Happer, on the far right, met with Vice President Pence about the Space Force Image by Getty Images

William Happer, an official on the National Security Council, will likely head up a proposed committee to explore whether or not climate change is a national security threat, The Washington Post reports.

Happer is an atomic physicist who founded the CO2 Coalition, a group he calls, “The CO2 anti-defamation league,” explaining, “There is the CO2 molecule, and it has undergone decade after decade of abuse, for no reason.” His group seeks to combat restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions.

That 2016 comment isn’t the first time Happer has likened the plight of the molecule to the plight of the Jewish people, CNN notes. In 2014, speaking to CNBC, Happer said, “The demonization of carbon dioxide is just like the demonization of the poor Jews under Hitler. Carbon dioxide is actually a benefit to the world, and so were the Jews.”

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According to the Post, the Presidential Committee on Climate Security, which Happer is set to lead, may be established through an executive order.

It’s odd for a public official to compare human mass murder to the feelings of a single carbon atom covalently bonded to two oxygen atoms. The Holocaust has more in common with climate change than with CO2 — both have been labeled hoaxes, and both become more deadly the longer they’re ignored.

Jenny Singer is the deputy life/features editor for the Forward. You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny

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