Climategate Meets the Law: Senator Inhofe to Ask for DOJ Investigation (Pajamas Media/PJTV Exclusive)

Inhofe intends to ask for a probe of the embattled climate scientists for possible criminal acts. And he thinks Gore should be recalled to explain his prior congressional testimony. (Click here for the just-released Senate Environment and Public Works report behind Inhofe's announcement.)

February 23, 2010 - by Charlie Martin

Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) today asked the Obama administration to investigate what he called “the greatest scientific scandal of our generation” — the actions of climate scientists revealed by the Climategate files, and the subsequent admissions by the editors of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (AR4).

Senator Inhofe also called for former Vice President Al Gore to be called back to the Senate to testify.

“In [Gore's] science fiction movie, every assertion has been rebutted,” Inhofe said. He believes Vice President Gore should defend himself and his movie before Congress.

Just prior to a hearing at 10:00 a.m. EST, Senator Inhofe released a minority staff report from the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, of which he is ranking member. Senator Inhofe is asking the Department of Justice to investigate whether there has been research misconduct or criminal actions by the scientists involved, including Dr. Michael Mann of Pennsylvania State University and Dr. James Hansen of Columbia University and the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

This report, obtained exclusively by Pajamas Media before today’s hearing, alleges:

[The] Minority Staff of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works believe the scientists involved may have violated fundamental ethical principles governing taxpayer-funded research and, in some cases, federal laws. In addition to these findings, we believe the emails and accompanying documents seriously compromise the IPCC -backed “consensus” and its central conclusion that anthropogenic emissions are inexorably leading to environmental catastrophes.

As has been reported here at Pajamas Media over the last several months, the exposure of the Climategate files has led to a reexamination of the IPCC Assessment Reports, especially the fourth report (AR4), published in 2007. The IPCC AR4 report was named by Environmental Protection Agency head Lisa Jackson as one of the major sources of scientific support for the agency’s Endangerment Finding, the first step towards allowing the EPA to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant.

Since the Climategate files were released, the IPCC has been forced to retract a number of specific conclusions — such as a prediction that Himalayan glaciers would disappear by 2035 — and has been forced to confirm that the report was based in large part on reports from environmental activist groups instead of peer-reviewed scientific literature. Dr. Murari Lal, an editor of the IPCC AR4 report, admitted to the London Daily Mail that he had known the 2035 date was false, but was included in the report anyway “purely to put political pressure on world leaders.”

Based on this minority staff report, Senator Inhofe will be calling for an investigation into potential research misconduct and possible criminal acts by the researchers involved. At the same time, Inhofe will ask the Environmental Protection Agency to reopen its consideration of an Endangerment Finding for carbon dioxide as a pollutant under the Federal Clean Air Act, and will ask Congress to withdraw funding for further consideration of carbon dioxide as a pollutant.

In requesting that the EPA reopen the Endangerment Finding, Inhofe joins with firms such as the Peabody Energy Company and several state Attorneys General (such as Texas and Virginia) in objecting to the Obama administration’s attempt to extend regulatory control over carbon dioxide emissions in the United States. Senator Inhofe believes this staff report “strengthens the case” for the Texas and Virginia attorneys general.

Senator Inhofe’s announcement today appears to be the first time a member of Congress has formally called for an investigation into research misconduct and potential criminal acts by the scientists involved.

The staff report describes four major issues revealed by the Climategate files and the subsequent revelations:

1. The emails suggest some climate scientists were cooperating to obstruct the release of damaging information and counter-evidence.
2. They suggest scientists were manipulating the data to reach predetermined conclusions.
3. They show some climate scientists colluding to pressure journal editors not to publish work questioning the “consensus.”
4. They show that scientists involved in the report were assuming the role of climate activists attempting to influence public opinion while claiming scientific objectivity.

The report notes a number of potential legal issues raised by their Climategate investigation:

1. It suggests scientific misconduct that may violate the Shelby Amendment — requiring open access to the results of government-funded research — and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) policies on scientific misconduct (which were announced December 12, 2000).
2. It notes the potential for violations of the Federal False Statements and False Claims Acts, which may have both civil and criminal penalties.
3. The report also notes the possibility of there having been an obstruction of Congress in congressional proceeds, which may constitute an obstruction of justice.

If proven, these charges could subject the scientists involved to debarment from federally funded research, and even to criminal penalties.

By naming potential criminal offenses, Senator Inhofe raises the stakes for climate scientists and others involved. Dr. Phil Jones of the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit has already been forced to step aside because of the Climategate FOIA issues, and Dr. Michael Mann of Penn State is currently under investigation by the university for potential misconduct. Adding possible criminal charges to the mix increases the possibility that some of the people involved may choose to blow the whistle in order to protect themselves.

Senator Inhofe believes that Dr. Hansen and Dr. Mann should be “let go” from their posts “for the good of the institutions involved.”

The question, of course, is whether the Senate Democratic majority will allow this investigation to proceed, in the face of the Obama administration’s stated intention to regulate CO2 following the apparent death of cap and trade legislation. The Democratic majority has blocked previous attempts by Inhofe to investigate issues with climate science.

For more of PJM’s most recent Climategate coverage, read Charlie Martin’s “Climategate: The World’s Biggest Story, Everywhere but Here.”

