The man behind a White House proposal to re-evaluate the national security risks of climate change is a physicist who once compared the maligning of carbon dioxide with the “demonisation of the Jews under Hitler.”

William Happer is a National Security Council technology adviser spearheading an initiative to create a presidential committee on climate. He has long-drawn scrutiny for insisting that rising carbon dioxide emissions are a boon for the planet, not a danger.

Scientists see his proposal as part of a disturbing trend in which the Trump administration elevates ideological opponents of established scientific views.

“He’s not someone on the street who’s unaware or ignorant; he’s a scientist,” said Peter Gleick, a climate scientist and member of the US National Academy of Sciences. “In theory he has the mental skills to analyse and understand this problem, but he has clearly abandoned them in favour of an ideological position that’s not based on facts.”

A Princeton University-trained physicist, Happer directed energy research efforts under former President George HW Bush and has been a member of a scientific panel that advises the US military.

A reason to rejoice

Administration officials were set to meet on Friday to discuss Happer’s proposal to establish a presidential committee to assess the consensus of both scientists and the Pentagon that climate change poses a national security threat, according to a person familiar with the plan.

A bio at a climate group he helped found describes him as a specialist in modern optics, optical and radio frequency spectroscopy of atoms and molecules, radiation propagation in the atmosphere, and spin-polarised atoms and nuclei.

Conservatives sceptical of climate change say Happer’s rise is a reason to rejoice — and an indication the Trump administration is getting serious about challenging the scientific consensus that the phenomenon is driven by greenhouse gas emissions tied to burning fossil fuels for energy.

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