At the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen next month. President Obama will pledge major cuts in U.S. carbon emissions and try to convince other nations to do the same. He may have a harder time of it, now that leaked e-mails from climate change scientists have suggested that humans may not be as culpable when it comes global warming as was generally believed. As a new poll indicates, fewer Americans believe global warming is mankind's fault. Wiill "Climategate" derail Obama's plan for greener days? (Watch a Fox report about an investigation into Climategate)
The hackers did this to sabotage Copenhagen: It’s no coincidence that the controversial e-mails and data were leaked "right before the Copenhagen debate," says one of the hacked scientists, Kevin Trenberth, to the AP. The hackers’ goal was to undermine the scientific consensus on man-made climate change. "I personally feel violated."
"Scientist: leak of climate change e-mails appalling"
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How can Obama ignore this? Obama is going "full steam ahead to Copenhagen" as if Climategate "never happened," says Roger L. Simon at Pajamas Media. But how can we spend "untold billions or trillions" lowering carbon emissions on the basis of "corrupt" data? The truth is "we don't know what we know." I agree that "pollution is bad," but "this stinks."
"Climategate and the 'T-word'"
'Climategate' shouldn't change anything: What stinks is this bogus "conspiracy," says Brad Johnson at Think Progress. Thanks to "incontrovertible science" based on decades of solid research, we know that burning fossil fuels is "drastically reshaping our planet’s climate." If we get derailed now, keeping the Earth habitable will only get "more difficult and expensive."
"SuperFreak Dubner Embraces ‘Climategate’ Swiftboating"
We can't rely on this data to make laws: "Climategate" doesn't prove that man-made global warming is a hoax, says Megan McArdle on The Atlantic. But it does show that the main computer model policymakers rely on to "estimate the costs of global warming" is "complete rubbish." That’s "a big problem," and until we figure out how big, Obama should "probably hold off on policy recommendations."
"The real problem with the climate science e-mails"
SEE THE WEEK'S LATEST COVERAGE OF GLOBAL WARMING:
• Global warming bombshell: The scandal breaks
• David Frum: A false lesson on climate change (exclusive to TheWeek.com)
• Climate change: time to eat Fido?
• Glenn Beck and PETA vs. Al Gore
