The Inquisition of Climate Science

249 Pages·2011·3.025 MB·English

by  James Lawrence Powell

James Lawrence Powell Advance Praise for P $27.95
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on was born and raised in Ken- The Inquisition of Climate Science w
orris tucky and graduated from e Modern science is under the greatest and most
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David Berea College. He received “James Lawrence Powell’s must-read book is a welcome addition to the growing l struyc coefs sdfeunl iaalt,t aacbke ttiend rbeyc ennetw hs ismtoerdyi.a Aannd i“nidnufos--
o credit: htriys fProhm.D M. iInT Ganedo chhaesm hiasd- literature debunking fossil fuel–funded, anti-science disinformation. As Powell makes clear, T tainment” broadcasters more interested in selling
hot a distinguished career as a it is time for scientists to stand up and be counted.” controversy than presenting facts, has duped half
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the American public into rejecting the facts of
college teacher, college president, museum direc- —Joseph Romm, e
tor, and author of books on earth science for gen- senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, climate science—an overwhelming body of rigor-
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eral audiences. He serves as executive director of author of Hell and High Water n ously vetted scientifi c evidence showing that hu-
q man-caused, carbon-based emissions are linked
the National Physical Science Consortium, a part-
nership among government agencies and labora- “With the evidence for global warming so strong, why, Powell asks, does half the u to warming the earth. Th e industry of climate sci-
tories, industry, and higher education dedicated to American public doubt it? His answer is a history of the campaign of denial, the most is ence denial is succeeding: public acceptance has
increasing the number of American citizens with comprehensive and up-to-date history available. It is well written and well worth i declined even as the scientifi c evidence for global
t
graduate degrees in the physical sciences and re- reading: this is the most important issue facing our generation.” i warming has increased. It is vital that the public
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understand how anti-science ideologues, pseudo-
lated engineering fi elds, emphasizing recruitment —Spencer Weart,
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of a diverse applicant pool that includes women author of Th e Discovery of Global Warming scientists, and non-scientists have bamboozled

o them. We cannot aff ord to get global warming
and minorities. He has taught at Oberlin College
and has served as its acting president. He has also “Th is book is a winner, written in an easy, logical style with thorough and fascinating f wrong—yet we are, thanks to deniers and their
The
been president of Franklin and Marshall College, discussions of major deniers.” C methods.
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Reed College, the Franklin Institute Science Mu- —Orrin Pilkey, i
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seum in Philadelphia, and the Los Angeles Coun- Duke University, coauthor of Th e Rising Sea The Inquisition of Climate Science is the fi rst book
ty Museum of Natural History. Both Presidents a Inquisition to comprehensively take on the climate science
Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush appointed “Powell consistently brings the sharp insight of a knowledgeable insider melded with t denial movement and the deniers themselves,
e
Powell to the National Science Board. the skepticism of a critical outsider to the most important issues in science. In his latest exposing their lack of credentials, their extensive

book—his best yet—he shows us the path to understanding climate change.” S
industry funding, and their failure to provide any
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—Peter D. Ward, alternative theory to explain the observed evi-
i of Climate
Th e University of Washington, e
dence of warming. In this book, readers meet the
author of Th e Flooded Earth: Our Future in a World Without Ice Caps n
most prominent deniers while dissecting their
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credentials, arguments, and lack of objectivity.
“Th is courageous and well-researched book exposes how ideologues and money e
James Lawrence Powell shows that the deniers use
combined to attack sound climate science.” Science
a wide variety of deceptive rhetorical techniques,
—Richard Somerville,
many stretching back to ancient Greece. Careful-
University of California, San Diego,
ly researched, fully referenced, and compellingly
Jacket image: Cristiano, Banti, Galileo Facing the Roman Inquisition, author of Th e Forgiving Air: Understanding Environmental Change
1857. Image courtesy of Prof. Paolo Galluzzi, Museo Galileo, Co written, his book clearly reveals that the evidence
Firenze. Permission courtesy of Palazzo Foresti Collection, Carpi. l
u
Printed in the U.S.A. m James Lawrence Powell of global warming is real and that an industry of
Jacket graph: Background graph shows projected increases in mean b
global surface temperature under three emission scenarios, and is COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS / NEW YORK ia denial has deceived the American public, putting
based on fi ndings from the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report. cup.columbia.edu them and their grandchildren at risk.
The Inquisition of Climate Science
http://avaxho.me/blogs/ChrisRedfield
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The
IN QUI SITION
of CLIMATE
SCIEN CE
James Lawrence Powell
Columbia University Press / New York
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Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
Copyright © 2011 James Lawrence Powell
All rights reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Powell, James Lawrence, 1936–
The inquisition of climate science / James Lawrence Powell.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-231-15718-6 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-231-52784-2 (ebook)
1. Global warming. 2. Climatic changes. I. Title.
QC981.8.G56P69 2011
363.738'74—dc23
2011018611

Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper.
This book is printed on paper with recycled content.
Printed in the United States of America
c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
References to Internet Web sites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither the au-
thor nor Columbia University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or changed
since the manuscript was prepared.

On page ix the epigraph by Carl Sagan is from a speech he delivered in 1995; see http://seti
.sentry.net/archive/public/1999/5–99/00000351.htm. The epigraph by Richard Feynman is
from “Personal Observations on the Reliability of the Shuttle,” A ppendix F, NASA Challenger
Report (1986); see http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/51-l/docs/rogers-commission/
Appendix-F.txt.
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To
James E. Hansen,
Michael E. Mann,
Benjamin D. Santer,
and the late Stephen H. Schneider

SCIENTISTS OF
COURAGE AND INTEGRITY
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Contents
Preface xiii
Introduction 1
Not Skeptics, Deniers 4
1 Science and Potemkin Science 7
Never a Crisis 9
A Political Movement 10
A Cheap Tuxedo 11
Better Than Scientists 14
2 Adventures in Denierland 15
Urban Myth? 17
Cave Junction 20
3 The Evidence for Consensus 24
Spam Filter 24
Newton’s Second Law 28
Polling Scientists 31
An Extremely Pernicious Development 33
4 Discovery of Global Warming 36
One of the Oldest Theories 36
A Large-Scale Geophysical Experiment 40
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Contents | VIII
5 The Greenhouse Effect: From Curiosity to Threat 43

Models Predict Warming 44
Globetrotters 45
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 47
6 Global Warming:
All You Really Need to Know in One Chart 51
7 Tobacco Tactics: The Scientist-Deniers 54
All of Those People Are Wrong 54
With All Due Respect, Dr. Michaels 58
The $45 Million Man 60
If Science Doesn’t Have Integrity 63
Blue Marble 65
Nuke Vietnam? 67
Foot Soldier 71
8 Fear of State: The Nonscientists 73
Aren’t You Embarrassed, Mr. Will? 73
Once Again 78
The Lomborg Deception 83
Bed-Wetting, Messianic, Moaning-Minnies 88
9 Toxic Tanks 93
Harry and Louise 94
Tale from the Crypt 96
Please Don’t Poop in My Salad 97
Embarrassing General Marshall 101
Push Down on the Accelerator 103
10 An Industry to Trust 110
Most Profi table Company in History 110
An Industry That Cannot Afford Denial 116
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IX | Contents
11 Balance as Bias: How the Media Missed
“The Story of the Century” 121
The Prestige Press 122
Plumes of Smoke from China 124
Carbongate 126
End of Objectivity? 128
Systemic Failure 130
12 Science Under Attack 133
It’s the Sun, Ozone, Volcanoes, Sulfates 133
Testosterone 135
Watts Up with That? 136
Slap Shot 137
The Medieval Warm Period 140
Do Climate Models Work? 141
Did Global Warming End in 1998? 142
Chicken or Egg? 143
GRACE 145
Tropospheric Cooling? 146
13 Greatest Hoax in History? 148
Who’s to Blame? Liberals, of Course 149
To Command Spring 150
Funding Research 152
Traitors 155
14 Climategate: Much Ado About Nothing 159
One Million Words 162
Innocent of All Charges 163
Gates and More Gates 167
15 Anatomy of Denial 170
To Roll Back Industrial Society 177
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