Sen. Ted Cruz embarrassed Sierra Club President
Aaron Mair during Senate hearings Tuesday, as
Mair was repeatedly unable to answer
straightforward questions about global warming.
Under cool, calm, respectful questioning from
Cruz, Mair was repeatedly flustered and created
long, embarrassing periods of silence while he
sought help from aides to answer Cruz’s
questions.
In testimony to the Senate Judiciary
Subcommittee on Oversight, Agency Action,
Federal Rights and Federal Courts, which Cruz
chairs, Mair claimed humans are creating a
global warming crisis, the crisis demands
immediate action, and the topic should not be
open to debate. During questioning at the end of
Mair’s testimony , Cruz exposed Mair’s lack of
knowledge regarding basic climate facts:
Cruz: “How do you address the fact that in the
last 18 years the satellite data show no
demonstrable warming whatsoever?”
Mair: “Sir, I would rely upon the Union of
Concerned Scientists, and I would rely upon the
evidence, again, of our own NOAA officials, the
data are there.”
Cruz: “Is it correct that the satellite data over
the last 18 years demonstrate no significant
warming?”
Mair: “No.”
Cruz: “How is it incorrect?”
Mair then leaned back so that a Sierra Club
staffer could whisper in his ear. After eight
seconds of silence, during which Mair made
confused hand gestures and facial expressions,
Mair vaguely answered:
Mair: “Based upon our experts, it’s been refuted
long ago, and there is no longer, it’s not up for
scientific debate.”
Cruz: “I do find it highly interesting that the
President of the Sierra Club when asked what
the satellite data demonstrate about warming,
apparently is relying on staff. The nice thing
about the satellite data is these are objective
numbers. Are you familiar with the phrase, “the
Pause”?
Mair then leaned back again for help, creating
another embarrassing silence, while the same
staffer whispered in his ear and Cruz patiently
waited for an answer. After 14 seconds, Mair
leaned forward and said:
Mair: “The answer is yes and, uh, essentially,
uh, we rest on our position.”
Cruz: “You said you are familiar with the Pause,
so to what does the phrase “the Pause” refer?
Mair leaned back again to allow the staffer to
whisper in his ear. Mair eventually sat up
straight again but didn’t say a word. After
another 14 seconds of cumulative science, Cruz
asked again:
Cruz: “I’m sorry, you said you were familiar
with that term. So I asked to what does it refer?”
Mair leaned back again for help. A few seconds
later, Mair straightened up again and
responded, “Essentially it is a slow in global
warming during the ‘40s, sir.”
Cruz: “During the ’40s? Is it not the term that
global warming alarmists have used to explain
the ‘inconvenient truth,’ to use a phrase
popularized by former Vice President Al Gore,
that the satellite data over the last 18 years
demonstrate no significant warming
whatsoever? Global warming alarmists call
that “the Pause” because the computer
models say there should be dramatic warming,
and yet the actual satellites taking the
measurement don’t show any significant
warming.”
Mair: “But Senator, 97 percent of the scientists
concur and agree that there is global warming,
and anthropogenic impact with regards to global
warming.”
Cruz: “The problem with that statistic that gets
cited a lot is that it’s based on one bogus study.
And indeed your response . . . I would point out
your response is quite striking. I asked about
the science and the evidence, the actual data. We
have satellites, they’re measuring temperature.
That should be relevant. And your answer
was, ‘Pay no attention to your lying eyes, and
the numbers, that the satellites show. Instead,
listen to the scientists who are receiving massive
grants, who tell us, do not debate the science.’”
The term, “the Pause,” contrary to Mair’s
assertion, is not a phrase commonly applied to
the 1940s. While it is true that global
temperatures declined from the 1940s through
the 1970s – even as carbon dioxide emissions
rose significantly – the term, “the Pause”
commonly refers to an ongoing prolonged lack
of global temperature rise that goes back at least
to 2002 and quite possibly to the mid-1990s,
depending on how one views the data. A chart
of NASA satellite-measured global temperatures
going back to 1979 compiled by Remote Sensing
Systems is available here. Another chart of
NASA satellite-measured global temperatures
compiled by climate scientists at the University
of Alabama in Huntsville appears below and
shows similar results. Mair’s apparent
unfamiliarity with the term is quite shocking for
the president of an organization that frequently
attempts to assert itself into the global warming
debate.
Global temperatures have not risen for well over a
decade. Chart source: drroyspencer.com.
Even more importantly, Cruz’s line of
questioning and Mair’s answers illustrate a
primary line of division in the global warming
debate. Global warming activists like Mair tell us
the most trustworthy sources of authority
regarding climate science are computer model
forecasts and “surveys” of scientists
misrepresented by activist groups such as the
Union of Concerned Scientists. Skeptics like Cruz
counter that the most trustworthy sources of
authority are real-world data, facts, and
evidence.
The computer models did not predict a global
warming pause and cannot account for it. The
Pause continues and global warming activists
present new excuses and new denials every day.
Nevertheless, the facts are the facts, and the
facts show there has been no global warming for
anywhere between 13 and 18 years. This year’s
middle school graduates – and quite possibly
this year’s high school graduates – have
experienced no global warming in their
lifetimes.
