It seems that Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) has lost his appetite for pursuing a 'Climategate' investigation, according to The Hill. Rep. Issa is the presumed chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform for the 112th Congress starting in January.
Perhaps it was just GOP chest-thumping in the run-up to the midterm elections. Who knows?
But at least Rep. Issa has recognized the giant waste of time and taxpayer money another investigation into Climategate would represent. After all, every independent investigation into the so-called 'Climategate' scandal has exonerated the scientists, and nothing has undermined the scientific consensus on climate change. (Although it's worth noting that nobody has bothered to investigate the actual theft of the climate scientists' emails or probed the role of a small group of climate skeptics in blowing it out of proportion.)
Skeptics and deniers cried bloody murder, and everyone (except hard-headed skeptics and deniers) now knows that Climategate was a ginned-up nontroversy whose proponents failed to "prove" that global warming is a "hoax."
There is no doubt that Rep. Issa and other incoming GOP committee chairmen will find plenty of other ways to waste time and taxpayer money "investigating" the baseless accusations lobbed at climate scientists in the climate denial machine's long quest to confuse the public about global warming.
But with Rep. Issa seemingly bowing out of the race, who will be the first GOP climate zombie to dig Climategate up again from the depths of the right wing conspiracy graveyard?
Democracy is utterly dependent upon an electorate that is accurately informed. In promoting climate change denial (and often denying their responsibility for doing so) industry has done more than endanger the environment. It has undermined democracy.
There is a vast difference between putting forth a point of view, honestly held, and intentionally sowing the seeds of confusion. Free speech does not include the right to deceive. Deception is not a point of view. And the right to disagree does not include a right to intentionally subvert the public awareness.
This post is the second of a two part series. Read the first installment, Unreported Emissions From Natural Gas Blow Up BC's Climate Action Plan.
Methane leaks from British Columbia's natural gas industry are likely at least 7 times greater than official numbers increasing the entire provinces' carbon footprint by nearly 25%. That's like putting 3 million more vehicles on BC's roads.
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UEA e-mail theft
One organisation that has investigated the theft of e-mails from the CRU system has been the British police. Their provisional conclusion was that the hack was of such sophistication that it was probably the work of a foreign government or intelligence agency. The cyber trail ran cold in Russia. That may not have been the point of origin; but then again since oil and gas exports are the key to Russia’s international clout (its stranglehold over European energy supplies have become a major political concern), Russia’s involvement seems perfectly credible.
Ironically, at the time of Copenhagen, some senior Russian figures opined that climate change would, on balance, be good for Russia, given its freezing winters. That was before half their forests burned down.
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The real reason
Wegman.
Perhaps there should be a probe after all...