Rep. Joe Barton, Scientist Hunter.
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Three of America's leading climate scientists are accusing
a politician of intimidating them, because they are
insisting that global warming is real and that action should be
taken immediately to curb greenhouse gas emissions, before
more events like hurricane
Katrina occur.
The question is, is Rep. Joe Barton (R,TX) doing this at his
own instigation or
acting on orders from above?
Paul Brown writes in the Guardian that these climate
specialists are saying they are being put under unfair scrutiny
by Rep. Barton, who is chairman of the House Committe on
Energy and Commerce. Barton has
asked for details about their funding sources and has also
demanded a copy of every paper they have ever published.
Even if these eminent scientists have nothing to hide, this
amount of record keeping and paperwork adds up to an
arduous, time-consuming task for any busy professional. It's
doubtful that Barton has questions that these documents can
answer. It's more likely that he simply wants to harass them.
A poll on Barton's own website, which is visited for the
most part by his constituents and supporters, shows the
depth of public opposition to his activities. When asked the
question, "Should Congress be able to ask questions about
federally funded scientific studies, especially when those
studies can impact future legislation and taxpayer dollars?"
an astonishing 40% of his supporters said no--even though
the question was obviously structured to make his actions
sound reasonable.
Joe Barton is a Texan who has been a lobbyist for the
gasoline industry, and he has opposed every piece of
legislation aimed at combating climate change. The climate
scientists being harassed in this way are Michael Mann,
director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania
State University; Raymond Bradley, director of the Climate
Research Center at the University of Massachusetts; and
Malcolm Hughes, director of Tree Ring Research at the
University of Arizona.
Whitley
Strieber is used to being intimidated for telling the
truth, but
that hasn't stopped him yet. Listen to this week's Dreamland
show, when he interviews two climate scientists about the
causes of the weather disaster in New Orleans. And if you
want us to be here tomorrow, please
support us
today.
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