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	Official GPO Transcript
4 min.	The Chairman Good morning. Welcome to the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. All eyes are focused on the economic and environmental disaster...
5 min.	Sensenbrenner, F. "James" James Jr. - U.S. Representative, [R] Wisconsin I thank the Chairman. When global warming alarmists tried to advance their agenda a decade ago, they pointed to a damning graph in the 2001 IPCC report...
5 sec.	The Chairman We thank the gentleman. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Oregon, Mr. Blumenauer.
9 sec.	Blumenauer, Earl - U.S. Representative, [D] Oregon Mr. Chairman, I will just reserve my time for the inquiry. As inviting as my good friend's--from Wisconsin--comments were, I would rather save it.
11 sec.	The Chairman Okay. The gentleman will reserve his time. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Washington State, Mr. Inslee.
1 sec.	Inslee, Jay - U.S. Representative, [D] Washington I will reserve as well. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
6 sec.	The Chairman The gentleman's time is reserved. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Missouri, Mr. Cleaver.
2 sec.	Cleaver, Emanuel II - U.S. Representative, [D] Missouri Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Out of guilt, I will reserve as well.
5 sec.	The Chairman The Chair recognizes the gentlelady from California, Ms. Speier.
1 min.	Speier, Karen Lorraine "Jackie" Jacqueline - U.S. Representative, [D] California Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am not going to reserve. I am glad we are holding this hearing on the science of climate change. I welcome our scientific witnesses...
6 sec.	The Chairman Thank you. The gentlelady's time has expired. And all time for opening statements by the members has been completed.
45 sec.	The Chairman We will now turn to our first witness this morning. He is Dr. Jim Hurrell. Mr. Hurrell is a senior scientist within the Climate Analysis Section of the...
4 min.	Mr. Hurrell Thank you. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Sensenbrenner, and other members of the Select Committee, I thank you for the opportunity to speak today on observed...
48 sec.	The Chairman Thank you, Doctor, very much. Our second witness today is Dr. James McCarthy. Dr. McCarthy is a professor of biological oceanography at Harvard University....
11 sec.	Mr. McCarthy Thank you. Good morning, Chairman Markey, Ranking Member Sensenbrenner, and other members of the committee. You asked us to address four questions.
5 sec.	The Chairman Could you move that microphone in just a little closer, please? Okay, thank you.
5 min.	Mr. McCarthy You asked that we address four questions. And I have done this in my testimony, and so I will very briefly run through my responses to those questions....
48 sec.	The Chairman Thank you, Dr. McCarthy, very much. Our third witness is Lord Christopher Monckton. He is chief policy advisor for the Science and Public Policy Institute....
5 min.	Mr. Monckton Mr. Chairman, sir, and Ranking Member Sensenbrenner, it is a pleasure to see you both again and also many other faces on your committee. Thank you for...
52 sec.	The Chairman Thank you, Lord Monckton, very much. Our fourth witness today is Dr. Chris Field. Dr. Field is the founding director of the Carnegie Institution's Department...
4 min.	Mr. Field Thank you, Chairman Markey, Ranking Member Sensenbrenner, and other distinguished members of the committee. What I would like to do today is take a couple...
55 sec.	The Chairman Thank you, Dr. Field, very much. And our final witness today is Dr. Lisa Graumlich. Dr. Graumlich is the director of the School of Natural Resources and...
5 min.	Ms. Graumlich Chairman Markey and Ranking Member Sensenbrenner and the rest of the members of the committee, thank you so much for inviting me to speak with you today...
1 min.	The Chairman Thank you, Dr. Graumlich, very much. The Chair will now recognize himself for a round of questions. Today is election day in the United Kingdom, and it...
7 sec.	Video shown.
22 sec.	The Chairman So Dr. Hurrell, despite all the stolen e- mails, IPCC issues, what is your conclusion in terms of the strength of the case that has been made that global...
