This is an important story and I'm surprised that the recent climate change negotiations haven't received much attention on DKos. The British press has a story on a couple of documents that were passed to Greenpeace by the German energy company, RWE. In these documents a template is outlined for creating a "European Sound Climate Policy Coalition", a European disinformation campaign similar to the ones conducted in the United States.
As Chris Mooney has pointed out, 'sound science' is a right wing framing technique with an ignominious past. This is a logical extension to the campaign that we have seen waged in the United States with
a science fiction writer testifying to congress about the soundness of climate science and Exxon lobbyist,
Phil Cooney, rewriting National Science Foundation reports. We are witnessing an all-out attack on science and sustainable environmental policies.
From The Independent:
How America plotted to stop Kyoto deal:
Put together by a lobbyist who is a senior official at a group partly funded by ExxonMobil, the world's biggest oil company and a fierce opponent of anti-global warming measures, the plan seeks to draw together major international companies, academics, think-tanks, commentators, journalists and lobbyists from across Europe into a powerful grouping to destroy further EU support for the treaty.
It details just how the so-called "European Sound Climate Policy Coalition" would work. Based in Brussels, the plan would have anti-Kyoto position papers, expert spokesmen, detailed advice and networking instantly available to any politician or company who wanted to question the wisdom of proceeding with Kyoto and its demanding cuts in carbon dioxide emissions.
It has been drawn up by Chris Horner, a senior official with the Washington-based Competitive Enterprise Institute and a veteran campaigner against Kyoto and against the evidence of climate change. One of his colleagues who describes himself as an adviser to President George Bush was the subject of a censure motion by the Commons last year after he attacked the Government's chief scientist.
The unnamed colleague is Myron Ebell. Here is
the BBC interview that got him censured by the British parliament (real audio). In this interview, Ebell mentions the 1998 "hockey stick" study by Mann et al. He claims that this study was "thoroughly debunked". In fact, it's
the debunkers that have been debunked.
Given the recent news that CO2 levels are at their highest in 650,000 years and that an island village has been forced to relocate due to global warming, it's disturbing that any government would buy into this Exxon Mobil nonsense. And it's utterly appalling that our government would appoint an Exxon-favorite to represent us in Montreal.