DOE’s climate report is misleading, inaccurate, and ignores overwhelming evidence on impact of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change
WASHINGTON – Clean Air Task Force (CATF) submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in response to its draft report purporting to critique the science on greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.
“DOE’s draft report suffers from inaccuracies, manipulations of climate science, and glaring omissions,” said Kathy Fallon, Director, Land & Climate at CATF. “The draft report’s tired arguments about carbon dioxide fertilization and greening have been repeatedly addressed in the scientific literature, and the authors’ conclusions have no place in a government-endorsed report. In fact, the authors themselves even admitted to cherry-picking research to support the report’s outlandish claims.”
On July 29, 2025, DOE released a draft report, “A Critical Review of Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the U.S. Climate,” following a flawed process and a narrowly focused agenda. Ignoring the weight of scientific evidence, the draft report erroneously states and implies that carbon pollution is a net benefit to society. CATF submitted comments focused on some of the most egregious and inaccurate claims in the draft report which relate to carbon dioxide fertilization, agriculture, and fire regimes.
Fallon continued:
“The draft report’s fixation on greening fails to acknowledge the full impacts of climate change driven by carbon dioxide emissions. The science is clear: climate-driven changes in heat, water, fire, pollution, insects, and disease stress have an overwhelmingly negative impact on people and the planet.
“The misrepresentation of carbon dioxide fertilization stands out as a central example of bias in the DOE draft report. It’s time to retire the tired ‘global greening’ argument that has been used to justify continued carbon pollution. The scientific literature has repeatedly addressed this issue and shows that ‘global greening’ also promotes nuisance plants that are bad for human health and agriculture, decreases the nutritional content of major crops, and releases even more greenhouse gas emissions from sensitive regions like the Arctic.”
CATF’s full comments, which address inaccuracies related to terrestrial ecosystems and agriculture in the report by section, can be found here.
Press Contact
Samantha Sadowski, Senior Communications Manager, U.S., ssadowski@catf.us, +1 202-440-1717
About Clean Air Task Force
Clean Air Task Force (CATF) is a global nonprofit organization working to safeguard against the worst impacts of climate change by catalyzing the rapid development and deployment of low-carbon energy and other climate-protecting technologies. With more than 25 years of internationally recognized expertise on climate policy and a fierce commitment to exploring all potential solutions, CATF is a pragmatic, non-ideological advocacy group with the bold ideas needed to address climate change. CATF has offices in Boston, Washington D.C., and Brussels, with staff working virtually around the world. Visit catf.us and follow @cleanaircatf.
