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Friday, May 22nd, 2015

Congress manufactures doubt and denial in climate change hearing

Author:     Dana Nuccitelli
Source:     The Guardian (U.K.)
Publication Date:     Thursday 21 May 2015 10.06 EDT
 Link: Congress manufactures doubt and denial in climate change hearing
Stephan:   This story explains why I believe the Republican Party is a danger to humanity. My view is not based on partisan politics. I don't care much for either party, because I think corruption is so endemic as a result of Citizens United that our democracy itself is in danger. But the Republican Party, because they recognize that demographics are against them long term, has espoused a strategy that is not designed to provide informed and intelligent guidance to create wellness for its voters, and the country as a whole. Instead its strategy has been to attract a "base" of voters who will reliably vote, and who are defined by their ignorance, adherence to a particular interpretation of Christianity, racism, hate, and fear. The party then panders to this base in return for their vote. It is essentially a strategy designed and funded by the uber-rich and the corporations they control to game American democracy, and I think it is despicable. It is literally putting the humanity, and the Earth itself at risk. This report describes how the process works in Congress

The US Congress periodically holds hearings on issues related to climate change. Because the subject has become a partisan one in America, they generally follow a predictable pattern – Democrats invite science and policy expert witnesses who agree with the expert consensus on human-caused global warming and the need to address it, and Republicans invite witnesses who disagree.

John Christy at the University of Alabama at Huntsville is one of the fewer than 3% of climate scientists who publishes research suggesting that humans aren’t the primary cause of the current global warming. He’s thus become one of Republicans’ favorite expert witnesses.

Last week, the Committee on Natural Resources held a hearing to discuss draft guidance by the the President’s Council on Environmental Quality to include carbon pollution and the effects of climate change in the consideration of environmental impacts of federal projects, as part of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review process. Needless to say, the Republicans on the committee don’t like the idea.

Christy Manufactures Doubt on Model Accuracy

Given that the hearing was ostensibly about environmental policy, most of the witnesses were policy experts. John Christy was the lone climate scientist invited to testify. His testimony focused on manufacturing doubt about […]

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