A Republican-led federal probe of climate scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found no evidence that they manipulated data, after leaked e-mails in 2009 sparked the "climategate" controversy.
The investigation was conducted by the inspector general of the Commerce Department. It reviewed the 1,073 leaked messages, particularly the 289 that were exchanged with NOAA scientists, and interviewed NOAA chief Jane Lubchenco and her staff about them.
"We did not find any evidence that NOAA inappropriately manipulated data," the inspector general concluded in a recent report. It also cleared Lucbhenco for testifying before Congress that the e-mails did not weaken the science of climate change.
The probe was requested by Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, the top Republican on the environment committee, who has called global warming "the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people."
Well good. Now can we finally stop denying that this planet has a serious man made problem and DO something about it?
I am so tired of having to refute false conspiracies made up by the GOP in an attempt to slow down our ability to solve real problems facing this planet because it might cost their corporate overlords money if we do so.
Doesn't this make the THIRD time that a study has produced the exact same result? There were at least two other independent investigations of the so-called "climategate," all concluding that it was a made up bunch of bs perpetrated by the anti-climate-change people. There's only one word for people still blathering about climategate: stoopit.
ReplyDeleteThat James Inhofe is the top republican over anything that has to do with the environment is insane anyway.
ReplyDeleteFrack this!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/02/25-1
very long article
As long as Inhofe, Barton, and the other rw members of Congress can protect the energy companies, they'll tell any lie that is necessary to do so. They'd sell their souls and their own kids' future for good relations with these energy execs and a chance to be invited to their next big event. I'm waiting on them to spin the results of their own investigation. That's how petty and self-serving they are. I hope enough voters wake up in time to vote their behinds out of power in the Senate and House in 2012.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't matter what the results of any studies say. They have so many willing to believe, that there is no climate warming. The Corp's want to rape and destroy whatever resources the earth has left, without any restrictions.The elected officials only are concernered about linning their pockets. The dummy people just go along, as long as they think they are doing God's will about abortion , marriage and are told how wonderful they are.They refuse to reconginize they we aren't the best anymore.The rest of the world is wondering why americans are so closed minded about this. What will happen when all schools are privitized? A lot of the privite schools now ,don't teach much science, only will teach creationism.
ReplyDeleteOf course, this won't matter. FOX and all the rest will still say the science is corrupt because that fits their would view, the truth does not.
ReplyDeleteto womanwithsardinecan" Senator Inhofe IS stoopit, always has been, always will be.
ReplyDeleteThe people of Oklahoma need to stop being stoopit and vote him out of office.
It's bad enough that we have this horrendous problem, but we have to claw and fight our way through the steaming mountain of ignorance to do anything about it.
ReplyDeletePart of the problem is that true believers of the dominionist churches feel that it doesn't matter what man does to the earth because we are so near the rapture.
ReplyDeleteThey feel that God, not man, is in charge of what happens to the environment - besides, didn't their God give them dominion over the earth to do with it as they will --- you know, like ruin it to line their pockets.
Bingo 6:49 Anon. You hit the nail on the head. One nutjob even went so far as to claim that the almighty would never allow us to run out of fossil fuels for our combustion engine toys. I guess he hasn't gotten any donations from Shell et al, companies that are worried about peak oil.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting on this subject, Gryphen. I think one reason the corporations are successful with funding climate denier campaigns is that people are afraid of the truth - and they should be. Climate change is an existential threat and cannot be averted without major changes. We not only need to convert to clean sources of energy, we have to make significant efforts to conserve, and by that I mean stop wasting fuel on any unnecessary things, like flying in airplanes, mowing lawns, and operating amusement parks.
ReplyDeleteI expect that no one is willing to make such radical adjustments and so nothing will be done until it's too late, if it isn't already, thanks to amplifying positive feedbacks. This past year the world has seen record-smashing floods, wildfires, heat waves, typhoons, blizzards and droughts. These extreme weather events will continue to multiply and intensify because in a warmer world circulation patterns and precipitation become disrupted.
There are two other even more intractable and urgent problems, one is ocean acidification and the other, is the rapidly accelerating dieback of vegetation around the world, thanks to the inexorably increasing background levels of toxic tropospheric ozone, which is poisonous to plants.
more on that topic here if anyone is interested:
http://witsendnj.blogspot.com/2011/02/rude-awakening.html
How much did this little junket cost the tax payers?
ReplyDeleteWill they let us know that?
As climate instabilities get more extreme, I wonder at what point the climate-change-deniers will admit it.
ReplyDeleteThe Koch-funded think tanks (tax-deductible!) are good at putting out legit-looking "research data" that feeds climate-denier viewpoints.
womanwithsardinecan @5:29
ReplyDelete"Doesn't this make the THIRD time that a study has produced the exact same result?"
Yes, but you already answered your own question by stating that the other studies were 'independent'. The only studies these idiots will believe are those done by members of their own inner circle.
I can't imagine how overwhelming the evidence must have been for this study to reach the same conclusion as the others. There must have been no way to manipulate the evidence to support their false beliefs, and I have no doubt that they tried. The people that had to present the findings must have been wetting their panties knowing that they were about to shoot down the hype that all the conservatives and their corporate buddies had been trying to spread all along.
Of course, they will no doubt find another way to deny climate change or merely ignore this study since it didn't reach the conclusions that they wanted.
Don't worry -- Republicorp will come up with something to further dumb down the dummies.
ReplyDeleteScariest thing? My brother is an MIT grad in biological sciences with a lot of friends in all kinds of sciences ... One friend of his said, quote: "It's gonna happen so fast we won't know what hit us."
Chew on that one for a while, folks, and you'll stay awake at night just like me.
It won't help.
ReplyDeleteThe damage is done.
The lies will continue to spin about the leaks. The facts the repudiate the lies will be whispers or denied. The right has made sure no one trusts the government (unless they are in charge). They'll say the Dems lied to protect the scientists because we all know scientists are liars because science is a hoax.
But we need the top science graduates to become teachers (for minimum wage and no benefits or bargaining.)
Yes, the right puts the moron in oxymoron.
The thing that will replace denying scientific data (when it becomes apparent and non-deniable that things they are a-changin'), is go-mint Xtian-ization of the masses and pushing "rapture" mythology onto the populace, as in: "see, the End is near as foretold in revelation" & "gawd does not love you sinners and nonbelievers and j_ws and n_ggers and broun people and other non-whities like his son, Jebus" etc. etc.
ReplyDeleteWhat a waste of time and money when some half a dozen actual scientific organizations had previously looked into the matter and cleared the British Group.
ReplyDeleteThe Republican Party sure seems to hate science. Someone needs to point out to these guys that you cannot pick and choose the science you like and leave out what you do not. If you keep bad mouthing science and scientists, then who will design the weapons for the military?
ReplyDelete