Return of the Inquisition
More kudos to RealClimate. In case you missed it, their response to this recent editorial in the Wall Street Journal, once again, makes it clear that the arguments raised by climate contrarians have nothing to do with real science, and everything to do with politics masquerading as science so as to create confusion in public discourse, and do some grandstanding along the way. In other words, fraud and abuse. No matter that every single one of the unsupportable claims made in the editorial have been responded to before by real scientists. Even if the WSJ disagrees with its own journalists – who had previously discredited one of the studies they cite, and virtually all credible and relevant scientific authority - i.e., the National Academies of Sciences of 11 countries, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and all key scientific associations except for that of petroleum geologists, one would expect some acknowledgement of differences and an explanation. Sadly no. It doesn’t end there of course.
Armed with the authority of The Wall Street Journal, Joe Barton, Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, has sent letters, more of inquisition than of inquiry, to those scientists responsible for the hockey stick diagram, as if that were the only source of scientific evidence for human induced climate change, as well as to the Director of the National Science Foundation and the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. For more on this, see commentary by Chris Mooney who provides links to more commentary. This is more Funk from the Swamp emanating from the Hill that arises from the Foggy Bottom, and is not worthy of a serious response. But one faced with such a dilemma, one might also consider responding theatrically, in a very public forum, provided that it is also broadcast on C-Span, and that those making this baseless inquiry respond to previous responses with scientifically supportable arguments. In other words, playing by the rules of science. This might clarify for once and for all who doesn’t have any clothes on, and stop polluting public discourse, which only diverts attention from real problems, such as how to respond to the consequences of real changes in climate that we know are already happening, and to a government that is not capable of doing so.
Addendum: CBS News has now chimed in, referring to Chris Mooney’s post as “a diatribe against a Republican House Committee Chairman over global warming“. Sheesh! Is it any mystery why Jon Stewart has become a leading source of news?
