From Politico
Leading House climate skeptic Jim Sensenbrenner appears to have landed a perch to lead investigations into global warming science.
The Wisconsin Republican is set to become the vice chairman of the House Science Committee under incoming Chairman Ralph Hall (R-Texas), Hall told POLITICO Thursday.
“With his background, his insistence, he can do the mean things that we don’t want to do,” Hall said. “I’m a peaceful guy; he likes combat.”
Sensenbrenner, who has served as the top Republican on the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming since 2007, tried to keep the panel alive to investigate the Obama administration’s global warming policies, but was shot down by GOP leadership.
Sensenbrenner agreed to take the No. 2 spot on the Science Committee in exchange for Hall’s backing in two years when his term limit runs out, according to a Republican select committee spokesman.
As one of the Republicans leading the charge against the science underpinning the Obama administration’s climate policies, Sensenbrenner is expected to take a lead role on investigations.
“I’ve had a reputation of really being a tiger on oversight,” he said in September.
Elsewhere on the Science Committee, Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) will become chairman of the Investigations and Oversight subpanel next year.
Wow! There IS a Santa… 🙂
Note to self: Stock up on popcorn…
“Jim Sensenbrenner appears to have landed a perch to lead investigations into global warming science.”
As a now past 30 year resident of Wisconsin and one who still follows WI politics avidly, I deem this to be a very good start! James Sensenbrenner is a pragmatic man who has a low thresh hold for BS and little tolerance for those who spread it. Time will tell how effective he may be in this new task but his appointment looks to be another data point indicating the political tide has turned on the Man Made Global Warming cabal.
Good On Ya, Jim! Go get ’em!
Bruce says:
December 17, 2010 at 10:55 am (Edit)
Mosher, Palin said: “The e-mails reveal that leading climate “experts” deliberately destroyed records, manipulated data to “hide the decline” in global temperatures, and tried to silence their critics by preventing them from publishing in peer-reviewed journals.”
By putting “hide the decline” in quotes, she was pointing out the gross maniputlation of data and it wasa shortcut to the real problem, splicing decline proxy temperatures.
You aren’t dumb enought to try and cover up for the Team and you can’t possible deny they were hiding the decline of the proxy temperatures?
Mosher, you can’t help but side with the lefties when you get a chance. It ruins what little credibility you had left.
#######
By putting “hide the decline” in quotes, she was pointing out the gross maniputlation of data and it wasa shortcut to the real problem, splicing decline proxy temperatures.”
I seriously doubt your interpretation. Early on in the controversy one of the things that bothered me was the way skeptics were FUMBLING a case that was clear cut by speaking imprecisely and by focusing on the wrong issues. I told Revkin to follow the FOIA. The FOIA is the only part of the mails where one can establish a provable case of wrong doing. The only part of the case where the whitewashes agreed there was wrong doing was in the FOIA. By accusing them of hiding a decline in temperatures, EVEN IF you meant to say hiding the divergence problem, you screwed the pooch.
very simply there are two threads in the mails.
1. the denial of the Holland FOIA. This denial was tied to Briffa’s hiding the divergence problem.
2. The denial of the Mcintyre FOIA for temperature data. This denial is tied to the UHI problem.
very simply, the climate scientists failed to live up to their institutional duties and tried to thwart independent investigations into two uncertain areas of climate science.
That is the problem.
had that remained the focus a reasonable solution would be to call for the open science that was denied us. No need to pillory people and make them martyrs. No need to hand them talking points by talking out of your ass about a bunch of mails you never read and science papers you never read and blogs you never read or participated in.
A focus on the real issue could lead to a step forward. But if you accuse them of murder when their crime is tax evasion, dont be surpised when they get off scott free.
psst, I’m a libertarian, I don’t side with any kooks right or left.
Bruce says: “Mosher, you can’t help but side with the lefties when you get a chance. It ruins what little credibility you had left.”
As do ad hominem attacks like yours.
I am all for criminal investigations and criminal charges against all of the climate gate fraudsters and Hansen and the rest of the AGW fraudsters. Billions of dollars have supported fraudulent research and fraudulent data manipulation. It is time to put the screws to the climate fraud conspiracy participants.
I am all for putting people who intentionally commit fraud in prison and especially groups of people who conspire to commit fraud. It is where they belong.
Mosher: “I told Revkin to …”
Well, there’s the problem right there. The NY Timespublishes everything they can that puts US soldiers lives in jeopardy, but they never published the ClimateGate emails.
Mosher: “EVEN IF you meant to say hiding the divergence problem, you screwed the pooch”.
Wrong. The core of the AGW cult is the Hockey Stick. The Hockey Stick uses proxies that do not work post-1960. The idea that the proxies worked before 1960 is a big lie. Sure, MAYBE they worked for a few years, but in reality they were wrong most of the time.
Therefore the proxies are a big lie. Maybe not as big a lie that UHI is .05C. But a big lie. Attacking Palin instead of the liars puts you irretrievably on the wrong side of the debate. Attacking Palin is like a secret Masonic handshake. It lets the hard core lefties know you are one of them. You aren’t a libertarian. You just pretend to be one.
Anthony may like to consider buying Sensenbrenner a new gavel with WUWT inscribed on it’s side for Christmas.
Mosher: “No need to pillory people …”
Yeah. You reserve that tactic for your friends like Mann and Hansen and Gore and Revkin et al.
No thanks. They should reap wheat the have sown.
