Defend this Report!

authordefault
on

If youโ€™re a boxer, and your opponent is telegraphing his punches, thatโ€™s a good thing. It gives you anย advantage.

If youโ€™re playing poker, and another player is giving a โ€œtell,โ€ the same story goes. Itโ€™s to yourย advantage.

Opponents of climate change action are doing precisely that right nowโ€”telegraphing where theyโ€™re going to attack. Hereโ€™sย Norman Rogers of the Heartland Institute, already attacking a scientific reportโ€”the National Climate Assessment, which weighs climate risks to different regions of the U.S.โ€”that wonโ€™t be out in its next iteration until 2013.ย Rogers attended an early advisory committee meeting, and has already started up the narrative that will be used against theย report:

There did not appear to be any member of the committee even mildly skeptical of the global warming catastrophe story.ย  This was surely not an accident.ย  I was told that every member of the committee had to be approved by the White House, presumably by Johnย Holdren.

As I noted in anย earlier post, Bush administration climate science whistleblower Rick Piltz knew this would happen.ย As Piltz put it:

This report will be attacked. There is no way to bullet-proof it against that war on science โ€“ thatโ€™s a myth. Theyโ€™ll look for procedural missteps, theyโ€™ll look for anything, theyโ€™ll invent something if they needย to.

In that earlier post, I commended Piltz for his foresight. Nowโ€”and again, this report is not due out until 2013โ€”it has already beenย validated.

So what do you do now? Just go through the whole National Climate Assessment processโ€”all the advisory committee meetings, model runs, and so onโ€”and hope that critics will forget aboutย you?

No: You start now working on a counter-narrative to defend the assessment. What does that narrative soundย like?

That can be debated, but to me, this is really about homeland security, broadly understood. This is about protecting our people from drought, from wildfires, from floodingโ€”from all of the weather conditions that can be worsened by changing the climate conditions in theย background.

What role could be more important for government than protecting the livelihood of its citizens, and using the best available science to doย so?

Iโ€™m not saying this is the best defense. All Iโ€™m saying is this: If youโ€™re working on a report with a two year time horizon, and you know that report is going to be attacked, then you should also be working on a strong explanation of why your report is important and valid. I sincerely hope that isย happening.

authordefault
Admin's short bio, lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit. Voluptate maxime officiis sed aliquam! Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit.

Related Posts

on

Critics say support for TMX means struggling Canadians end up paying the price as global fossil fuel companies โ€œreap the rewards.โ€

Critics say support for TMX means struggling Canadians end up paying the price as global fossil fuel companies โ€œreap the rewards.โ€
on

His push for more gas development alarms climate change experts amid growing evidence of declining global LNG demand.

His push for more gas development alarms climate change experts amid growing evidence of declining global LNG demand.
on

A pro-Trump, pro-oil oligarchy is being convened by a group backed by the owners of GB News, campaigners say.

A pro-Trump, pro-oil oligarchy is being convened by a group backed by the owners of GB News, campaigners say.
on

Office of Management and Budget General Counsel Mark Paoletta reportedly drafted the memo that took aim at the โ€œgreen new dealโ€ but caused widespread upheaval.

Office of Management and Budget General Counsel Mark Paoletta reportedly drafted the memo that took aim at the โ€œgreen new dealโ€ but caused widespread upheaval.