Chip Knappenberger

Credentials

• M.S., Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia (1990). [1]
• B.A. degree, Environmental Science, University of Virginia (1986). [1]

Background

Paul C. (“Chip”) Knappenberger was the Assistant Director of the “Center for the Study of Science” at the Cato Institute. Knappenberger worked alongside the Center’s Director, fellow climate change denier Patrick J. Michaels. [16], [17]

Chip Knappenberger is the former Administrator of the World Climate Report, a blog published by New Hope Environmental Services, “an advocacy science consulting firm” run by global warming skeptic, Patrick J. Michaels. The last recorded post was October 5, 2012, and it is unclear if the website is still in operation. [6], [15]

Knappenberger has co-authored several papers with fellow skeptic Patrick Michaels and is a former contributor and “Principal” of MasterResource, a “free-market energy blog.” [1]

Stance on Climate Change

“The fact of the matter is that there does exist a growing body of scientific evidence that the climate changes in the coming decades will be modest and proceed at a rate that will lie somewhere near the low end of the IPCC projected temperature range.” [2]

Key Quotes

December, 2016

“It’s expected that the Arctic is going to warm more than the rest of the world. Now, does that mean it’s all doom and gloom? There, I take exception to that. […] Some particular elements of the press like to focus on the losers – and pretend like the winners don’t exist at all. But in that same annual Arctic report card from NOAA, there is plenty of good to be found there.” [21]

2015

“[W]e conclude that future global warming will occur at a pace substantially lower than that upon which US federal and international actions to restrict greenhouse gas emissions are founded. It is high time to rethink those efforts.” [20]

2013

“The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) has recently reached a ‘milestone’ of 400 parts per million (ppm). In some circles, this announcement has been met with consternation and gnashing of teeth. The proper reaction is celebration.” [18]

2011

“There is still a general lack of evidence that shows a statistically significant relationship between anthropogenic climate change and weather-related damage…” [4]

2010

“…the warming that appears in the compiled temperature history of the state [Utah] may not be evidence of regional (or larger-scale) climate change, but instead may be caused by non-climatic influences on the local thermometers.” [3]

Key Deeds

July, 2016

Chip Knappenberger criticized a letter to Congress from 31 science associations advocating policies to combat climate change, reports The Washington Times. [12]

On June 28, 2016, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) issued the letter and a press release introducing the letter, describing it as a  partnership of 31 leading nonpartisan scientific societies “reaffirming the reality of human-caused climate change, noting that greenhouse gas emissions ‘must be substantially reduced’ to minimize negative impacts on the global economy, natural resources, and human health.” [13]

The letter (PDF) addresses Members of Congress, writing to remind “of the consensus scientific view of climate change.” [14]

“Obviously folks should be free to deliver their opinions,” said Knappenberger. “That said, since many of these organizations publish some of the most respected scientific journals, it certainly calls into question the degree of objectivity to which new science pertaining to the issues addressed in the letter is treated with. This is a far greater concern.” [12]

July 5, 2016

Following the release of a study suggesting “favourable conditions for additional Antarctic sea ice growth since 2000,” Chip Knappenberger said that it “should come as a surprise to no one that natural variability is playing a strong role in Antarctic sea ice extent trends (i.e., recent growth),” reports The Washington Times. [10]

“It is wrong to suggest that growth there suggests that global warming is not happening,” said Chip Knappenberger, representing the Cato Institute’s Center for the Study of Science. “Mostly, we have merely brought it up to point out the fact that global warming alarmists were only telling part of the story by focusing on what was going on in the Arctic.”

InsideClimate News describes the phenomenon as a “paradox [that] has puzzled scientists for years and given climate-change deniers fodder to dispute global warming.” [11]

March 24, 2016

Writing in The Hill, Chip Knappenberger suggests that President Obama should back out of the Paris Climate pledge: [9]

“Rather than pay the rest of the world to look the other way, the president should revise, or better yet, rescind that promise.

