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| Home Front: Politix |
| Congressman Follows Global Warming Research Money |
| 2005-07-13 |
| Joe Barton is throwing his weight around, opening an inquiry into global warming by scrutinizing the methods and funding of key researchers. Environmentalists and scientists, who have long tarred the Ennis Republican as an apologist for polluters, now call Mr. Barton a bully, as well – one who has blinded himself to the downside of greenhouse gas emissions. His response: "Tough luck." "It's the real world. I have to report every dime that I raise and who I get it from," he said. As chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, he's sent letters demanding financial records and other information from the National Science Foundation and the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, whose reports on global warming have shaped policies and treaties. Three climatologists who authored a seminal 1998 analysis of ancient tree rings, ocean sediment and polar ice have been asked to provide details on funding sources, methods, computer code and data. Their paper in the journal Nature depicted an alarming warming spike and was a turning point in the debate over climate change. But as Mr. Barton points out, some of their data and methods – though not their central conclusions – have been attacked in other peer-reviewed journals. "Let's just get the facts," said Mr. Barton, who doesn't dispute that ambient temperatures have risen worldwide in the last 50 to 100 years. "I think that's proven. But there is a growing body of scientific evidence that a lot of this is just a naturally recurring cycle." Mr. Barton gave his targets two weeks to comply. Monday is the deadline. He said he's considering hearings in the fall. News of his letters has riled scientists and environmentalists. "If you're anywhere on the political spectrum between Vladimir Putin and the Queen of England, you understand that global warming is happening and it's caused by our use of fossil fuels," said Sierra Club global warming analyst Brendan Bell, accusing the chairman of falling for "junk science." Dr. John Holdren, an environmental expert who runs the science, technology and public policy program at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, said Mr. Barton's letters "are clearly intended to frighten and tie up the scientists involved." Even if the Nature paper had some flaws, he added, studies of glaciers and other indicators support the conclusion that the 1990s were the warmest decade in 1,000 years, and the last half-century was the warmest in the last 6,000. "The science is very clear," he said. A central target of the letters, Dr. Michael Mann, a University of Virginia professor, said he is working to comply with Mr. Barton's request for records. He said he's "confident that when members of Congress take a look at the science, they will join with the consensus of the world's scientists that the Earth is indeed warming" and that human activity is largely to blame. Even President Bush has apparently bought into that consensus. In Europe for the G-8 summit last week, he defended the U.S. refusal to sign the Kyoto treaty on greenhouse gases, saying it would harm the U.S. economy. But he made no fuss over the premise that manmade emissions have caused warming. "It is a significant, long-term issue that we've got to deal with," he said. The Barton letters drew a scathing rebuke from Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., a member of the energy committee and the senior Democrat on the House Government Reform panel. He called them "a transparent effort to bully and harass climate-change experts who have reached conclusions with which you disagree," rather than a "serious attempt to understand the science of global warming." Mr. Barton called Mr. Waxman's letter a "cheap political shot." And he blamed the attacks on "radical environmentalists who keep trying to intimidate the Congress or the committee or me." Once again, the vice squad raids the whorehouse, and the ladies protest "restraint of trade". |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #7 That's right, Mrs. D and as a direct result, they wrote some of the best literature. |
| Posted by: badanov 2005-07-13 23:54 |
| #6 The medieval Warm Period. Wasn't that when the best wines were made in Britain? The good old days. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2005-07-13 22:06 |
| #5 Yeah, and the same people were shrilly screeching that we were heading for another Ice Age just 30 years ago. You can't get funding unless there's a catastrophy, so these people manufacture catastrophies. I appreciate George Bush's attitude: "we can't change it, so lets start thinking about how we can adapt to live with it". And according to the latest, ALL the "global warming" that's occurred in the last 100 years hasn't made it as warm as the Mideival Warm Period. Anything to the contrary is a figment of someone's imagination. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2005-07-13 22:01 |
| #4 squeal little piggies. |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-07-13 20:42 |
| #3 Hush fools! 9 out of 10 Doctors who smoke recommend Camels for it's smoothe scientific blend of Turkish and American tobaccos. |
| Posted by: Henry 2005-07-13 19:31 |
| #2 Even if the Nature paper had some flaws, he added, studies of glaciers and other indicators support the conclusion that the 1990s were the warmest decade in 1,000 years, and the last half-century was the warmest in the last 6,000. 1,000 years.... 6,000 years.... Perhaps I'm a bit dense but that sounds like a -er- cycle to me..... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2005-07-13 19:16 |
| #1 Good hunting Mr. Congressman! I would like to know the methods and funding of key researchers too. And then laugh and their feeble science. |
| Posted by: mmurray821 2005-07-13 17:56 |