White House climate change adviser: ‘War on coal is exactly what’s needed’

The White House’s own climate change adviser said in a New York Times interview that the administration should launch an outright war on coal.

His statements come as President Obama is due to address major climate change policy at Georgetown University on Tuesday. Daniel Schrag, the climate adviser for the administration and the director of the Harvard University Center for the Environment, made clear his views of the matter – that the White House should not shy from brutal policy reform.

“Everybody is waiting for action,” Schrag said, the Weekly Standard reported. “The one thing the president really needs to do now is to begin the process of shutting down the conventional coal plants. Politically, the White House is hesitant to say they’re having a war on coal. On the other hand, a war on coal is exactly what’s needed.”

Schrag is a member of the presidential panel on science that offered guidance on climate change, the Weekly Standard reported.