The Washington Post reports that Donald Trump has withdrawn its rather controversial nominee to head the Council on Environmental Quality after even Senate Republicans began questioning her expertise regarding environmental matters.  This was seen as good news by most concerned scientists.

Andrew Rosenberg, director of the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, called her a “remarkably poor choice” for such a consequential environmental post.“A while ago, I wrote that many Trump appointees to science-based positions could be considered to either have deep conflicts of interest, to be fundamentally opposed to the mission of the agency they were to lead or totally unqualified. Hartnett-White was all three — a trifecta,” he said.

The bad news is that Kathleen Hartnett White will be staying in Texas.  KHW has proved to be a useful tool of science deniers and enamored with carbon in all its forms.  With respect to concerns about increasing atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide, Hartnett has suggested that:

“Carbon dioxide has none of the characteristics of a pollutant that could harm human health. Our flesh, blood and bones are built of carbon. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the gas of life on this planet, an essential nutrient for plant growth on which human life depends.”

That’s a special kind of stupid.  She should volunteer to sit in an enclosed chamber with about a 95% concentration of CO2 to demonstrate the beneficial effects on her flesh, blood and bones.  Where does he find these people?