The Trump administration has selected former professor Matthew Wielicki, author of the "Irrational Fear" Substack, to head the U.S. Global Change Research Program. 

Wielicki has long disputed the narrative that climate change is producing a crisis, and his views created friction at the University of Alabama where he once taught classes in geology and geochemistry. Feeling that a career in academia would be too restrictive on his intellectual freedom, he left the university and has since called himself a "professor in exile."

"Matt Weilicki is an honest scientist who follows the data wherever it leads. That is what science is all about. He will lead our efforts to honestly present the empirical climate data to guide policy makers," Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement posted on X. 

Established in 1990, the U.S. Global Change Research Program coordinates climate and environmental research across 13 federal departments and agencies.