I agree with Mosh, softly softly is the go. Set up a hearing to fix the process, when people are testifying under oath, inevitably, juicy info is spilt.
Then you go after the One Tree Wonders, Bristlecone Blenders, Data Distorters and Data Destroyers.
Baa Humbug says:
December 17, 2010 at 12:27 pm
Anthony may like to consider buying Sensenbrenner a new gavel with WUWT inscribed on it’s side for Christmas.
========================================================
Could you imagine the wailing and gnashing of teeth that would occur in the media and alarmist blogs?……………………………………………………………………….Anthony, I’ll pay you $50 to do it!
Steve is right, the mere receipt of a subpoena should
garner a reaction similar to that of a myotonic goat.
blockquote>John A says:
December 17, 2010 at 10:11 am
The last thing that good science needs is a Congressional witch-hunt. Rather than call people up to Congress to speak, Congress needs to properly establish facts and ensure that Federal standards are being adhered to.
I can’t remember the last time anything came out of a Congressional hearing, except grandstanding and staged publicity events. Anything that doesn’t meet the current narrative is ignored by the media.
Steven Mosher says:
December 17, 2010 at 11:41 am
very simply there are two threads in the mails.
===============================================
Mosh, I have to agree with Bruce on this one.
I see three, the two you mention correctly, and “hide the decline”
Their basis it the hockey stick, without it, there’s nothing.
Hide the decline puts the hockey stick right back in the lap it belongs in………..
This is NOT good news for the Hockey Team…
“their basis is”
Rank and File Republicans, in general, are not confused. They realize that “Climate Issues” and “Environmental Issues” are intertwined tools of the lefty socialist, used to destroy freedom and impose tyranny. On the other hand, much of the Republicans windbag leadership, which is largely made up of right wing socialists, seems all to happy to supply the surface for those tools to work against.
Democrats confused both economics and science with Marxist ideology.
“Kou mon no tora, zen mon no ookami”
~= Stopping the tiger at the front gate while the wolf sneaks in the back.
Bruce,
I think Mosher is reasonably even handed in one sense. That does not mean he has the same threshold to issues as you do, but he has generally shown good balance on the whole. There is a difference between bad behavior and illegal behavior, and he seems to be responding only to the later. It is clear that efforts to block formal publication of dissenting views, and indicating glee when an opponent died, and saying many other bad things is indicative of bad behavior, but it is not presently illegal. Also publishing poor science papers is not that uncommon in many areas of science.
For those worried that congressional hearing would somehow harm the state of science, I refer you back to Mosh’s contribution the other day re. the AGU conference, “You have to put your scientific commitment to the discipline of doubt aside and “blow past” your boundaries. Say what you feel, not what you can prove.”
At this point, I’m pretty sure there’s nothing congress can do to science that which the scientific community hasn’t already done or willingly allowed to be done.
The climate debate is of great public importance — perhaps the most significant public policy issue of our time, given the assertion that the only public policy choices we have will significantly impact (1) our economy and/or (2) our planet. Climategate was a major scandal. The emails suggest that scientists were manipulating public opinion and were giving policy makers a distorted view of the science. By any measure, there is sufficient evidence in the Climategate emails to warrant a congressional investigation to determine whether misconduct has occurred. The prior congress chose not to pursue an investigation — their lack of oversight into this matter borders on negligence. The new congress has an obligation to investigate.
In the past, Mann would argue that any scrutiny of his work was a political attack by right-wing nuts. The press was all too willing to accept this narrative. But post-Climategate this tactic will no longer work. Sensenbrenner need only read back some of Mann’s emails to anyone in the press who argues that this is a witch hunt.
More recently, there has been evidence that these very same scientists have been engaged in congressional witness tampering by attempting to intimidate Dr. Wegman into withdrawing his testimony. If this turns out to be true, it would be a felony and, as such, also needs to be investigated.
I am afraid I am as skeptical of Jim Senenbrenner and his parties’ abilities to evaluate science, as I am of the others in Washington. For these believers it is the dogma that counts and little more. The most important dogma of course it lining your own pockets first.
“Elsewhere on the Science Committee, Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) will become chairman of the Investigations and Oversight subpanel next year.”
Seems like he has a good read on climate change, calling it “one of the greatest hoaxes perpetrated out of the scientific community. It is a hoax. There is no scientific consensus.”
And this was during floor debate. http://thinkprogress.org/2009/06/26/broun-globalwarming-hoax/
Sometimes Christmas does come early.
This sounds like good news. I trust Sensenbrenner will have enough political savvy to know which strings to pull, how hard, and with what attitude, so as to make best use of the MSM. He has Inhofe’s beautiful quotes from some of the 1000 names (including top scientists) Inhofe collected.
He has a golden opportunity to collaborate with Christopher Monckton. Re Monckton, his points are all extremely relevant, and all his science that I’ve seen has been sound, too: his popular reputation is evidence of the tarring by alarmists of those who threaten them most – and Sensenbrenner could turn this right round and use it as damning evidence.
Don’t get me started on this. Look what was done to Will Soon and Sallie Baliunas. And Tim Ball. And Jaworowski. And Moerner. And lots more. This is a human rights issue as well as a c**p science issue. It defies the US constitution, and heck, I’m speaking as a Brit.
May the Force be with him, indeed.
Congratulations to Jim Sensenbrenner. I hope that his attitude will be both tough – as expected – as well as scientifically enlightened – as doubted by many 😉 – in order to bring both balance and rationality into this debate, at least in the U.S. politics.