Washington, June 9 (RHC)-- In the U.S., a federal judge has ruled that Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt must produce evidence to back his claims that humans are not the primary cause of climate change.  The lawsuit stems from a Freedom of Information Act request filed by a watchdog group which sought to have the EPA cite any studies that might be used to corroborate Pruitt’s claims, which defy nearly all available climate science.  
 
The FOIA request came after Pruitt made this remark on CNBC in March of last year, not long after his confirmation as EPA administrator.  He said: “No, I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do, and there’s tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact.  So, no, I would not agree that it’s a primary contributor to the global warming that we see.”
 
Meanwhile, two top EPA officials have resigned over a mounting series of scandals involving Scott Pruitt, who faces more than a dozen ethics investigations.  EPA scheduler Millan Hupp will step down amid reports she helped Pruitt go apartment hunting and helped him shop for a used mattress from the Trump International Hotel.  Also resigning is Pruitt’s senior counsel Sarah Greenwalt, who traveled internationally and across the U.S. with Pruitt as he met with industry officials and foreign diplomats.  
 
This week, Elaina Plott, a journalist with The Atlantic, reported she was castigated by EPA spokesperson Jahan Wilcox when she asked for comment on the resignations.  Wilcox reportedly told Plott: “You’re a piece of trash.”  This all came as President Trump praised the EPA’s embattled leader during a Cabinet meeting at FEMA’s headquarters in Washington, saying Pruitt was doing a “fantastic job.”