Dr. Roy Spencer, principal research scientist at the University of Alabama-Huntsville and former Senior Scientist for Climate Studies at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, has been appointed Chairman of the Climate Science Coalition of America. In addition, Eugene Langschwager, a leading environmental engineer with more than twenty years of professional experience, has been appointed as the coalition’s executive director.
The Climate Science Coalition of America (CSCA) is a branch of the recently created International Climate Science Coalition.
Scientific Focus
Langschwager wants the CSCA to focus on the science surrounding climate change and the common ground global warming proponents and skeptics share.
“If there is common ground between global warming activists and the people who are skeptical of the theory, then we should probably acknowledge those areas,” Langschwager said.
Spencer agrees with that and also wants the organization to become a leading organization for skeptics of global warming.
“I would like to see the CSCA provide a more unified voice from us ‘global warming optimists’ that can set the record straight regarding our beliefs,” he said.
Focusing on Science
Spencer wants to remind the public that global warming is still only a theory, not a fact.
“There are a number of theories we have concerning the true causes of climate change, either warming or cooling, but the science is too immature to attribute a cause at this point. We can’t present a unified theory of warming because the science is not there yet. Remember, all it takes is one of these theories to be correct for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) explanation for warming to fall like a house of cards,” he said.
Langschwager says CSCA will not engage in the public policy debate over global warming.
“I don’t see CSCA going head-on in the policy side,” he said. “It is the science—focusing on the serious gaps in global warming theory. There are lots of areas we do not understand about climate science. Is the science really robust enough to [draw conclusions]? For the most part we will be shying away from the specifics of policy and focusing on the science.”
Political Cover-Up Seen
Spencer believes much of the science has been covered up by politicians.
“We think the science in this field has already been seriously skewed by the meddling of politicians and bureaucrats, and we hope to help make the public aware that there are peer-reviewed scientific studies out there that the IPCC has simply ignored, because those studies do not fit within their template,” said Spencer.
Spencer and Langschwager both are prepared to be attacked for questioning the claims of global warming alarmists.
“Because beliefs regarding global warming tend to be influenced by people’s politics, worldview, and even religious beliefs, we and others who are brave enough to speak out will continue to be attacked as flat-earthers or global warming deniers. So you have to have a thick skin to be on our side of the science. But the longer we go without seeing global warming resuming—global-average temperatures have been either flat or falling for at least seven years now—the more the public will question the ‘scientific consensus’ that still expects a global warming Armageddon,” Spencer explained.
Thomas Cheplick ([email protected]) writes from Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Thomas Cheplick, a freelance reporter for The Heartland Institute, writes from Cambridge, Massachusetts.
