Politics plays climate 'hockey'

[cprise]

:snip:

Many scientists have reacted with astonishment at the aggressive tone of the letters <from Rep. Barton>, and the extent of their demands.

Henry Waxman, a Democrat member of the committee, wrote to Mr Barton asking him to withdraw them.

"Some might interpret them as an attempt to bully and harass climate experts who have reached conclusions with which you disagree," he wrote.

Now, the three scientists are making their own formal responses.

Raymond Bradley, with only a hint of irony, welcomes the Congressmen's interest in "the basis for President George Bush's recent statement" acknowledging the consensus on global warming and mankind's role in it.

MORE http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4693855.stm

I learned of this controversy from the realclimate.org website:

Many readers will be aware that three scientists (two of which are contributors to this site, Michael Mann and Ray Bradley) have received letters from Representative Joe Barton (Texas), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee specifically requesting information about their work on the 'hockey stick' papers (Mann et al (1998) and Mann et al (1999)) as well as an enormous amount of irrelevant material not connected to these studies.

Many in the scientific community would welcome any genuine interest in climate change from the committee, but the tone and content of these letters have alarmed many scientists and their professional organisations. In the words of Alan Leshner, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Barton letters "give the impression of a search for some basis on which to discredit these particular scientists and findings, rather than a search for understanding." Other organisations and individual scientists have also expressed strong concerns:

* A statement from the EGU
* The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
* A Nature editorial
* A letter from US scientists (including leading members of the NAS, a Nobel Prize winner and two of us (ES, GS))
* A letter from the head of the National Academy of Sciences, and
* A commentary from Tom Crowley in EOS
* Other politicians, the House Committee on Science and Henry Waxman.

MORE http://www.realclimate.org/index.php?p=172

[Viking12]

1. Chris Mooney has been providing some excellent coverage..

...of Barton's attempts to intimidate scientists.

http://www.chriscmooney.com/blog.asp

[cprise]

2. Thanks

His commentary on the G8 summit is also rather sad:

All of this is still more proof that the Gleneagles document is, in essence, a Bush administration document...