44 sec.	Mr. Hurrell I very much agree with those conclusions. I think, as I tried to state in both my written and my oral testimony, much of the strength lies not in individual...
15 sec.	The Chairman Dr. McCarthy, Lord Monckton had a very complicated explanation of the global temperature record. Can you tell us simply what is happening in the global...
2 min.	Mr. McCarthy There have been a number of efforts over the last maybe 10 to 15 years to use the knowledge we have of what could change climate, and some of these factors...
5 sec.	The Chairman And Dr. Field, why don't you just quickly try to answer that question as well?
59 sec.	Mr. Field You know, one of the major focal areas in climate science over the last several decades has been a topic that is called fingerprinting; how could we really...
2 sec.	The Chairman And you agree, Dr. Graumlich?
2 sec.	Ms. Graumlich Yes, I do.
13 sec.	The Chairman Let me ask this, do you each disagree with Lord Monckton's analysis of whether or not there is global warming trend and it is a danger to the planet?...
1 sec.	Mr. Hurrell Yes I do.
2 sec.	The Chairman Dr. McCarthy.
16 sec.	Mr. McCarthy Mr. Monckton said he is not a scientist; he works in the policy arena and, on the basis of the sciences he reads, that he doesn't think it calls for policy...
	The Chairman Thank you. Dr. Field.
15 sec.	Mr. Field Many scientists have looked at the issue. Warming is unequivocal. The evidence for the human fingerprint is very, very strong, and the prospect of continued...
2 sec.	The Chairman So you do disagree with Lord Monckton?
2 sec.	Mr. Field I do disagree with Lord Monckton.
1 sec.	The Chairman Dr. Graumlich?
5 sec.	Ms. Graumlich I disagree with Lord Monckton's conclusions based on the evidence that he presented as well.
5 sec.	The Chairman Thank you. My time is expired. Let me turn and recognize the gentleman from Wisconsin, Mr. Sensenbrenner.
5 sec.	Sensenbrenner, F. "James" James Jr. - U.S. Representative, [R] Wisconsin Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Dr. Graumlich, you were on the Oxburgh panel, weren't you?
2 sec.	Ms. Graumlich Yes, I was.
7 sec.	Sensenbrenner, F. "James" James Jr. - U.S. Representative, [R] Wisconsin Do you have a professional relationship with any of the scientists who were criticized during Climategate?
24 sec.	Ms. Graumlich I, as a member of the paleoclimatic community, have an acquaintanceship with many of the people that were mentioned in the e-mails. You are probably aware...
3 sec.	Sensenbrenner, F. "James" James Jr. - U.S. Representative, [R] Wisconsin Have you co-authored papers with Dr. Hughes?
4 sec.	Ms. Graumlich I have co-authored one book chapter with Dr. Hughes.
7 sec.	Sensenbrenner, F. "James" James Jr. - U.S. Representative, [R] Wisconsin Has your work relied on information or data from the CRU?
1 sec.	Ms. Graumlich No, it hasn't.
1 sec.	Sensenbrenner, F. "James" James Jr. - U.S. Representative, [R] Wisconsin Pardon?
3 sec.	Ms. Graumlich No, it hasn't.
14 sec.	Sensenbrenner, F. "James" James Jr. - U.S. Representative, [R] Wisconsin The tree ring data in the hockey stick graph were directly called into question by Climategate. Have you relied on any of that in any of your professional...
26 sec.	Ms. Graumlich The data that myself and my students have produced have been at times part of these very, very large compilations of data that have allowed us to assess...
8 sec.	Sensenbrenner, F. "James" James Jr. - U.S. Representative, [R] Wisconsin What did the panel learn from critics of the CRU's scientists during its review?
53 sec.	Ms. Graumlich What I think the panel took away from the critics of the CRU scientists is that, in particular, what we discovered was that, for example, the archiving...
5 sec.	Sensenbrenner, F. "James" James Jr. - U.S. Representative, [R] Wisconsin Did the panel interview any of the critics of the CRU data?
