Dear Mr. Pruitt,

First let me introduce myself.  My name is Dr. E.A. Thackaberry, and I am your boss.  Actually, I’m your boss’ boss, since the President of the United States technically works for me and the other American citizens. I am writing this letter to you because it seems you have failed to grasp some basic scientific concepts which are critical for your new job as head of the Environmental Protection Agency. As your boss, I want to help you, because I want you to succeed in your new role.

I’d like to start out by stressing that I know more about global warming and the effects of environmental pollution than you.  I don’t say this to brag, but simply state it as a fact. I am certain you know more than me about a great deal of things, including the law and how to manage a minor league baseball team. I will not dispute this, as long as you stipulate that my B.S. in biochemistry, Ph.D. in environmental toxicology, and my work as a board-certified toxicologist provides me license to educate you on some key issues today. I am sure you will agree that one of the most important traits of successful leaders is the ability to listen to and rely on the opinions of other experts in matters outside of your experience. I’m sure you did this in your law practice.

The EPA was founded in 1970, when you were just 2 years old. The purpose of the EPA was to protect the environment – hence the word “protection” right in the name. You might not remember the days before the EPA, but there were some serious environmental issues caused by pollution back then, including the near-extinction of the bald eagle and other birds due to to a lack of  pesticide regulations, and a river that actually caught on fire. As a scientist, I can assure you that water does not burn – instead it was the large quantities of oil and other flammable hydrocarbons that had built up on the surface of the river over years of unregulated pollution.

Recently, you stated in public that carbon dioxide emissions were not a primary cause of global warming. This is wrong. It’s important for your success in your current role to understand these things, because you have over 7,000 scientists and engineers that work for you, and saying things like this makes you look, well… uninformed is a polite way of saying it. So here are some facts you will find useful.

We know that carbon dioxide is released when we burn fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gasoline. We’ve been burning so much of these fossil fuels over the past couple of centuries that the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased by 40%,  the oceans have helped us out by absorbing some of this carbon dioxide (that’s good!), but it acidified the ocean in the process (that’s bad). The rate of increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide is unprecedented in the last 22,000 years, and the absolute levels are the highest since long before human beings have existed on this earth.

We also know that carbon dioxide is the single largest positive driver of radiative forcing (RF) in the atmosphere. RF is a term you’ll need to know in your new job. It quantifies the energy flux into the atmosphere, and this is what causes climate change. When RF is positive, that means the climate is getting warmer. So to recap, carbon dioxide comes from us (burning fossil fuels), gets into the atmosphere, and then causes the global temperatures to rise, which some people refer to as global warming.

It’s important too to remember that we are talking about the climate here, which refers to global temperatures, not weather, which refers to local temperatures. This is why it may still be cold some days in your home town of Danville, KY despite global warming. Don’t worry – a lot of people get these two things confused.

Finally, before I go, I’d like to point out that over 3 million people a year die prematurely from exposure to air pollution. This data comes from the World Health Organization, which, like your EPA, is very much concerned about preventing these deaths. I gave you the global numbers because air pollution – including massive quantities of our friend carbon dioxide – generally doesn’t care about international borders. All the countries of this earth are pretty much in this together, and if one of the more important countries decides to value money over human life, others may too. This could lead to a lot more deaths in the future, something I’m sure you would like to avoid.

You are now the head of the Environmental Protection agency. As your boss, I ask you to protect the environment and take the time to learn the science that the dedicated people in your organization have produced. You can say crazy things like “carbon dioxide doesn’t contribute to global warming”, but that doesn’t make them true.  It just makes people think you are stupid. I know you’re not stupid, but you do seem to be very much misinformed and ill-prepared to do you job.  You’re not a politician anymore, you’re a environmental protector. It’s time to grow up, use your brain, and take your job seriously enough to learn about about science.

Your legacy is at stake here – you can go down as the head of the EPA who clearly didn’t understand science, said crazy things, valued money over human lives, and temporarily rolled back important environmental protection policies, or as a man who was willing to learn the science and did what was right to protect future generations. If you won’t do it for your legacy, do it for your two children, McKenna and Cade, and their future kids. I’m sure they would like to grow up in a country where Florida is still above water, there are glaciers in Glacier National Park, eagles still exist, and rivers don’t burn.