ClimateScienceWatch |
Promoting integrity in the use of climate science in government |
Climate Science Watch is a nonprofit public interest education and advocacy project dedicated to holding public officials accountable for the integrity and effectiveness with which they use climate science and related research in government policymaking, toward the goal of enabling society to respond effectively to the challenges posed by global warming and climate change. See Details |
What do we need from the National Academy of Sciences “America’s Climate Choices” study?
Posted on Sunday, March 29, 2009
Hundreds of people are on their way to Washington to attend “The Summit on America’s Climate Choices” March 30-31 at the National Academy of Sciences. The Summit kicks off a comprehensive two-year study requested by Congress “designed to inform and guide responses to climate change.” Four panels of experts will address key issue areas relating to mitigation, adaptation, climate science, and decision support. So, what needs to come out of this exercise in order to truly advance national policy on preparedness for climate disruption? We offer some “DOs-and-DON’Ts” as food for thought.
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Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, global warming denialist du jour on Capitol Hill
Posted on Friday, March 27, 2009
The bizarre decision by some members of Congress to use Christopher Monckton as their expert science witness at recent hearings on climate change shows that politically-driven abuse of science is alive and well on Capitol Hill. For those who take Rush Limbaugh as a leader, the colorful Viscount, a scientific amateur who refers to President Obama as “Osamabamarama,” might be just what they’ve been looking for.
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White House OMB should not be allowed to undermine EPA Clean Air Act regulation of greenhouse gases
Posted on Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Now that EPA is moving toward regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, any inclination of Office of Management and Budget regulatory czar-in-waiting Cass Sunstein to block strong regulation by applying the useless cost-benefit analysis paradigm to dealing with climate disruption must be curbed. We told Environmental Science & Technology that President Obama’s naming of Sunstein to head the OMB Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs could be a problem unless OIRA is kept on a short leash in reviewing agency health, safety, and environmental rulemaking.
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Politicians, journalists, and readers: On thinking with scientific integrity about climate
Posted on Sunday, March 22, 2009
“Perhaps the only hope involves taking a stand for a breed of journalism and commentary that is…constrained by standards of evidence…that are similar to the canons of modern science itself,” says Chris Mooney in an excellent op-ed column (“Climate Change Myths and Facts”) in the March 21 Washington Post. Mooney takes down George Will for shilling for the global warming disinformation campaign in a recent column, but sets the problem in a larger context.
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Earth Hour on March 28 at 8:30 pm: Will the U.S. Government be Asleep at the Switch?
Posted on Friday, March 20, 2009
In case you have not heard, Earth Hour is at 8:30 pm on Saturday 28 March. Participants flick their light switches off for an hour in a coordinated and unified symbolic statement of concern for climate change and call for action. As of March 19, more than 1,800 cities are participating worldwide, including 155 U.S. towns, cities, counties and states. But so far, the U.S. government is entirely disengaged. Will it be asleep at the switch for Earth Hour?
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John Holdren and Jane Lubchenco confirmed as OSTP Director and NOAA administrator
Posted on Thursday, March 19, 2009
Andy Revkin reports in the New York Times that, after weeks of delay in getting the President’s science team in place caused by the use of delaying tactics by certain unaccountable Senators, the Senate has finally confirmed John Holdren as director of the White House Office of Science and
Technology Policy and Jane Lubchenco as administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Holdren and Lubchenco should have been on the job a month ago – there is much to be done from both of their leadership positions. See Details for posts on some issues of concern.
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On the Obama scientific integrity directive
Posted on Tuesday, March 17, 2009
President Obama’s March 9 “Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies” on Scientific Integrity calls for “transparency in the use of scientific information in policymaking.” If the President and his science adviser John Holdren carry out that pledge, it will be a major reform after the abuses we witnessed under the notoriously nontransparent Bush administration.
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“Whistleblower’s Revenge”
Posted on Monday, March 16, 2009
“The gust of wind that surged through Washington D.C. earlier this month was not a warm front moving in,” writes William S. Becker, director of the Presidential Climate Action Project, in the March 15 Environmentalist (“Whistleblower’s Revenge”). “It was the collective sigh of relief when President Barack Obama issued a memorandum that will protect the work of the 100,000 scientists and engineers in the U.S. government. But it’s likely that no one felt a greater sense of relief or vindication—than Rick Piltz.”
