Reliability of Climate Models Misrepresented by EPA Administrator

In February 2020, during an interview with the Brazilian news outlet Folha de S.Paulo, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler erroneously claimed that a climate scenario commonly used in scientific assessments is unreliable. Administrator Wheeler's comments focused on the so-called "Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5" (RPC8.5), which is used in assessments by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and others to model the likely impact of high greenhouse gas emissions. Wheeler stated that RCP8.5 "is not reliable" and amounts to "fear propaganda."