And now is the time to do that, before the grand signing ceremony of the Paris Climate Agreement that is scheduled for April 22, Earth Day, at the UN’s New York headquarters. Putting our name on a promise that we know we can’t keep would be a disingenuous act, painting the Paris Agreement not as a serious undertaking, but as a global publicity stunt.” [9]

December 15, 2015

Chip Knappenberger co-authored a “working paper” with Patrick J. Michaels at the Cato Institute. The paper (PDF) makes “The case for lukewarming — modest anthropogenic climate change in accordance with the lower end of expectations from mainstream science,” which Michaels and Knappenberger describe as “simple, straightforward, and compelling.” [19], [20]

May, 2010

Knappenberger was a speaker at the Heartland Institute‘s Fourth International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC4) where he gave a speech titled “Assessing the Consistency Between Short-Term Global Temperature Trends on Observations and Climate Model Projections.“ [5]

DeSmog has done research on the co-sponsors of the conference and found that 19 of the 65 sponsors (including Heartland itself) have received a total of over $40 million in funding since 1985 from ExxonMobil, Koch Industries family foundations or the Scaife family foundations.

Affiliations

• Cato Institute — Former Assistant Director, Center for the Study of Science [16]
• MasterResource — Former Contributor and “Principal.”
• World Climate Report (WCR) — Former “Administrator” (Last recorded post was in October, 2012)  [6], [15]
• New Hope Environmental Services — Past “Technical Supervisor,” [7] and “Climate Researcher.” [1]

Social Media

• @PCKnappanberger on Twitter.

Publications

According to Knappenberger’s archived profile at MasterResource, he has authored or co-authored over 20 papers “appearing in the peer-reviewed scientific literature,” and others in scientific conference proceedings, professional journals, and the press. [1]

Many of his papers were co-authored with fellow skeptic Patrick J. Michaels, and published by the Cato Institute a swell as other think tanks such as the Science and Public Policy Institute (SPPI). Some of Knappenberger’s scientific articles have been debunked by DeepClimate. [8]

Sample Publications Listed at Cato Institute

Commentary

Article	Publication	Date
The Lessons from El Nino	TownHall.com	March 24, 2016
Confusion at Science?	TownHall.com	March 5, 2016
U.S. Mineral Resources Need to Be Mined, Not Undermined	Forbes	March 1, 2016
Clean Power without the Clean Power Plan	Real Clear Policy	February 19, 2016
A Green Mess: Is EPA in Hot Water over Alaska’s Bristol Bay?	American Spectator (Online)	February 11, 2016
The Climate Snow Job	The Wall Street Journal	January 24, 2016
Natural Gas Naysayers Have It All Wrong	Real Clear Policy	January 12, 2016
“Homogenized” US Warming Trend May Be Grossly Exaggerated	TownHall.com	December 29, 2015
The Paris Climate Deal: Is That All You Get for Your Money?	Daily Caller	December 15, 2015
The Long-Range Climate Forecast Goes Bust	Daily Caller	December 8, 2015
Business as Usual at the Paris Climate Conference	National Review (Online)	November 23, 2015
Does Climate Change Actually Fuel Terrorism?	Huffington Post	November 18, 2015
Food and Witches to Burn	The Hill (Online)	October 29, 2015
Wishful Thinking Meets Hard Realities in Energy Production	Newsweek	October 22, 2015
What Should Pope Francis Say about Climate Change?	Washington Examiner	September 22, 2015
The Latest Climate Kerfuffle	Real Clear Policy	August 20, 2015
Pope Francis Recycles (Stale Arguments about Climate)	Daily Caller	June 19, 2015
When Will Climate Scientists Say They Were Wrong?	TownHall.com	May 29, 2015
The Climate Courage of Pope Francis	National Review (Online)	April 27, 2015
Climate Change’s False Illusion of Progress	The Hill (Online)	April 16, 2015
FEMA Asks Michigan to Do the Impossible	Detroit News	April 9, 2015
FEMA Wants Georgia to Earn Funds by Crystal-Ball Storm Forecasting	The Augusta Chronicle	April 4, 2015
FEMA Tells Oklahoma to Do the Impossible … Or Else	Tulsa World	March 27, 2015
FEMA Asks Louisiana to Do the Impossible — Or Else	The Advocate	March 24, 2015
FEMA Is Asking Mississippi to Do the Impossible … Or Lose Disaster Aid	SunHerald	March 24, 2015

