[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 20 (Thursday, February 1, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E227-E228]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        ADMINISTRATION INTERFERENCE WITH CLIMATE CHANGE SCIENCE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 31, 2007

  Mr. KUCINICH. Madam Speaker, I gave the attached statement, in 
opposition to the Administration's interference in Climate Change 
science on January 30, 2007.
  Hearing on ``Political Interference with Science: Global Warming'' 
January 30, 2007.
  I want to first thank the Chairman for holding this hearing that, 
like so many other hearings we will be having, is long overdue. Global 
warming will be a defining issue of this generation and of many to 
come.
  There is substantial scientific certainty around climate change. 
Scientists are confident that global warming is happening. Similarly, 
the vast majority of experts on the issue agree that human activities 
are to blame. If that was not obvious already, it will be after this 
week when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change releases its 
long awaited report.
  The only uncertainty to be debated is the pace and intensity of 
warming that will face us. Will the pace of warming remain steady or 
accelerate predictably? Or can we expect

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more abrupt changes as enormous stores of methane hydrate, a gas with 
several times the heat retention capacity of carbon dioxide, is 
released from the ocean floor and expanses of permafrost? These gases 
are released as the natural mechanisms keeping them sequestered are 
broken down by warming. Permafrost melts. Ocean temperature and acidity 
rise. The historical record contains strong evidence that abrupt 
climate change has corresponded with a single release of vast stores of 
methane hydrate.
  This uncertainty is real. It stands in stark contrast to the alleged 
uncertainties that have been manufactured by those who stand to profit 
by perpetuating the status quo as long as possible.
  To resolve and manage the real uncertainty, we must have the best 
scientific information possible at our fingertips in order to weigh 
risks and benefits of all available policy responses. That is only one 
of the reasons that the casualness with which this Administration sends 
unqualified political appointees to edit scientific findings is so 
pernicious. It is also destructive because accurate information is the 
bedrock of any democratic society. Without it, citizens cannot hold 
their leaders accountable for their actions, or in this case, 
inactions.
  Sadly, such distortion of the truth has a proven track record of 
effectiveness. Indeed an entire industry has been created to 
manufacture scientific doubt where there is none. It is a technique 
that was mainstreamed by the tobacco industry and refined by others who 
stand to profit from scientific obfuscation like the chemical industry 
and the pharmaceutical industry. In fact, an entire industry that 
specializes in creating scientific uncertainty has taken root. It 
consists of PR agencies, pseudo scientific consultants and well paid 
think tanks. The strategy not only works, but is profitable.
  Making matters worse, today we will see evidence that the taxpayers 
have been subsidizing the distortion of the findings of world class 
scientists on the topic. At best, it is corporate welfare. At worst, it 
undermines democracy and puts the delicate ecosystems on which we all 
intimately depend, at risk. My hope is that this hearing marks the 
beginning of the end of this practice.

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