SALON

Tuesday, Jan 22, 2013 10:52 PM UTC

How will the House Science Committee address climate change?

An upcoming hearing intends to address climate change and other environmental issues without "a partisan agenda"

By

Topics: Climate Change, Barack Obama, Global Warming, House Science Committee, House Republicans, Lamar Smith, climate skeptics,

How will the House Science Committee address climate change?(Credit: J. Scott Applewhite)

In his inaugural address, President Obama surprised the left by pledging to “respond to the threat of climate change” during his second term, “knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations.” But one major hurdle will be Republicans in the House of Representatives, who helped scuttle climate change legislation in 2010, and who will likely force the president to use his executive powers to implement any kind of new regulations.

The House Science Committee is representative of one aspect of this dilemma, and a planned hearing to discuss factors that contribute to climate change could showcase just how many Republicans on the committee are decidedly anti-science. The hearing is still taking shape but will take place sometime in the coming weeks, according to a committee aide.

Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, the committee’s chairman, said in a statement that he hopes the hearing will “focus on the facts rather than on a partisan agenda”:

“I believe climate change is due to a combination of factors, including natural cycles and human activity.  But scientists still don’t know for certain how much each of these factors contributes to the overall climate change that the Earth is experiencing.  It is the role of the Science Committee to create a forum for discussion so Congress and the American people can hear from experts and draw reasoned conclusions. During this process, we should focus on the facts rather than on a partisan agenda.”

In the past, Smith has decried ABC, NBC and CBS coverage of climate change that was “largely slanted in favor of global warming alarmists.”

“The networks have shown a steady pattern of bias on climate change,” Smith wrote in a 2009 statement. “During a six-month period, four out of five network news reports failed to acknowledge any dissenting opinions about global warming, according to a Business and Media Institute study.”

Smith’s not the only one on the committee with doubts. As Salon has reported, there are several Republican committee members who have dabbled in climate change skepticism, among other things. For instance, Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin has previously described climate change research as part of an “international conspiracy,” and “scientific fascism.” And Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California once posited that a similar period of climate change 55 million years ago could have been caused by, well, anything: “We don’t know what those other cycles were caused by in the past. Could be dinosaur flatulence, you know, or who knows?”

Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com. More Jillian Rayfield.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • This photo. President Barack Obama has a laugh during the unveiling of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Tx., Thursday. Former first lady Barbara Bush, who candidly admitted this week we've had enough Bushes in the White House, is unamused.
    Reuters/Jason Reed

  • Rescue workers converge Wednesday in Savar, Bangladesh, where the collapse of a garment building killed more than 300. Factory owners had ignored police orders to vacate the work site the day before.
    AP/A.M. Ahad

  • Police gather Wednesday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to honor campus officer Sean Collier, who was allegedly killed in a shootout with the Boston Marathon bombing suspects last week.
    AP/Elise Amendola

  • Police tape closes the site of a car bomb that targeted the French embassy in Libya Tuesday. The explosion wounded two French guards and caused extensive damage to Tripoli's upscale al-Andalus neighborhood.
    AP/Abdul Majeed Forjani

  • Protestors rage outside the residence of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday following the rape of a 5-year-old girl in New Delhi. The girl was allegedly kidnapped and tortured before being abandoned in a locked room for two days.
    AP/Manish Swarup

  • Clarksville, Mo., residents sit in a life boat Monday after a Mississippi River flooding, the 13th worst on record.
    AP/Jeff Roberson

  • Workers pause Wednesday for a memorial service at the site of the West, Tx., fertilizer plant explosion, which killed 14 people and left a crater more than 90 feet wide.
    AP/The San Antonio Express-News, Tom Reel

  • Aerial footage of the devastation following a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in China's Sichuan province last Saturday. At least 180 people were killed and as many as 11,000 injured in the quake.
    AP/Liu Yinghua

  • On Wednesday, Hazmat-suited federal authorities search a martial arts studio in Tupelo, Miss., once operated by Everett Dutschke, the newest lead in the increasingly twisty ricin case. Last week, President Barack Obama, Sen. Roger Wicker, R.-Miss., and a Mississippi judge were each sent letters laced with the deadly poison.
    AP/Rogelio V. Solis

  • The lighting of Freedom Hall at the George W. Bush Presidential Center Thursday is celebrated with (what else but) red, white and blue fireworks.
    AP/David J. Phillip

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 19 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
Would we give up burgers to stop climate change? New study suggests if we reduce our intake of animal products by 25%, we can halt climate change
669 points670 points | 292 comments
vote
Facebook has been used to find ex-lovers, childhood BFFs or the one who got away. He used it to find the guy who, without his consent, made him his drug mule.
237 points238 points | 23 comments
vote
“This could be a career ender for Michele Bachmann”
147 points148 points | 63 comments
vote
Poll: 3 in 10 voters say “armed revolution might be necessary” - 29% say they believe they'll have to act "in order to protect our liberties" in the next few years
46 points47 points | 16 comments
vote
Capitalism, not feminism, killed home cooking–and fixing our broken food system is gonna take a lot more than some privileged women embracing “new domesticity”
31 points32 points | 19 comments

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "The Shelter Cycle": Raised in a cult

Recommendations