Inhofe Calls UN IPCC Summary For Policymakers ‘Corruption of Science’

Category: Government Committees
Type: News
Source: U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
Party: Republican
Date: Friday, February 2nd, 2007

Contact:

Marc Morano 202-224-5762 [email protected]

Matt Dempsey 202-224-9797 [email protected]

For Immediate Release:

Washington, DC - Senator James Inhofe, (R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Environment & Public Works Committee, today commented on the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) 4th Assessment Summary for Policymakers.

"This is a political document, not a scientific report, and it is a shining example of the corruption of science for political gain. The media has failed to report that the IPCC Summary for Policymakers was not approved by scientists but by UN political delegates and bureaucrats," Senator Inhofe said. The IPCC is only releasing the Summary for Policymakers today, not the actual scientific report which is not due out until May 2007.

"This is nothing new. On November 15th, 2005, I addressed my colleagues in the U.S. Senate to express the importance of returning integrity to the processes that govern the work of the IPCC. I outlined several concrete proposals to reform the IPCC process during this Senate Floor address and in a subsequent follow-up letter to the IPCC chairman," Senator Inhofe said. (Link) http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=21CC88EC-CCA6-4A61-8C2E-78FA8DE4850D

"On December 7, 2005, I followed up my speech with a letter to the IPCC Chairman noting that the 'science had been manipulated in order to reach a predetermined conclusion.' Sadly, the IPCC has refused to make any of the reforms necessary to ensure scientific integrity," Senator Inhofe added. (Link) http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=B5B423AC-B42C-4879-91CE-348E78AAE64B

"The UN guidelines themselves mandate that the science be altered to conform to the Summary for Policymakers which is not approved by the scientists, but by political delegates of the UN," Senator Inhofe said.

The IPCC concedes it alters the underlying scientific conclusions on page four of "Appendix A to the Principles Governing IPCC Work":

"Changes (other than grammatical or minor editorial changes) made after acceptance by the Working Group or the Panel shall be those necessary to ensure consistency with the Summary for Policymakers or the Overview Chapter." (Link - PDF http://www.ipcc.ch/about/app-a.pdf )

"You don't need to look any farther than yesterday's AP article about the UN IPCC meeting in Paris where political delegates are arguing about the final wording of the Summary for Policymakers. Riibeta Abeta of the island nation Kiribati, openly admitted to the AP that the Summary for Policymakers is designed to convince world leaders to take action. 'The purpose is to get [policymakers] moving,' Abeta said, according to the AP," Senator Inhofe explained. (Link to AP article) http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/02/01/D8N10JFG0.html