Climate Research Change

Climate Research Change


The biggest news in the climate change world is the ongoing drop in public support for shoddy “climate change research” and rise in temperature for the climate researchers as their work is placed under the bright lights of the media, global warming critics and on-line bloggers. Based on media reports (see WSJ article below), British researcher Phil Jones is stepping down from his post as director of the Climate Research Unit (CRU) at East Anglia University (UK).

As reported in the Wall Street Journal www.online.wsj.com on December 2, 2009
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On Tuesday, Dr. Jones said the East Anglia institute couldn't continue to do its work with him as its director amid the controversy. "What is most important is that CRU continues its world leading research with as little interruption and diversion as possible," he said in the statement. "After a good deal of consideration," he wrote, he decided to step down from the director's job pending the investigation.

The East Anglia institute that Dr. Jones headed has become a key player in building evidence for the U.N.'s argument that humans are behind global warming. In statements released by the institute in recent days, Dr. Jones has defended the integrity of the institute's scientific work, while saying that he and his colleagues "accept that some of the published emails do not read well."

Longtime critics of the premise that humans are responsible for climate change cheered word of the move by Dr. Jones and the inquiry into Dr. Mann. "I think we're making headway," said Oklahoma's James Inhofe, the senior Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Sen. James Inhofe, a critic of the belief that global warming is man-made.

On Tuesday, Mr. Inhofe sent a letter to the chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Barbara Boxer (D., Calif.) that called for hearings on whether any U.S. laws were broken by the scientists or "any taxpayer-funded research deliberately obscured or manipulated." A spokesman for Ms. Boxer didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
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In the meantime, Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer, in response to Republican Senator James Inhofe’s call for US Senate hearings into Climategate, and what role US researcher may have played in the debate and implications of the hacked/leaked e-mails. How much of the proposed public policy is based on “junk science”? Where does the global warming advocacy ignore the scientific record? Or is global cooling really the issue?

You call it ‘Climategate’; I call it ‘E-mail-theft-gate,’” she said during a US Senate committee meeting. “Whatever it is, the main issue is, Are we facing global warming or are we not? I’m looking at these e-mails that, even though they were stolen, are now out in the public.” Senator Barbara Boxer, D-California

So the climate change research is changing, perhaps warming, perhaps cooling, but certainly getting more global attention as scientific evidence and methods have come into question. Why does this matter? Later in December 2009, the international meeting on climate will be held in Copenhagen. And the US Senate is poised to debate a US energy policy, along with “Cap & Trade” legislation. At best, there are honest differences of opinion on whether we are experiencing global warming or global cooling (one of many factors in this debate)? At worst, we are being duped by mad scientists from the CRU and other “research institutes” whose political agenda has overwhelmed their scientific methods. And politicians in the US, Europe and Asia are debating climate change policy against a backdrop of “junk science” and “on demand science”, that may or may not support the public policy that is being discussed. Maybe it is time to pull the plug on various schemes, step back, take a breath, and refocus on good science and economically sustainable climate polices? But that is much too logical!

© 2009, Jasper Welch, Four Corners Media, www.jasperwelch.org