Charlie Martin is a Colorado computer scientist and freelance writer. He holds an MS in Computer Science from Duke University, where he spent six years with the National Biomedical Simulation Resource, Duke University Medical Center. Find him at http://chasrmartin.com, and on his blog at http://explorations.chasrmartin.com.

Obama Led The Total Failure of World Leadership in Copenhagen

By Dr. Tim Ball

Perpetuate The COP15 Agenda: Climate was the vehicle to achieve one-world socialist government and total control of the population.

World leaders participated in a scandalous conference in Copenhagen. Officially it was Conference of the Parties (COP) 15 to monitor progress on climate change begun in 1995 at COP 1 in Berlin. They’ve consistently and blindly accepted the false claim human CO2 is causing climate change. COP 3 produced the Kyoto Accord to punish developed nations and redistribute wealth. It’s due to expire in 2012 and COP 15 was to keep the process going. Few supported it more than Obama so he had to salvage the process.
Don’t Confuse Me With Facts

World leaders pursued policies while refusing to understand the issue. They ignored all evidence, silenced any debate, and disdained polls showing an increasing majority rejected the science. Finally, they ignored proof the science was deliberately and criminally falsified.

Henry Kissinger said 90% of politicians give the other 10% a bad reputation. He was wrong. With climate change it’s 99% because Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic alone saw through the deception. In “Blue Planet in Green Shackles” he wrote, “As a witness of the current worldwide debate, I want to say that I am no longer concerned - but angry - which is the impetus for the following text.” Anger was justified because there never was a debate. Climate change was a false imposition and Klaus knew its purpose. He told the US House of Representative’s Committee on Energy and Commerce, “So-called climate change and especially man-made climate change has become one of the most dangerous arguments aimed at distorting human efforts and public policies in the whole world.” Copenhagen proved their goal of stopping climate change was cynical politics on a massive scale.
Deceptions as Defense of the Indefensible

The falsified theory human CO2 was causing an increase in temperature was the vehicle for a socialist political agenda. Leaders did everything to protect the theory by directing most funding to prove rather than disprove, as in proper science. They allowed perversion of science beguiled by three opportunities; a vehicle for one-world government, a chance to appear green, and a massive tax grab. They consistently and deliberately ignored emerging proof the theory was wrong.

They marginalized scientists who tried to disprove the theory as skeptics and deniers. In his Copenhagen speech Obama continued to blame the skeptics for the failures. Truth was the undoing not the skeptics. Leaders who refused or ignored calls for debate did more damage. People may not understand the science but know a refusal to debate is a sign of deception. I was one of a group of 60 scientists who wrote to the Canadian Prime Minister in 2006. The opening sentence expressed our concern “As accredited experts in climate and related scientific disciplines, we are writing to propose that balanced, comprehensive public-consultation sessions be held so as to examine the scientific foundation of the federal government’s climate-change plans. This would be entirely consistent with your recent commitment to conduct a review of the Kyoto Protocol.”

The letter received global attention but was ignored. Leaders further limited debate by appointing mostly unqualified bureaucrats and only a select few scientists to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

They used numbers selectively to distort the truth. The large number of people they appointed to the IPCC became scientific proof of their position. Consensus is not a scientific fact but is a political reality. However, as polls increasingly showed the public did not believe the theory they ignored them.

No leader at Copenhagen mentioned “Climategate”, the leaked files from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia that categorically shows the data, methods and entire process of the IPCC were deliberately and criminally falsified. They ignored proof the theory was scientifically wrong then they compounded their ineptitude by ignoring the biggest deception in history.
The Weed is Established

Leadership is in disrepute nationally. Climate change and the disgraceful Copenhagen circus show it’s worse at the international level. It confirmed climate was the vehicle to achieve one-world socialist government and total control of the population. Obama claimed achievements at Copenhagen were meaningful. It’s only true because the transfer of wealth Kyoto envisioned was advanced. Climate change and greenhouse gas controls received meaningless hand waving. They were cast aside, which is ironic because they were unnecessary from the start. Developed countries will give developing countries up to $30 billion for 2010-12, increasing to $100 billion by 2020. Since Obama negotiated the deal the US will likely pay most.

Various devices, including the “Copenhagen Green Fund” and a “Technology Mechanism” to “accelerate technology development and transfer” will allow “scaled up, new and additional, predictable and adequate funding”. In other words there’s no limit.
Reason for the Rush

Obama’s rush to control everything was necessary because his agenda was far more radical than his campaign portrayed. He expressed his real goals prior to emerging on the national scene, but people were misled because like all demagogues he presented himself as a moderate saving them from evil. Bush, Wall Street and Big Business, although somewhat inept, were the evil and he was the savior. Election of the first African American further dazzled and diverted.

Obama’s rush has created fear and a backlash likely to push Democrats out and make him a one-term President, but it won’t matter. Like Copenhagen, the original objective of wealth distribution and total government control is established. Rules and a massive bureaucracy are entrenched. Subsequent governments face the almost impossible task of massive and disruptive dismantling. Copenhagen further limited their options by tying them to international commitments.
Silence in Nasty Company

Scandals in Scandinavia continued at COP15. Previously Obama, Gore and the IPCC were in appropriate company with Yasser Arafat and the Nobel Peace Prize. Now all world leaders are in appropriate company by sharing the Copenhagen platform with Mugabe and Chavez. As Miguel Cervantes (1547 –1616) said, “Tell me what company you keep and I’ll tell you what you are.” We already knew, now we have confirmation.