This email chain is all about an SSI alert from the Union of Concerned Scientists.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: SSI Alert: IPCC Chair Vote
Date: Fri, 19 Apr 2002 18:00:59 -0400
From: "SSI Mailbox"
******************* EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ********************
ISSUE: Today - April 19, 2002, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) plenary voted for Dr. Rajendra Pachauri as the sole chair of the IPCC. Dr. Pachauri, an economist and engineer, will replace Dr. Robert Watson, an atmospheric chemist, as chair of the IPCC. This outcome was actively sought by the Bush Administration at the behest of the most conservative elements of the fossil fuel industry. This development threatens to undermine the scientific credibility and integrity of the IPCC and may weaken the job this extraordinary body has done to bring the world's attention to one of the most pressing environmental problems.
ACTION: Monitor your local paper and respond to news stories with a letter-to-the-editor.
MAIN MESSAGE: Given the Bush Administration's consistent opposition to climate change mitigation, it is especially imperative at this time that the scientific community and Dr. Pachauri work together to ensure that the IPCC remains a strong and credible scientific process.
DEADLINE: As soon as possible after the story runs in your paper -- preferably the same day but no later than a day or two after.
********************************************* THE ISSUE ***
And there is a whole lot more in there to wade through.
I am not surprised by this - this simply shows how modern lobbying groups work in all fields of endeavour. However, to the average man in the street, it might come as a surprise to find that all those "unrelated" letters to the editor in his local paper did not all originate in the fertile imaginations of multiple authors. Instead, they were mainly driven by a centralised body that actively pushed members to write letters on the issue of global warming, thus keeping it at the forefront of the media agenda.
*** SUPPORTING MESSAGES ***
-- [Be sure to include a description of your scientific expertise, your involvement with the IPCC process, or the importance of the climate issue to your community.]
-- For the past 10 years, the IPCC's science has been the foundation for sound policymaking on the climate issue. The IPCC's unique intergovernmental approach to scientific consensus has worked amazingly well but is now threatened.
-- It is disturbing that the Bush Administration sought and received advice from the fossil fuel industry on the leadership of an important scientific body such as the IPCC. A politicized IPCC threatens the integrity and credibility of the scientific process.
-- There are fears that it will now be easier for the US to distance itself from the IPCC process. You may point out that the US already rejected the Kyoto protocol last year.
-- It is vital that the scientific process for the next Assessment Report (due out in another five years) not be compromised so that the IPCC continues to produce sound science on climate change.
-- The credibility of the IPCC's Third Assessment Report (TAR) findings were strongly affirmed by the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS), which published its supportive report in response to President Bush's request for an independent assessment on the state of climate science.
Note how they say that even if their local paper didn't run a story on this issue, they should still write in and say that it is important to their subscribers! Great way to put pressure on the editor to run with the global warming agenda.
*** SUPPORTING MESSAGES ***
-- [Be sure to include a description of your scientific expertise, your involvement with the IPCC process, or the importance of the climate issue to your community.]
-- For the past 10 years, the IPCC's science has been the foundation for sound policymaking on the climate issue. The IPCC's unique intergovernmental approach to scientific consensus has worked amazingly well but is now threatened.
-- It is disturbing that the Bush Administration sought and received advice from the fossil fuel industry on the leadership of an important scientific body such as the IPCC. A politicized IPCC threatens the integrity and credibility of the scientific process.
-- There are fears that it will now be easier for the US to distance itself from the IPCC process. You may point out that the US already rejected the Kyoto protocol last year.
-- It is vital that the scientific process for the next Assessment Report (due out in another five years) not be compromised so that the IPCC continues to produce sound science on climate change.
-- The credibility of the IPCC's Third Assessment Report (TAR) findings were strongly affirmed by the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS), which published its supportive report in response to President Bush's request for an independent assessment on the state of climate science.
*** SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION ***
-- Dr Rajendra K. Pachauri is an Indian engineer and economist. Pachauri, formerly one of the five vice chairs of the IPCC, is highly regarded but will be the first non- atmospheric chemist as chair of the IPCC.
-- For more information on the ExxonMobil memo urging the Bush Administration to remove Dr. Watson from his position as IPCC Chair, please see http://www.nrdc.org/media/docs/020403.pdf
-- For information on the Saudi/Pearlman connection, see the summary by Jeremy Leggett, author of "The Carbon War", at http://www.carbonwar.com/ccchrono.html >.
I love how this group is saying that the IPCC needs to remain non-political, when this is the most blatantly political action that you can take! The hypocrisy of it is breath-taking. Note the dirt-digging as well on the Bush nominee.
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