HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 32
(By Delegates Canterbury, Louisos, Blair, Border, Evans, J.
Miller, Overington, Shott and Walters)
Calling for the termination of scientists who acted to conceal
data, suppress dissenting views and stifle science regarding
anthropocentric global warming.
Whereas, Some scientists such as Michael Mann of Pennsylvania
State University, Professor Phil Jones of the Climatic Research
Unit at the University of East Anglia, and others have proposed
that human-caused carbon emissions are causing planetary global
warming and a variety of environmental disasters around the world;
and
Whereas, Policy-makers from all levels of government around the
world have taken these dire warnings seriously enough to propose
sweeping public policy changes that will prove to be both expensive
and generally disruptive of life in both developed and developing
nations; and
Whereas, Every man, woman and child on the planet will bear the
cost of these sweeping changes should they be implemented; and
Whereas, It is in the general public interest that any public
policy decision of such sweeping significance should be based only
on sound science; and
Whereas, Sound science is only possible in an intellectual
environment in which scholars are permitted to propose and argue
about ideas including ideas that challenge the "orthodox" or
"accepted" view of the moment, subject only to the constraint that
their ideas should be empirically testable; and
Whereas, E-mails released after a hacking incident directed at
servers at the University of East Anglia in November of 2009
revealed that many proponents of the theory that human-caused
carbon emissions are a significant factor in global warming have
acted in a manner that is entirely inconsistent with the
development of an open and fair public debate about the theory; and
Whereas, Their actions have included specific steps to suppress
both actual climate data and scientific articles critical of their
theory; and
Whereas, These allegations of actions unbefitting of honest
scholars are substantiated by their own electronic correspondence;
and
Whereas, Substantiating comments within their correspondence
include statements such as this one from Dr. Michael Mann regarding
a paper published in the scientific journal "Climate Research" that
criticized Dr. Mann's theories about global warming: "I think we
have to stop considering Climate Research as a legitimate
peer-reviewed journal. Perhaps we should encourage our colleagues
in the climate research community to no longer submit to, or cite
papers in, this journal"; and
Whereas, Such an action to excommunicate can be interpreted as
an attempt to intimidate the editors of the named publication into
accepting for publication only papers that agree with Dr. Mann's
and Professor Jones' preferred hypothesis of manmade global
warming; and
Whereas, Several members of the editorial board of that journal
resigned in the wake of the controversy surrounding the publication
of that paper; and
Whereas, Similar comments made by Professor Phil Jones included
this one found in an e-mail dated July 8, 2008: "The other paper
by MM is just garbage... I can't see either of these papers being
in the next IPCC report. Kevin and I will keep them out somehow -
even if we have to redefine what the peer-review literature is!";
and
Whereas, Both of these statements and the associated actions
suggest a pattern of subverting an open public debate about the
theory that human-caused carbon emissions cause global warming; and
Whereas, Over a period of several years scientists and scholars
who disputed Dr. Mann's and Professor Jones' theory that
human-caused carbon emissions cause global warming were frustrated
in their attempts to gain access to the primary data these two men
and others allegedly used to construct their theory; and
Whereas, With regard to the suppression of actual empirical
data regarding global warming, Phil Jones wrote to Michael Mann on
February 2, 2005: "Don't leave stuff lying around on
ftp FTP sites - you never know who is trawling them. The two MMs have been after
the CRU station data for years. If they ever hear there is a
Freedom of Information Act now in the UK, I think I'll delete the
file rather than send to anyone. Does your similar act in the US
force you to respond to enquiries within 20 days?-our does! The UK
works on precedents, so the first request will test it. We also
have a data protection act, which I will hide behind"; and
Whereas, In another message pertaining to Freedom of
Information Act requests for the empirical data that was supposedly
used by Dr. Mann and Professor Jones, Phil Jones wrote to Michael
Mann, with the subject line "IPCC & FOI": "Can you delete any e-
mails you may have had with Keith re AR4? Keith will do likewise.
Can you also e-mail Gene and get him to do the same? I don't have
his new e-mail address"; and
Whereas, Such actions to suppress actual empirical data
generated at public expense are not merely professionally unethical
and stifling to scientific debate but also blatantly illegal in
both the United States and Great Britain; and
Whereas, The United Kingdom's Information Commissioner's Office
(ICO), which oversees the Freedom of Information process in Great
Britain, stated of acts such as this, that "Destroying requested
information outside of an organizations normal policies is unlawful
and may be a criminal offence if done to prevent disclosure"; and
Whereas, The British Deputy Information Commissioner, Graham
Smith, issued a statement on January 27, 2010, that, "The e-mails which are now public reveal that Mr Holland's requests under the
Freedom of Information Act were not dealt with as they should have
been under the legislation. Section 77 of the Freedom of
Information Act makes it an offence for public authorities to act
so as to prevent intentionally the disclosure of requested
information"; and
Whereas, It is now altogether clear from comments found within
their own electronic correspondence that scientists who have long
advocated the view that human activity is a prime cause of global
climate change have in fact acted to hide their data from public
scrutiny and from the scrutiny of fellow scholars who intend to
dispute their views; and
Whereas, It is also clear from comments found within their
electronic correspondence that these scientists made efforts not
only to interfere with the sincere and honest efforts of
researchers who challenged their views, but also to deny the
publication of papers which were critical of their preferred
hypothesis regarding anthropocentric global warming; and
Whereas, Actions such as these are not only incompatible with
the spirit of scientific inquiry, but also through their influence
on public policy potentially disruptive and economically burdensome
for every man, woman, and child on earth; and
Whereas, Such irresponsible and unethical actions on the part
of those who should exemplify the highest standards of honest
scholarship should not go unpunished; therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Delegates:
That the Clerk of the House of Delegates compose and send
letters and copies of this resolution to both Pennsylvania State
University and The University of East Anglia requesting that both
Dr. Mann and Professor Phil Jones be immediately relieved of their
current positions and all other possible employment with their
respective Universities; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates in
the letters request both Universities to record that these men were
dismissed not for their views but for the unethical and possibly
unlawful actions they took to interfere with the honest efforts of
other scholars who were critical of their views and to stifle
science, in as much as such actions should be regarded as not only
unbefitting of honest scholarship, but also seriously irresponsible
with respect to their potential effects on public policy; and be it
Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates
forward a certified copy of this resolution to members of the West
Virginia congressional delegation and both Pennsylvania State
University and The University of East Anglia requesting that both
Dr. Mann and Professor Phil Jones be immediately relieved of their
current positions and all other possible employment with their
respective Universities.