Other Sample Publications

• Patrick J. Michaels, P.C. Knappenberger, and R.E. Davis, “The way of warming” (PDF), Regulation, Cato Institute, January 1, 2000, Volume 33, pages 10-16. Archived February 15, 2007. Archived .pdf on file at Desmog.
• Patrick J. Michaels, and P.C. Knappenberger, “Natural signals in the MSU lower tropospheric temperature record,” Geophysical Research Letters, August 2, 2000, Volume 27, pages 2905-2908.
• Paul C. Knappenberger, “Utah’s Climate Variability,” SPPI Original Paper, September 29, 2010. Science and Public Policy Institute.
• P.C. Knappenberger, Patrick J. Michaels and R.E. Davis, “The Nature of Observed Temperature Changes Across the United States During the 20th Century ” (PDF), Climate Research, July 2001, Volume 17, pages 45-53.
• J.D. Hux, P.C. Knappenberger, Patrick J. Michaels, and P.J. Stenger, “Development of a discriminant analysis mixed precipitation (DAMP) forecast model for mid-Atlantic winter storms” (PDF), Weather and Forecasting, Number 16, 2001, pages 248-259.

Resources

1. “About – MasterResource,” MasterResource (blog). Archived February 19, 2012. Archived .pdf on file at Desmog.
2. “Global Warming is More Scare than Science – (absolutely!),” Chronwatch.com, June 19, 2005. Republished by Freerepublic.com. Archived July 28, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/qZwW4
3. Paul C. Knappenberger, “Utah’s Climate Variability,” SPPI Original Paper, September 29, 2010. Science and Public Policy Institute. Archived .pdf on file at Desmog.
4. “Coal: ‘Externalities’ Can be Positive, Not Only Negative,” MasterResource , March 7, 2011. Archived July 28, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/I9Y0Q
5. “Fourth International Conference on Climate Change, Program,” (PDF) Heartland Institute. Archived January 23, 2018.
6. “Staff,” World Climate Report, March 15, 2005. Arhived July 28, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/UpsbJ
7. “Droughting the forecast,” The Heartlander, July 1, 2000. Archived July 28, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/hnNDU
8. “Michaels and Knappenberger’s World Climate Report: ‘No warming whatsoever over the past decade’,” Deep Climate, June 6, 2010. Archived July 26, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/LLsLE
9. Paul C. “Chip” Knappenberger. “Time to Fess Up and Walk Back Our Paris Pledge,” The Hill , March 24, 2016. Archived April 12, 2016. WebCite URL: http://www.webcitation.org/6giocviJg
10. Valerie Richardson. “Expanding Antarctic sea ice caused by ‘natural climate fluctuations,’ study finds,” The Washington Times, July 5, 2016. Archived July 26, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/JJNjJ
11. “Why Is Antarctica’s Sea Ice Growing While the Arctic Melts? Scientists Have an Answer,” InsideClimate News, May 31, 2016. Archived July 26, 2016.
12. “Science groups blasted for crossing line into activism with climate-change letter to Congress,” The Washington Times, July 6, 2016. Archived July 27, 2016.  Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/TPUTd
13. (Press Release). “Thirty-One Top Scientific Societies Speak with One Voice on Global Climate Change,” AAAS.org, June 28, 2016. Archived July 27, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/p1Wq5
14. “Dear Members of Congress” (PDF), AAAS.org, June 28, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at Desmog.
15. Homepage. World Climate Report. Archived July 28, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/LLq1P
16. “Paul C. ‘Chip’ Knappenberger,” Cato Institute. Archived July 28, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/QJcph
17. “Patrick J. Michaels: Director, Center For The Study Of Science,” Cato Institute. Archived July 28, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/fslBz
18. Paul C. “Chip” Knappenberger and Patrick J. Michaels. “CO2: 400ppm and Growing,” Cato Institute, May 14, 2013. Archived July 28, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/yGSBh
19. Patrick J. Michaels and Paul C. “Chip” Knappenberger. “Climate Models and Climate Reality: A Closer Look at a Lukewarming World,” Cato Institute, December 15, 2015. Archived July 28, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/Ibx13
20. Patrick J. Michaels and Paul C. “Chip” Knappenberger. “Climate Models and Climate Reality: A Closer Look at a Lukewarming World” (PDF), Cato Institute, December 15, 2015. Archived .pdf on file at Desmog.
21. “Expert: Arctic heating up, but it’s not a bad thing …” One News Now, December 22, 2016. Archived December 27, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/Z9izo

Other Resources

• “Chip Knappenberger,” SourceWatch Profile.