U.S. Scientist Off Climate Panel

Associated Press ^ | Friday, April 19, 2002 | JONATHAN FOWLER

[Dog Gone]

GENEVA (AP) -- A U.S. scientist was voted off an international climate panel Friday after what campaigners claimed was pressure from the oil industry and Washington, a claim rejected by the United States.

Atmospheric scientist Robert Watson was seeking re-election as head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. He has been vocal in warning governments about the danger of fossil fuel emissions contributing to global warming.

Watson was defeated by Indian challenger Rajendra Pachauri, who was backed by the United States and 75 other nations. Watson received 49 votes in the ballot, said World Meteorological Organization spokeswoman Mo Lagarde.

Seven nations voted for Jose Goldemberg, a Brazilian who entered the race this week.

The panel, set up in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization and the U.N. Environment Program, assesses and publicizes information on man-made climate change.

Environmental groups have accused the Bush administration of caving in to a request from Exxon Mobil that it try to remove Watson.

``The fossil fuel industry and the U.S. government will be celebrating their success in kicking out Bob Watson, an experienced scientist who understood that urgent action is needed to tackle global climate change,'' said Kate Hampton, international climate coordinator for British-based Friends of the Earth.

``The Bush administration and its friends would rather shoot the messenger than listen to the message,'' Hampton said in a statement.

The Swiss-based Worldwide Fund for Nature said it was worried by the ``apparent politicization'' of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

``WWF is concerned that oil and gas interests had too much to say in the removal of Dr. Watson as chairman of what should be an impartial, scientific body,'' said Jennifer Morgan, director of WWF's climate program.

Harlan Watson, who headed the U.S. delegation in Geneva, told The Associated Press he ``wouldn't give any weight to some kind of a campaign.''

``The United States was just one of 76 countries that voted for Pachauri,'' he said. ``We weren't against Dr. Watson. We were for Dr. Pachauri, who is an eminently qualified individual'' having previously served as vice chairman of the climate panel.

``For the first time, the developing countries brought forward a very strong candidate and we felt it was time for them to be given a chance,'' he said.

Two weeks ago, the Natural Resources Defense Council, a Washington, D.C.-based environmental group, said the White House's Council on Environmental Quality received a memo from Exxon Mobil in February 2001 that asked, ``Can Watson be replaced now, at the request of the U.S.?''

The memo, which the group said it obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, also recommended the administration ``restructure the U.S. attendance at upcoming IPCC meetings to assure none of the Clinton/Gore proponents are involved in any decisional activities.''

Watson has been an outspoken proponent of the idea that fossil fuel emissions contribute to rising global temperatures. He has led the panel since 1996 and is also the chief scientist of the World Bank.

Pachauri is an engineer and an economist and is the director of the Tata Energy Research Institute in New Delhi, India.

[balrog666]

Watson has been an outspoken proponent of the idea that fossil fuel emissions contribute to rising global temperatures.

Then he's an ass. Glad he got dumped - maybe a real scientist will get the seat.



He has led the panel since 1996 and is also the chief scientist of the World Bank.

And the horse he rode in on, the World Bank.

[Free the USA]

Check the Bump List folders for articles related to and descriptions of the above topic(s) or for other topics of interest.

[dhuffman@awod.com]

Yep, that's science for ya'. Majority rules! Tyranny of the majority.

Democracy, even in science, is the rule of fools by fools!

The conspiracy of ignorance masquerades as common sense.

[Dog Gone]

From the BBC

Global warming row heats up

Smoke billows into the Bangladesh skyline

Richard Black BBC Science correspondent

The UN-sponsored scientific body charged with gathering evidence on global warming has started its annual meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.

The meeting will be dominated by the election for chair, with the United States aiming to oust the incumbent, Robert Watson.

Environmental campaigners say the US position is due to lobbying from the oil company ExxonMobil.

Usually, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) meetings are sedate affairs, as sober-suited scientists debate the techniques and methodologies of assessing global climate change.

But this year, it will be somewhat different. For the first time in the IPCC's history, the position of chair is being contested.

Big funding

Robert Watson, an American himself, has made no secret of his belief that President Bush's withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol last year was wrong.

Bob Watson says he is confident of winning

He believes the science of global warming is so well established that the US must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

Earlier this month, the US State Department declared its support for a rival candidate for IPCC Chair, the Indian scientist Rajendra Pachauri, currently director of the Tata Energy Research Institute.

It announced its position shortly after the publication of a memo which went through the oil company ExxonMobil to one of President Bush's environmental advisors.

The memo asked whether it was possible to replace Dr Watson with a scientist who had a less "aggressive agenda".

The US Government maintains there is no link between the memo and its support for Dr Pachauri.

Robert Watson says he is confident of winning - but the US is one of the IPCC's biggest financial donors, and environmental groups fear that if Dr Watson does prevail, the Bush administration could withdraw its financial support for a body whose conclusions it disputes.

[Logophile]

The Swiss-based Worldwide Fund for Nature said it was worried by the ``apparent politicization'' of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

And they are just getting worried now?

My guess is that politicization per se is not what worries them -- it's the "wrong" kind of politicization they don't like.

[balrog666]

He believes the science of global warming is so well established that the US must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

And only for the US! If India and China dump 50 times the pollutants and that won't matter? The conclusions in the IPCC report that show full implementation of the treaty will change the net increase by 0.06 degrees C don't matter?

This scumbag, this liar, this sh!t-for-brains (former associate director for environment in Bill Clinton's executive office) is a rabid, anti-american activist masquerading as an environmental scientist.

[Dog Gone]

This is the kind of victory that never would have occurred if Al Gore were in the White House.

Those that say there is no difference between the two major parties have ^%$# for brains.

[what's up]

Haha! This is the beginning of the end of the global warming myth.

[balrog666]

Those that say there is no difference between the two major parties have ^%$# for brains.

Yep. Slowly, piece by piece, Bush is winning a few battles to build back the integrity of the executive office. Maybe someday he'll take on the Senate in a meaningful way.

[Toddsterpatriot]

Democracy, even in science, is the rule of fools by fools!

You prefer scientific totalitarianism?

[Number_Cruncher]

Robert Watson says he is confident of winning

This guy Watson has a real talent for predictions. The first prediction of his that has now been tested is completely wrong.

[Dog Gone]

LOL. Good point.

He just doesn't seem like a Bush kind of guy...

[patton]

You have got to hear this.

Mash here.