Posted on 01/29/2007 5:56:49 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - A House panel will hear new allegations of political pressure on government climate scientists at a hearing Tuesday, while two presidential hopefuls will outline their proposals on global warming at a Senate hearing.
The Democratic-controlled Congress was focusing on climate change this week as an international panel of scientists gathers in Paris to release a report that is expected to reinforce concerns over so-called greenhouse gas emissions that scientists say are warming the earth.
Rep. Henry Waxman (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., was scheduled to hear testimony Tuesday from several current and former government climate officials who have complained of political pressure by the Bush administration to play down the seriousness of the climate issue.
Among the witnesses called by Waxman is Rick Piltz, who resigned in 2005 from the government's office that coordinates climate programs, alleging that a political appointee was severely editing government reports on climate to tone them down.
That official, Philip Cooney, later resigned as chief of staff at the White House Council on Environmental Quality to go to work for Exxon Mobil Corp.
The hearing is expected to go beyond the Cooney incident and expand into allegations of broader interference.
The Union of Concerned Scientists, a private advocacy group, and the Government Accountability Project, or GAP, a legal-assistant group that represents whistle-blowers, said Monday they will present "new evidence of suppression and manipulation of climate science."
The groups said their findings cover seven federal agencies and include information about "firsthand experiences" by government climate scientists and workers.
GAP in 2005 made public internal documents related to the Cooney incident and represented Piltz as a whistle-blower.
Waxman has asked for complete copies of 39 documents from the White House Council on Environmental Quality, or CEQ, and the Environmental Protection Agency related to climate programs including scientific research.
Included were a request to CEQ Chairman James Connaugton for papers on any efforts by CEQ "to manage or influence statements made by government scientists or experts to representatives of media regarding climate change."
Allegations of muzzling climate scientists also have been at the center of a controversy involving James Hansen, director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies and one of the country's top experts on climate change. Hansen has accused the Bush administration of trying to prevent him from speaking publicly about global warming.
Meanwhile, Sen. Barbara Boxer (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., is opening her Environment Committee to all senators wishing to discuss their views or legislation on global warming.
Among those to address the meeting Tuesday will be Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz., followed by Sen. Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record), D-Ill., both presidential contenders and sponsors of legislation that would require sharp, mandatory reductions in heat-trapping emissions, especially carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels.
There already have been a range of climate bills introduced in the Senate. Boxer has offered the most aggressive bill, one that is touted as reducing emissions by 80 percent by mid-century.
The Obama-McCain bill, which is co-sponsored by Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., would cut emissions by two-thirds by 2050. Another bill, offered by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (news, bio, voting record), D-N.M., would halt the growth of carbon emissions by 2030 and then is expected to lead to reductions.
All three would require mandatory caps on greenhouse gas releases from power plants, cars and other sources. They also would have various forms of an emissions trading system to reduce the economic cost.
President Bush said in his State of the Union address that climate change needs to be addressed, but he has opposed any mandatory emission caps, arguing that industry through development of new technologies can deal with the issue.
Will they take the red pill, or the blue pill?
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/mars_ice-age_031208.html
http://www.agiweb.org/geotimes/feb02/NN_MarsCC.html
http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=17977
...and there's more out there. Thank you, Sun, for warming the planets...
[Allegations of muzzling climate scientists also have been at the center of a controversy involving James Hansen, director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies and one of the country's top experts on climate change. Hansen has accused the Bush administration of trying to prevent him from speaking publicly about global warming.]
When Hansen is not a "climate scientist" he works as a partisan political activist. Check link below:
http://www.worldclimatereport.com/index.php/2005/04/28/james-hansen-increasingly-insensitive/
"They also would have various forms of an emissions trading system to reduce the economic cost."
Oh, that's what the trading system is for!
/sarc
Looks like Obma quickly sold his soul to the financial companies for some 2008 backing.
Climate bill sets stage for debate (Sens. McCain, Obama, and Lieberman join forces)
Will they take the red pill, or the blue pill?
--
What?
No GReen pill 8-?
They are a special breed,
they need special handling,
they're a might bit sensitive ,,
due to GlobalWarming..most likely. ;-)
I'll bet not a single scientist that doesn't believe in global warming will testify.
What are these idiots going to say about the environment when Iran sets off some Nukes? BUSH'S FAULT
Would help if they would all just “shut up”, world temperatures would drop dramatically.
They are all drinking the Kool-Aid so color really won't matter.
Wonderful, I'll be sure to cut extra wood this summer because if Congress is going to mitigate global warming then global cooling can't be far off.
Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970)
Someone ping me when the rats finishes their weather machine.
It will come as no surprise to the mendacious Hansen that as a federal employee he is not a free agent to gad about the country saying whatever he pleases. When he speaks he represents the government whether he likes it or not.
He knows this but pretends to be a victim of eeeevil government censorship. His report also distorts the facts.
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