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Roger Pielke, Jr. quoted in the news on climate scientists being investigated by Congress:
Climate Scientist Being Investigated by Congress For Not Believing in Global Warming Enough
by Rick Moran
American Thinker
February 26, 2015
Roger Pielke, a professor of environmental studies at the University of Colorado, and six others are under investigation by Congress regarding testimony they’ve given on the subject of climate change.
Pielke, a believer in man-caused global warming, can’t quite figure out why he’s the object of a witch hunt.
Before continuing, let me make one point abundantly clear: I have no funding, declared or undeclared, with any fossil fuel company or interest. I never have. Representative Grijalva knows this too, because when I have testified before the US Congress, I have disclosed my funding and possible conflicts of interest. So I know with complete certainty that this investigation is a politically-motivated “witch hunt” designed to intimidate me (and others) and to smear my name.
For instance, the Congressman and his staff, along with compliant journalists, are busy characterizing me in public as a “climate skeptic” opposed to action on climate change. This of course is a lie. I have written a book calling for a carbon tax, I have publicly supported President Obama’s proposed EPA carbon regulations, and I have just published another book strongly defending the scientific assessment of the IPCC with respect to disasters and climate change. All of this is public record, so the smears against me must be an intentional effort to delegitimize my academic research. Read more …
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The Last Climate Science Witch Hunt
by Terence Corcoran
Financial Post
February 25, 2015
It must be getting cold in the climate science greenhouse, so cold the denizens have taken to hunting witches and burning them to keep their theories of climate change alive. The science is said to be settled, with 97% of the world’s thousands of scientists allegedly in agreement that the world is on the brink of a man-made global warming catastrophe. But 97% isn’t enough, apparently. Despite their claim to an overpowering position, the climate establishment and activists have been forced to begin a public purge of the half dozen U.S. scientists who hold different views.
In what is clearly a coordinated effort, the hunt for the hides of a few climate skeptics began last weekend when The New York Times climate beat reporter, Justin Gillis, co-wrote an attack on Wei-Hock (Willie) Soon, a sceptical scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. The Times charged Mr. Soon with having “accepted more than $1.2 million in money from the fossil-fuel industry.”
There was nothing new in the charge. Greenpeace has been leaking the story to various media since at least 2011, when Mr. Soon’s fossil fuel funding surfaced in The Guardian. Mr. Soon has in the past said his funding has not influenced his research. The Times revival of a dead story seemed odd, but within days the larger purpose became clear.
On Tuesday, Raul Grijalva, Democratic Representative from Arizona—and chair of the House committee in environment and natural resources–announced a witch hunt for Mr. Soon and six other U.S. scientists, citing the New York Times article and “documents I have received.” Mr. Grijalva, in separate letters, asked the presidents of seven universities to look into the funding and force disclosure of personal data for each scientist. The scientists are, in addition to Mr. Soon: John Christy of the University of Alabama, Roger Pielke Jr. of the University of Colorado, Richard Lindzen of MIT, David Legates at the University of Delaware, Steven Hayward at Pepperdine, Judith Curry at Georgia Institute of Technology, Robert Balling at Arizona State. Read more …
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CU-Boulder’s Roger Pielke Jr. Says Congressman is Probing His Research Funding
Prof calls probe a politically motivated ‘witch hunt’
Daily Camera
February 25, 2015
A University of Colorado professor and well-known figure in the climate-change debate says he’s being investigated by an Arizona congressman over whether he has received research funding from fossil fuel companies.
Professor Roger Pielke Jr., who directs CU’s Center for Science and Technology Policy Research, wrote in a blog post published this morning that he’s being investigated by U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat.
He flatly denies the allegations, saying they’re part of a “witch hunt.”
Pielke said Grijalva, the ranking member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, sent a letter to CU President Bruce Benson asking for information about Pielke’s external funding sources.
“I am hopeful that disclosure of a few key pieces of information will establish the impartiality of climate research and policy recommendations published in your institution’s name,” Grijalva wrote, according to a letter posted on Pielke’s blog. “Companies with a direct financial interest in climate and air quality standards are funding environmental research that influences state and federal regulations and shapes public understanding of climate science. These conflicts should be clear to stakeholders, including policymakers who use scientific information to make decisions.” Read more …
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Lawmakers Seek Information on Funding for Climate Change Critics
by John Schwartz
New York Times
February 25, 2015
Democratic lawmakers in Washington are demanding information about funding for scientists who publicly dispute widely held views on the causes and risks of climate change.
Prominent members of the United States House of Representatives and the Senate have sent letters to universities, companies and trade groups asking for information about funding to the scientists.
The letters came after evidence emerged over the weekend that Wei-Hock Soon, known as Willie, a scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, had failed to disclose the industry funding for his academic work. The documents also included correspondence between Dr. Soon and the companies who funded his work in which he referred to his papers and testimony as “deliverables.”
In letters sent to seven universities on Tuesday, Representative Raúl M. Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat who is the ranking member of the House committee on natural resources, sent detailed requests to the academic employers of scientists who had testified before Congress about climate change.
The requests focused on funding sources for the scientists, including David Legates of the University of Delaware and Roger Pielke Jr. of the University of Colorado at Boulder.
In the letters, Representative Grijalva wrote, “My colleagues and I cannot perform our duties if research or testimony provided to us is influenced by undisclosed financial relationships.” He asked for each university’s policies on financial disclosure and the amount and sources of outside funding for each scholar, “communications regarding the funding” and “all drafts” of testimony. Read more …