4 sec.	Ms. Graumlich No. That wasn't our charge. We were charged to----
6 sec.	Sensenbrenner, F. "James" James Jr. - U.S. Representative, [R] Wisconsin Well, why not? How can you get an objective viewpoint if you just look at one side of the issue?
10 sec.	Ms. Graumlich The charge to the panel was to look at the scientific integrity of the publications of the CR unit, and we fulfilled that charge.
13 sec.	Sensenbrenner, F. "James" James Jr. - U.S. Representative, [R] Wisconsin Were--well, then, that was an extremely limited charge, you know, that pre-ordained a conclusion. Was there any analysis of the actual e-mails or the...
7 sec.	Ms. Graumlich That was not part of our charge, and that was actually part of other kinds of inquiries that have gone on.
6 sec.	Sensenbrenner, F. "James" James Jr. - U.S. Representative, [R] Wisconsin Okay. Now, were you aware of any of the biases of the other members of this seven-person panel?
5 sec.	Ms. Graumlich I believe that the panel was chosen to minimize bias.
46 sec.	Sensenbrenner, F. "James" James Jr. - U.S. Representative, [R] Wisconsin Well, Lord Oxburgh has strong personal and financial interests in the anti-global warming policy. He is director of an international environmental organization...
26 sec.	Ms. Graumlich Those issues weren't raised. What we were focusing on was the science of the climate research unit as revealed in their publication record and in their...
43 sec.	Sensenbrenner, F. "James" James Jr. - U.S. Representative, [R] Wisconsin Well, if he is a director of an advocacy organization called Globe International, you know, I have had meetings with and tiffs with ever since Kyoto,...
1 min.	Blumenauer, Earl - U.S. Representative, [D] Oregon [presiding] I guess I am having these terms echoing in my ear. I mean, it seems to me that it is a very stark difference. Dr. Graumlich, you were talking...
1 sec.	Ms. Graumlich Yes.
3 sec.	Blumenauer, Earl - U.S. Representative, [D] Oregon All have looked at the science----
18 sec.	Ms. Graumlich Right. Mr. Blumenauer [continuing]. And concluded that this is a tempest in a teapot. I mean, there is nothing here that contradicts the basic science...
27 sec.	Ms. Graumlich That is correct. And if I could add to the list of reviews that have happened, at my own institution, the University of Arizona, at the request of the...
1 min.	Blumenauer, Earl - U.S. Representative, [D] Oregon Though I suppose I should declare, for the purposes of the record, I have worked with GLOBE International in other areas, dealing, for instance, with...
1 min.	Mr. McCarthy Congressman, one thing I remember quite distinctly was our discussion about infrastructure and wondering the degree to which planning, particularly for...
17 sec.	Blumenauer, Earl - U.S. Representative, [D] Oregon And in terms of the, quote, ``mistakes of the IPCC,'' I mean, what you have demonstrated with your testimony is that the studies, the projections were...
27 sec.	Mr. McCarthy People tend not to appreciate how conservative the IPCC process is. When you get a bunch of scientists together and get them to agree on a statement,...
1 min.	Blumenauer, Earl - U.S. Representative, [D] Oregon Thank you. And it is. In terms of the risks that are at stake, we take in the Northwest very seriously that diminution of the snow pack, the less water...
1 min.	Shadegg, John - U.S. Representative, [R] Arizona Thank you, Mr. Acting Chairman, if that is what you are. First, let me begin by apologizing. I have had to duck in and out a couple of times because I...
8 sec.	Mr. Monckton I am most grateful. I think obviously what is happening here is that a certain amount of politics has crept in on one side of this debate----
18 sec.	Shadegg, John - U.S. Representative, [R] Arizona What a shock. Mr. Monckton [continuing]. And, therefore, inconvenient science has been dismissed as not being science at all. That is the IPCC's graph...
