Incoming House Science Chair Ralph Hall: “We have some real challenges; we have the global warming or global freezing” (his real challenge seems to be speaking English, if you ask me)

Incoming House Science Chair Ralph Hall: “We have some real challenges; we have the global warming or global freezing” [Readers, can you believe this guy? He speaks English worse than George Bush, and that is going some!]

by Joseph Romm, Climate Progress, December 9, 2010

The “good news” is Dana “dinosaur flatulence” Rohrabacher (R-CA) lost his bid for House Science Chair.  The sobering news is that the winner is only marginally better.  As Politico reports this morning:

Incoming Science and Tech Chairman Ralph Hall … wants Jim Sensenbrenner to lead the oversight subcommittee, assuming Paul Broun jumps over to E&C…. 

COAL FOR DANA ROHRABACHER? – “I don’t have anything in mind for him. He wants [a subcommittee chairmanship], but I can’t remember which one. … I told him I’d talk to him before I appointed anybody and I will,” Hall said. Asked if he’ll hold a grudge over the Californian’s decision to challenge for the full committee gavel, Hall responded: “I don’t like him any better for it, but that doesn’t bother me.” 

HAPPY WITH WHAT HE’S GOT – Hall said he has no plans to give the Science Committee a bigger profile in the next Congress. “I’m satisfied,” he said. “We have enough to do. We have some real challenges; we have the global warming or global freezing and then we have the space, the NASA program, that’s enough for any one committee.”

So the incoming Republican chair of the House science committee isn’t sure whether we are warming or cooling — even though he oversees NASA!  Well, here’s what NASA’s data shows:

NASA: The 12-month running mean global temperature has reached a new record in 2010 — despite recent minimum of solar irradiance:

“We conclude that global temperature continued to rise rapidly in the past decade” and “there has been no reduction in the global warming trend of 0.15-0.20 °C/decade that began in the late 1970s.”

Blue curve: 12-month running-mean global temperature.   Note correlation with Nino index (red = El Nino, blue = La Nina).   Large volcanoes (green) have a cooling effect for ~2 years.

The longer term trend is unmistakeable as the top figure, also from NASA, shows.

Given his new position, perhaps Hall can take a few minutes and sit down with James Hansen and go over what the science actually says.

One final point.   Having Sensenbrenner to lead the Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee would just about guarantee climate science goes on trial next year:

• Mann slams Cuccinelli, Sensenbrenner, Issa: “My fellow scientists and I must be ready to stand up to blatant abuse from politicians who seek to mislead and distract the public. They are hurting American science.”

Link:  http://climateprogress.org/2010/12/09/house-science-chair-ralph-hall-global-warming-freezing/#more-38371