Aaron Mair during Senate hearings Tuesday, as
Mair was repeatedly unable to answer
straightforward questions about global warming.
Under cool, calm, respectful questioning from
Cruz, Mair was repeatedly flustered and created
long, embarrassing periods of silence while he
sought help from aides to answer Cruz’s
questions.
In testimony to the Senate Judiciary
Subcommittee on Oversight, Agency Action,
Federal Rights and Federal Courts, which Cruz
chairs, Mair claimed humans are creating a
global warming crisis, the crisis demands
immediate action, and the topic should not be
open to debate. During questioning at the end of
Mair’s testimony , Cruz exposed Mair’s lack of
knowledge regarding basic climate facts:
Cruz: “How do you address the fact that in the
last 18 years the satellite data show no
demonstrable warming whatsoever?”
Mair: “Sir, I would rely upon the Union of
Concerned Scientists, and I would rely upon the
evidence, again, of our own NOAA officials, the
data are there.”
Cruz: “Is it correct that the satellite data over
the last 18 years demonstrate no significant
warming?”
Mair: “No.”
Cruz: “How is it incorrect?”
Mair then leaned back so that a Sierra Club
staffer could whisper in his ear. After eight
seconds of silence, during which Mair made
confused hand gestures and facial expressions,
Mair vaguely answered:
Mair: “Based upon our experts, it’s been refuted
long ago, and there is no longer, it’s not up for
scientific debate.”
Cruz: “I do find it highly interesting that the
President of the Sierra Club when asked what
the satellite data demonstrate about warming,
apparently is relying on staff. The nice thing
about the satellite data is these are objective
numbers. Are you familiar with the phrase, “the
Pause”?
Mair then leaned back again for help, creating
another embarrassing silence, while the same
staffer whispered in his ear and Cruz patiently
waited for an answer. After 14 seconds, Mair
leaned forward and said:
Mair: “The answer is yes and, uh, essentially,
uh, we rest on our position.”
Cruz: “You said you are familiar with the Pause,
so to what does the phrase “the Pause” refer?
Mair leaned back again to allow the staffer to
whisper in his ear. Mair eventually sat up
straight again but didn’t say a word. After
another 14 seconds of cumulative science, Cruz
asked again:
Cruz: “I’m sorry, you said you were familiar
with that term. So I asked to what does it refer?”
Mair leaned back again for help. A few seconds
later, Mair straightened up again and
responded, “Essentially it is a slow in global
warming during the ‘40s, sir.”
Cruz: “During the ’40s? Is it not the term that
global warming alarmists have used to explain
the ‘inconvenient truth,’ to use a phrase
popularized by former Vice President Al Gore,
that the satellite data over the last 18 years
demonstrate no significant warming
whatsoever? Global warming alarmists call
that “the Pause” because the computer
models say there should be dramatic warming,
and yet the actual satellites taking the
measurement don’t show any significant
warming.”
Mair: “But Senator, 97 percent of the scientists
concur and agree that there is global warming,
and anthropogenic impact with regards to global
warming.”
Cruz: “The problem with that statistic that gets
cited a lot is that it’s based on one bogus study.
And indeed your response . . . I would point out
your response is quite striking. I asked about
the science and the evidence, the actual data. We
have satellites, they’re measuring temperature.
That should be relevant. And your answer
was, ‘Pay no attention to your lying eyes, and
the numbers, that the satellites show. Instead,
listen to the scientists who are receiving massive
grants, who tell us, do not debate the science.’”
The term, “the Pause,” contrary to Mair’s
assertion, is not a phrase commonly applied to
the 1940s. While it is true that global
temperatures declined from the 1940s through
the 1970s – even as carbon dioxide emissions
rose significantly – the term, “the Pause”
commonly refers to an ongoing prolonged lack
of global temperature rise that goes back at least
to 2002 and quite possibly to the mid-1990s,
depending on how one views the data. A chart
of NASA satellite-measured global temperatures
going back to 1979 compiled by Remote Sensing
Systems is available here. Another chart of
NASA satellite-measured global temperatures
compiled by climate scientists at the University
of Alabama in Huntsville appears below and
shows similar results. Mair’s apparent
unfamiliarity with the term is quite shocking for
the president of an organization that frequently
attempts to assert itself into the global warming
debate.
Global temperatures have not risen for well over a
decade. Chart source: drroyspencer.com.
Even more importantly, Cruz’s line of
questioning and Mair’s answers illustrate a
primary line of division in the global warming
debate. Global warming activists like Mair tell us
the most trustworthy sources of authority
regarding climate science are computer model
forecasts and “surveys” of scientists
misrepresented by activist groups such as the
Union of Concerned Scientists. Skeptics like Cruz
counter that the most trustworthy sources of
authority are real-world data, facts, and
evidence.
The computer models did not predict a global
warming pause and cannot account for it. The
Pause continues and global warming activists
present new excuses and new denials every day.
Nevertheless, the facts are the facts, and the
facts show there has been no global warming for
anywhere between 13 and 18 years. This year’s
middle school graduates – and quite possibly
this year’s high school graduates – have
experienced no global warming in their
lifetimes.
No comments:
Post a Comment