6 sec.	Shadegg, John - U.S. Representative, [R] Arizona While we are on that one, the purpose of those lines, this actually appears in the IPCC report?
1 sec.	Mr. Monckton It does three times, yes.
4 sec.	Shadegg, John - U.S. Representative, [R] Arizona And all those lines slope upward at different angles.
35 sec.	Mr. Monckton That is right. As you get nearer to the present, they slope up at steeper and steeper angles. The implication which is stated three times in the report...
2 sec.	Shadegg, John - U.S. Representative, [R] Arizona So it is the exact same data.
9 sec.	Mr. Monckton Same data, same technique. It is a bogus technique, of course, and that is why you get completely opposite results depending on where you choose to start...
5 sec.	Shadegg, John - U.S. Representative, [R] Arizona Incorrectly analyzed in the earlier graph to show a rapid increase in warming.
54 sec.	Mr. Monckton Exactly, and incorrectly analyzed again here. Next slide. Here is the true position where you have the three parallel rapid rates of warming. The first...
7 sec.	Shadegg, John - U.S. Representative, [R] Arizona Could you clarify something for the panel and for the people in the room listening? What is the satellite era?
38 sec.	Mr. Monckton The satellite era, from about 1983 onwards, we had satellites up there not only measuring changes in global surface temperature, which they do by reference...
6 sec.	Shadegg, John - U.S. Representative, [R] Arizona And with regard to--I mean, you don't take the position that there has not been warming.
1 min.	Mr. Monckton There has been warming. You can see it on the graph there. Of course there has been warming. Mr. Chairman, you have got that slightly wrong when you said...
39 sec.	Shadegg, John - U.S. Representative, [R] Arizona I thank the gentleman, and I appreciate the indulgence of the chair in allowing you to answer. I guess your conclusion was we--I will just conclude with...
5 sec.	The Chairman Without objection, it will be included in the record. available at: http://globalwarming. house.gov/files/WEB/shadegg Materials.pdf or http://globalwarming....
3 sec.	The Chairman The gentleman's time has expired. The chair recognizes the gentleman from Washington State, Mr. Inslee.
1 min.	Inslee, Jay - U.S. Representative, [D] Washington And I would note there is a dispute about whether we actually landed on the moon, and there is a dispute about whether the earth is round, and there is...
2 min.	Mr. McCarthy Thank you. This, like a lot of the other change we are talking about, is not simply a difference of one condition to another but the time period over...
10 sec.	Inslee, Jay - U.S. Representative, [D] Washington So I am told that the waters are more acidic, 30 percent more acidic than they were in pre-industrial times. What will they be at the end of the century,...
24 sec.	Mr. McCarthy Well, I don't know how to express it in terms of percent, but if you take these extrapolations, as is done here experimentally, you can show what the...
1 min.	Inslee, Jay - U.S. Representative, [D] Washington Thank you. I was impressed--we are here as the House of Representatives to have the state of the science discussed about climate change. And I was impressed...
7 sec.	Mr. Monckton Sir, I have never sat or voted in The House of Lords, as you have probably been informed.
46 sec.	Inslee, Jay - U.S. Representative, [D] Washington Thank you. So, basically, I want to understand--thank you. You have answered my question. You come here, you call yourself a Lord, to try to convince...
	Mr. Monckton I think I have already answered that one, sir.
1 min.	Inslee, Jay - U.S. Representative, [D] Washington Okay. Thank you. So we not only have the deniers who have denied this clear science upon which there is enormous global consensus, they cannot only not...
5 sec.	The Chairman The gentleman's times has expired. The chair recognizes the gentleman from Oklahoma, Mr. Sullivan.
11 sec.	Sullivan, John - U.S. Representative, [R] Oklahoma Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And, Lord Monckton, I guess I think you have a right to explain why you are a Lord, and I don't think you had an opportunity...
