A former adviser for the Environmental Protection Agency said that President Trump and his administration have been worse on respecting climate science than officials working for President George W. Bush, who would at least seek background before making decisions.

Michael Cox said of the six presidential administrations he has worked with, no EPA leader has ever held such disregard for advice on policy issues. Previous administrations, he said, routinely asked for background information on policies before making decisions.

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"Once it got to decision time, Pruitt and his closest staff would just do what they wanted to do, and that was that. And the EPA is a science organization! We're supposed to value facts! Even during the Bush administration it wasn’t like this," Cox said in an interview with the Huffington Post.

A current EPA spokesman slammed Cox after his comments.

“In his own words, Mr. Cox said was planning his retirement before the new administration. Despite the faux outrage, Mr. Cox will receive his six-figure taxpayer funded pension and we wish him the best,” EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox said in response.

Cox was interviewed along with three former administration officials who quit in the months after Trump's election.

The veteran agency official accused EPA administrator Scott Pruitt Edward (Scott) Scott PruittJuan Williams: Swamp creature at the White House Science protections must be enforceable Conspicuous by their absence from the Republican Convention MORE, who opposed many EPA positions on climate issues as Oklahoma attorney general, in his resignation letter of denying "fundamental climate science" and "giving false hope" to the coal miners that the administration had said would find new job opportunities.

The EPA this week canceled a presentation on climate change by a panel of scientists at a Rhode Island conference focusing on how climate change affects marine life, drawing rebukes for being in denial of the science supporting climate change.