and Mr Perry have commented that though human action does have some impact on the climate, neither believes there is proof that regulations or government policies would help.

10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Show all 10 1 / 10 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A group of emperor penguins face a crack in the sea ice, near McMurdo Station, Antarctica Kira Morris 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Floods destroyed eight bridges and ruined crops such as wheat, maize and peas in the Karimabad valley in northern Pakistan, a mountainous region with many glaciers. In many parts of the world, glaciers have been in retreat, creating dangerously large lakes that can cause devastating flooding when the banks break. Climate change can also increase rainfall in some areas, while bringing drought to others. Hira Ali 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Smoke – filled with the carbon that is driving climate change – drifts across a field in Colombia. Sandra Rondon 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Amid a flood in Islampur, Jamalpur, Bangladesh, a woman on a raft searches for somewhere dry to take shelter. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to sea level rise, which is expected to make tens of millions of people homeless by 2050. Probal Rashid 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Sindh province in Pakistan has experienced a grim mix of two consequences of climate change. “Because of climate change either we have floods or not enough water to irrigate our crop and feed our animals,” says the photographer. “Picture clearly indicates that the extreme drought makes wide cracks in clay. Crops are very difficult to grow.” Rizwan Dharejo 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Hanna Petursdottir examines a cave inside the Svinafellsjokull glacier in Iceland, which she said had been growing rapidly. Since 2000, the size of glaciers on Iceland has reduced by 12 per cent. Tom Schifanella 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A river once flowed along the depression in the dry earth of this part of Bangladesh, but it has disappeared amid rising temperatures. Abrar Hossain 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A shepherd moves his herd as he looks for green pasture near the village of Sirohi in Rajasthan, northern India. The region has been badly affected by heatwaves and drought, making local people nervous about further predicted increases in temperature. Riddhima Singh Bhati 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A factory in China is shrouded by a haze of air pollution. The World Health Organisation has warned such pollution, much of which is from the fossil fuels that cause climate change, is a “public health emergency”. Leung Ka Wa 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Water levels in reservoirs, like this one in Gers, France, have been getting perilously low in areas across the world affected by drought, forcing authorities to introduce water restrictions. Mahtuf Ikhsan

Mr Perry's comments come just a few weeks after Donald Trump withdrew the US from the Paris Agreement on climate change, which nearly 200 countries signed in December 2015 in an effort to lower greenhouse emissions and adapt to an already changing planet.

The US President said the accord put American workers at an "economic disadvantage". Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defence Secretary James Mattis had both advised the President to stay in the agreement.

According to former State Department officials, Mr Trump could have remained in the deal and simply shifted US targets for greenhouse gas emissions reductions.

A recent report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows that the world’s economies could boost economic growth by nearly three per cent by 2021 if they institute policies that would lower greenhouse gas emissions. By 2050 that growth could reach up to five per cent.

New investments in renewable energy outpaced new money in the oil and gas sector for the first time in 2015 - to the tune of $350 billion.

Several US cities and major corporations have come out to say that green jobs programmes are what will revitalise economically lagging areas and help businesses thrive.

World leaders were largely critical of the decision and even more so of Mr Trump's idea that the Paris Agreement would need to be renegotiated for the US to be involved, with France, Germany, and Italy all issuing a statement saying that after 20 years of annual negotiations, they are not going to re-open the doors for the US.