45 sec.	Mr. Monckton I will do that very briefly, because this is not the subject of this hearing; and, once again, I see politics of a not particularly pleasant kind creeping...
20 sec.	Sullivan, John - U.S. Representative, [R] Oklahoma Thank you. Lord Monckton, what could the climate scientists do to regain the public trust in their work? What can they do to insure transparency and accountability...
2 min.	Mr. Monckton Let me first of all begin with the quotation from NOAA's response to my written testimony which, incidentally, I wasn't given a copy of before this hearing,...
21 sec.	Sullivan, John - U.S. Representative, [R] Oklahoma Lord Monckton, some of these scientists--or I guess anyone can answer this question. Do some of these scientists--how are they funded? Do they get grants...
1 min.	Mr. Monckton That is a very shrewd point, sir. The only reason why the notion that consensus decides science has unfortunately crept in is that science these days...
3 sec.	Sullivan, John - U.S. Representative, [R] Oklahoma Thank you, sir.
	Blumenauer, Earl - U.S. Representative, [D] Oregon [presiding] Congressman Cleaver.
1 min.	Cleaver, Emanuel II - U.S. Representative, [D] Missouri Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Dr. Field--and I may want to get the other three to respond to this as well. I think all of the denials and all of the talk of...
1 min.	Mr. Hurrell Well, perhaps one comment along those lines. Indeed, as I tried to emphasize in my testimony, global warming does not mean that changes are uniform everywhere....
10 sec.	Cleaver, Emanuel II - U.S. Representative, [D] Missouri Though it is counterintuitive, the scientific truth is we have more snows if it is warmer.
12 sec.	Mr. Hurrell Yes. Again, that relates to the ability of the atmosphere to hold moisture. A warm atmosphere can hold more moisture, so when it does snow it will snow...
1 sec.	Cleaver, Emanuel II - U.S. Representative, [D] Missouri Dr. McCarthy.
1 min.	Mr. McCarthy Thank you. This is a very complicated subject and one can take one little piece of it and make a headline out of it and find that it may be true but it...
57 sec.	Cleaver, Emanuel II - U.S. Representative, [D] Missouri Thank you. That is important. And I don't know, one of the things we have got to do is to be able to figure out a way to present complicated information...
1 sec.	Mr. McCarthy Could I make a further comment?
1 sec.	Cleaver, Emanuel II - U.S. Representative, [D] Missouri Yes, sir.
1 min.	Mr. McCarthy Consensus seems to get a bad word at times. But when decisionmakers come to groups of scientists and say, tell us the simplest version of this story,...
52 sec.	Blumenauer, Earl - U.S. Representative, [D] Oregon Thank you all. The gentleman's time has expired. We are about to be summoned to the floor with bells and whistles for our robust democracy on the floor...
2 min.	Mr. Hurrell Sir, I appreciate the opportunity to make some concluding comments. I think that transparency in process, making data available, making model codes available...
2 sec.	Blumenauer, Earl - U.S. Representative, [D] Oregon Thank you very much. Dr. McCarthy.
1 min.	Mr. McCarthy Thank you. I will try and make four points very briefly. I want to emphasize a point that I made in my testimony, that what we are talking about here...
1 min.	Mr. Monckton The central point I should like to leave the panel with is that there is no hurry. If you do nothing about this at all for the whole of the next 23 years,...
2 min.	Mr. Field Thank you very much for the opportunity to make a couple of concluding remarks. One of the things I think really needs to be emphasized is that the scientific...
4 sec.	The Chairman [presiding] Great. Thank you, Dr. Field very much. Dr. Graumlich.
1 min.	Ms. Graumlich Thank you for the opportunity to make a final comment. I would like to, first off, simply agree with my colleagues on this panel that the scientific consensus...
1 min.	The Chairman Thank you, Dr. Graumlich, very much. We thank each of you for your participation in this very important hearing. We will continue with additional hearings...
7 sec.	Whereupon, at 11:20 a.m., the committee was adjourned.