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National Academy of Sciences releases a must-read report: Informing Decisions in a Changing Climate
Posted on Friday, March 13, 2009
The National Research Council on March 12 released a report, Informing Decisions in a Changing Climate, that concludes we are “unprepared, both conceptually and practically” for climate change and that it is no longer valid to base decisions on the assumption of continued climatic conditions of the past. The report makes many well-grounded recommendations for moving forward in a climate-disrupted world.
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CSW weighs in with NOAA advisory board on criteria for forming a National Climate Service
Posted on Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Climate Science Watch is attending NOAA’s Science Advisory Board meetings this week to learn the results of a lengthy planning process for defining the agency’s role in helping communities better anticipate and plan for climate disruption by providing “climate services,” and to offer our advice in the form of public comment. Yesterday, in the five minutes allotted to us for public input, we emphasized that a National Climate Service, should one be created, must be: (a) solutions-oriented and driven by the needs of regional, state and local decision-makers; (b) inclusive of other federal and nonfederal entities with relevant capabilities; (c) be coordinated and led by a dedicated, full-time staff in the White House; (d) avoid duplicating the functions of other programs such as the Climate Change Science Program; (e) have strong oversight by stakeholders (i.e. the users of climate services); and (f) incorporate robust mechanisms for preserving the scientific integrity of the program. See details….
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National Call to Action on Global Warming reflects rising expectations under President Obama
Posted on Saturday, March 07, 2009
On March 5 a coalition of 53 environmental and other groups issued a “National Call to Action on Global Warming” that calls on President Obama and Congress to enact strong climate change legislation to meet “science-based pollution reduction targets” with effective steps to reduce the risk of catastrophic global warming, address climate justice issues, accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy, and plan for a warming world. For their reporting, we talked with The Daily Green about how the previous occupants of the White House used a predatory relationship with scientific uncertainty to justify opposition to regulating emissions of greenhouse gases. That was then…
National Whistleblower Assembly kicks off this weekend
Posted on Friday, March 06, 2009
This year’s annual Washington, D.C. whistleblower gathering and conference, the National Whistleblower Assembly (NWA), begins this Sunday, March 8, with events running through Wednesday, March 11. These events are open to the public, free of charge. See Details for schedule.
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Plans are underway to create a National Climate Service - But what does that mean, exactly?
Posted on Thursday, March 05, 2009
Federal officials are formulating a plan to create a National Climate Service, a concept that the National Research Council defines as “the timely production and delivery of useful climate data, information and knowledge to decision makers.” With more than 1/3 of our GDP dependent on weather and climate, and an entire population that is vulnerable to climate impacts, it is increasingly important for people to understand the local effects of global climate change, which will vary markedly from place to place, and will continue to change (and in a number of ways likely worsen) over time. But what is the appropriate role of the federal government in assisting decisionmakers—e.g. state and local elected officials—with the myriad choices that will need to be made in order to cope with, and eventually adapt to, climate disruption? Climate Science Watch is engaged in a deliberative process to help determine the answer - see Details.
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Clinton-Gore tech advisers Kalil and Kohlenberger to join White House science and technology office
Posted on Thursday, March 05, 2009
The Wonk Room blog at the Center for American Progress Action Fund reports that Thomas Kalil and Jim Kohlenberger will join the Office of Science and Technology Policy as associate director for policy and chief of staff, respectively. Both provided leadership on technology policy issues in the Clinton-Gore administration. Now Sen. Menendez needs to do the right thing and lift his hold on the confirmation of John Holdren as OSTP director, or else his Senate colleagues need to remove this obstruction and confirm Holdren without further delay.
Update on the Senate hold on confirming Holdren and Lubchenco
Posted on Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Today we learned from CQ Politics and E&E News (subsc.) that there are other (anonymous) Senators in addition to Robert Menendez of New Jersey who have placed a “hold” on the Senate confirmation of Drs. Holdren to head OSTP and Lubchenco to run NOAA. Yesterday other groups joined in the effort to whip up grassroots activism—- e.g., Climate Progress, and the National Council on Science and the Environment (NCSE)—and now the word is that his office is being flooded with calls and letters. This is a good start, but this new intel means that it’s now time to direct these appeals straight to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who must break the logjam, and to as many other Senators as possible, especially those who serve on the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, chaired by Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV).
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