EPW Minority Blog

U.S. Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, today commented on President-elect Barack Obama’s intention to nominate Lisa Jackson for the position of Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), physicist Steven Chu as the Energy Secretary, and former EPA administrator Carol Browner as the newly created “climate czar” inside the White House. 

“The next President faces the challenge of balancing the environment with the reality of our current economic downturn,” Senator Inhofe said. “As falling gas prices have finally provided a welcome relief to families in tough economic times, my concern is Team Obama may be now ready and willing to restrict realistic energy supplies and drive energy prices higher, harming already struggling Americans.”

Inhofe comments on Steven Chu: “Steven Chu has made troubling comments. Chu has unabashedly called coal—which generates over 50% of our nation’s electricity—his ‘worst nightmare.’ Equally worrisome is Chu’s call for raising America’s gas taxes to European levels as noted in today’s Wall Street Journal.  Rather than threaten the nation’s economic security, the Department of Energy must promote policies to power this machine we call America. 

Inhofe comments on Lisa Jackson: “I look forward to getting to know Lisa Jackson better during the nomination process. Over the past two years Ms. Jackson has testified before the committee on issues ranging from chemical security to mercury legislation. At a time when American families are facing a troubled economy, the position of EPA Administrator is particularly important as we look to continue environmental progress while developing our economy. I look forward to discussing with Ms. Jackson her views on how we can best accomplish these goals.” (The position of EPA Administrator is a confirmed position through the Environment and Public Works Committee.)

Inhofe comments on Carol Browner: “I look forward to learning more about the position of an ‘energy czar’ in the new administration. Certainly Carol Browner’s record as the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under former President Clinton is well known. She is a proud liberal who has long-advocated an environmentalist agenda that would drive up energy costs on families and put thousands of Americans out of jobs. At a time when the economy is already suffering, it will be interesting to see how President-elect Obama will reconcile what seems to be conflicting agendas in the White House.” Read more here.

Note: See Roger Pielke Jr’s post on the connection of Browner to Cap-and- Trade here.

By Noel Sheppard, Newsbusters

Scientists from around the world are denouncing an Associated Press article hysterically claiming that global warming is “a ticking time bomb” about to explode, and that we’re “running out of time” to do anything about it. As reported by NewsBusters, Seth Borenstein, the AP’s “national science writer,” published a piece Sunday entitled “Obama Left With Little Time to Curb Global Warming.”

Scientists from all over the world have responded to share their view of this alarmist propaganda: How can this guy call himself a “science reporter?” He is perhaps the worst propagandist in all the media, and that’s stating something. In his latest screed, he screams: “global warming is accelerating”. How then does he explain the fact that the mean global temperature (as measured by satellite) is the same as it was in 1980? How can global warming be “accelerating” when the last two years have seen dramatic cooling?  Is this guy totally removed from all reality????? He completely ignores any evidence contrary to his personal beliefs, and twists everything to meet his preconceived notions. How can anyone so ignorant be a reporter for AP? Seriously?—David Deming, University of Oklahoma

“Since Clinton’s inauguration, summer Arctic sea ice has lost the equivalent of Alaska, California and Texas. The 10 hottest years on record have occurred since Clinton’s second inauguration. Global warming is accelerating.” Rubbish!  Global warming is not “accelerating”:  global warming has stopped.  There has been no statistically significant rise in (mean global temperature: MGT) since 1995 and MGT has fallen since 1998. The Earth has been warming from the Little Ice Age (LIA) for 300 years so, of course, the warmest years happened recently.  But that warming from the LIA peaked in the El Nino year of 1998.  MGT has been near but below that peak for the last 10 years.

Arctic ice advances and recedes over decades.  2007 saw a minimum in Arctic ice cover in the short period that it has been monitored using satellites.  But 2008 saw the most rapid growth in Arctic ice cover in that same period and Arctic ice cover is now back to the average it has had in the period.  Also, 95% of polar ice is in the Antarctic and Antarctic ice is increasing. Nobody can know if the recent halt to global warming is temporary, permanent or the start of a new warming or cooling phase.  But it is certain that anybody who proclaims that “Global warming is accelerating” is a liar, a fool, or both.—Richard S. Courtney, a UN IPCC expert reviewer and a UK-based climate and atmospheric science consultant.

The Great Global Warming Hoax appears to be a collaborative effort between the worlds [sic] incompetent scientists and the worlds [sic] scientifically illiterate journalists.  Science Illiterates like Borenstein are the Chicken Littles of the 21st Century, spreading climate change poppycock like bread crumbs in the forest.  The crumbs, hopefully, will lead them to a paycheck at the end of the week from their similarly science-illiterate employers.  Well, the lower-I.Q. portion of the population has to eat, too....< sigh >—James A. Peden, atmospheric physicist formerly of the Space Research and Coordination Center in Pittsburgh.  Read more here.

By HendrikTennekes Guest Blog on Climate Science

My weblogs of 28 October and 7 November, and a incisive two-page centerfold article by Karel Knip in the November 8 issue of NRC/ Handelsblad, Rotterdam’s counterpart to the New York Times, finally received a clear response from KNMI, the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute.

In a November 10 message to the director-in-chief of KNMI, I suggested that the Institute should contemplate issuing a low-end estimate for sea-level rise, in order to balance the alarmist furor sweeping the country. This is exactly what KNMI decided to do. In an op-ed piece in the December 11 issue of NRC/Handelsblad, Wilco Hazeleger, a senior scientist in the global climate research group at KNMI, writes:

“In the past century the sea level has risen twenty centimeters. There is no evidence for accelerated sea-level rise. It is my opinion that there is no need for drastic measures. It is wise to adopt a flexible, step-by-step adaptation strategy. By all means, let us not respond precipitously.”

This opinion, of course, chimes with the statement by Professor Marcel Stive that I quoted earlier:

“Fortunately, the time rate of climate change is slow compared to the life span of the defense structures along our coast. There is enough time for adaptation. We should monitor the situation carefully, but up to now climate change does not cause severe problems for our coastal defense system. IPCC has given lower estimates for the expected sea level rise in four successive reports.”

As far as I am concerned, this settles the matter. KNMI has spoken. It has spoken clearly. There is no imminent danger of accelerated sea-level rise.

Source: University of Colorado, Boulder