EDITOR’S NOTE: The writer is addressing the question, “Are congressional progressives misusing their office to scapegoat climate-change deniers?”
Who’s the best person to lead a witch-hunt? A witch, of course.
Keep that in mind when you hear progressive members of Congress claiming they are investigating whether research grants have influenced the views of several well-respected environmental scientists. Because in the public’s mind the people most likely to sell their opinions to the highest bidder aren’t scientists but politicians.
Progressive critics are trying to smear the character and reputations of some environmental scientists because they disagree with other environmental scientists—and activists.
While there are some differences, in general the witch-hunted scientists question whether the Earth is warming, or whether it will warm as much or as fast as some predict, and how much of a role humans and fossil fuels play in that change.
Ironically, the ones being targeted happen to be on the correct side of the data—at least for the time being.
Global temperatures have remained relatively flat for the past 17 years, prompting The New York Times to ask two years ago, “What to make of a warming plateau?”
Climate-change debates can be very sophisticated, using complex scientific data that go way over the heads of most Americans—including the congressional smear-mongers who, incidentally, are not themselves environmental scientists.
For example, a leading critic is Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., who has an undergraduate degree in sociology.
Many of the environmental scientists on the pro-warming side also get research grants.
The Obama administration hands out more than $2 billion each year to scientists engaged in climate research. And you can bet that the ones most likely to receive those grants are those who agree with Obama on climate change. Do the critics believe those scientists are letting the money determine their views?
And let’s not forget that members of Congress also take donations—lots of them from major environmental groups. Should we ask if these witch-hunters are bought and paid for by their biggest campaign donors?
Here’s another question: Why don’t the media investigate who’s behind the money that funds many of the environmental groups and liberal politicians?
Last summer, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and former prime minister of Denmark, alleged that Russia was secretly funding the anti-fracking movement.
“I have met with allies who can report that Russia, as part of their sophisticated information and disinformation operations, engaged actively with so-called nongovernment organizations—environmental organizations working against shale gas—to maintain European dependence on imported Russian gas,” Rasmussen asserted.
Oil and gas revenue accounts for more than half of the Russian government’s budget. Might Russia be secretly funneling money to pro-environmental organizations and politicians in an effort to slow down U.S. energy production so Russia can sell more of its energy at a higher price?
The fact is that congressional smear-mongering is really a form of political bullying.
Members of Congress can target an individual, company or industry to create false impressions and cast doubts with little or no evidence—and get a lot of media attention doing it.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid recently conceded he lied when he accused Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney of not paying his taxes. Reid is also engaged in smearing the Koch brothers, who give money to conservative groups.
The fact is that virtually all nonprofit research organizations (mine included) and many scientists receive donations and grants—often from multiple sources, including nonprofit foundations—to support their research, not to influence their conclusions.
The public should be outraged, but not at well-respected scholars and organizations engaged in open and public debate about climate change.
It should be outraged at elected officials who try to boost their own careers—and donations—by attacking others who know much more about a topic than the smear-mongers ever will.
The above piece has appeared in the following publications:
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