CAN THERE BE AN INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION OF IPCC? – update 13/05/2010

In my articles of 14th April and 31st March I commented on the politically inspired whitewashing of the UEA CRU following the leaking of E-mails in November. First there was the whitewash by the UK’s Commons Science and Technology Committee then another by the UEA’s “independent” review chaired by Lord Oxburgh. It looks as though we’ll soon have the media reporting a third, this one by the UEA’s own review team chaired by Sir Muir Russell.

Early in December, shortly after the Climategate scandal broke it was announced that the UEA would fund an independent enquiry (Note 1) into the leaking of CRU E-mails which would report in “the Spring”. The most recent entry at its Web-site (Note 2) was on 17th April and simply said QUOTE: "The Review team has read and noted all submissions, and is currently working towards its conclusions UNQUOTE. The enquiry team comprises:

- Sir Muir Russell l KCB FRSE,
- Professor Geoffrey Boulton OBE, FRS, FRS,
- Professor Peter Clarke F.InstP, C.Phys, F.IET, C.Eng,
- David Eyton M.A. M.IoM3 C.Eng,
- Professor Jim Norton FIET FBCS FIoD FRSA - Vice President BCS - Chartered Institute for IT

It was reported (Note 3) that Russel’s web-site says QUOTE: Do any of the Review team members have a predetermined view on climate change and climate science? No. Members of the research team come from a variety of scientific backgrounds. They were selected on the basis they have no prejudicial interest in climate change and climate science and for the contribution they can make to the issues the Review is looking at UNQUOTE. Let’s find out for ourselves if this is the case. Following the previous “whitewash” enquiries it is important to look closely at the credentials of the members of the Russel team.

Muir Russell was appointed as a member of the Scottish Power Advisory Board in 2007 (Note 4). This company is owned by Spanish energy giant Iberdrola which is making significant (9Billion Euro during 2010-2012) investment in the wind energy sector, including Scottish offshore wind farms (Note 5). Muir Russell also has a background in Scottish political activities.

Geoffrey Boulton is reported (Note 6) as saying QUOTE: “The argument regarding climate change is over.” -- .. December 2005

“We have the evidence, we have a consensus on scientific interpretation, we have the investment, we know (Stern) that mitigation now rather than later is cheaper. But, we have not sorted out the politics and started to adapt behaviour to minimize risks. We cannot do this without public support. If we fail, we will be risking the consequences of catastrophic climate changes.” -- .. 29 October 2009 UNQUOTE. It is also reported (Note 7) on 7th October 2009 that QUOTE: Professor Boulton, who chairs the Energy Committee of the Royal Society (the world’s oldest national science academy) and is very active in European Union preparations for the landmark climate summit in Copenhagen, continued, “Coca-Cola Hellenic is taking responsibility and leadership by collaborating with a technology company ContourGlobal in reducing emissions. It represents an early step in responding to what is probably the most difficult challenge that the human race has ever collectively had to face, that of global climate and planetary sustainability” UNQUOTE.

David Eyton, Group Head of Research & Technology – BP, is reported to have originated a presentation given in April to “Stanford University Conference on Technology, Governance and Global Development” (Note 8) saying QUOTE: .. BP remains the largest oil and gas producer in the United States .. BP has one of the largest wind portfolios in America .. are the largest blender and marketer of biofuels in the United States. .. involved in three major Carbon Capture and Storage projects - in Algeria ..

That said, fossil fuels will still dominate the energy landscape for many decades to come. Even under the International Energy Agency's most ambitious scenario - which stabilizes atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions at 450ppm - the scale of the oil and gas business will be similar in 2050 to the one we have today.

UNQUOTE. On this basis BP is in a win-win position.

Peter Clarke, Professor of e-Science at the University of Edinburgh and director of the Institute for e-Science at Edinburgh appears not to have expressed strong views about global climate change either way, however, in 2008 (Note 9) Edinburgh University was angling for greater involvement in the modelling of global climates. It became custodian of HECToR (High End Computing Terascale Resources), a £115M Cray supercomputer to be used for research, including – climate modelling.

Jim Norton, Vice President BCS - Chartered Institute for IT appears not to have expressed strong views either way about global climate change however, he has significant involvement within political circles (Note 10) hence could be subjected to political influence.

It is clear from the above that all of the members of the review team could be considered to have vested interest in the continuation of acceptance of the UN’s climate change propaganda, whether arising from scientific bias, funding pressures or political influence. It looks as though there could well be another UK whitewash, although they do say “third time lucky”.

It should be noted that Sir Muir Russell said of the enquiry QUOTE: "However, it is not our role to re-appraise the CRU's scientific conclusions. Those will be examined by the Royal Society review announced today" UNQUOTE. I find it hard to accept that Lord Oxburgh’s team could have done justice to a review of the science in a review that was rushed to a conclusion in just a few weeks.

NOTES:
1) see http://www.cce-review.org/Biogs.php
2) see http://www.cce-review.org/News.php
3) see http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100025934/climategate-the-official-cover-up-continues/
4) see http://www.scottishpower.com/PressReleases_1612.htm
5) see http://www.renewableenergyfocus.com/view/7757/iberdrola-creates-scottish-offshore-wind-energy-division/
6) see http://briefingroom.typepad.com/the_briefing_room/2010/02/more-scandal-in-climategate-review-another-panellist-biased.html
7) see http://www.coca-colahellenic.com/home/2009-10-07
8) see http://www.bp.com/genericarticle.do?categoryId=98&contentId=7061445
9) see http://www.ucs.ed.ac.uk/bits/2008/october_2008/bits.pdf and http://www.hector.ac.uk/news-events/press/releases/2007-02-22.php
10) see http://www.profjimnorton.com/

Best regards,