The heat is on, and it's not Man-Made Global Warming. A growing chorus is calling for the little south-Asian dictator to resign as head of the U.N. IPCC.
The editorial board of the London Times thinks Pachauri should resign. It says he “presided over the use of dodgy science” in the IPCC’s 2007 report, that he ignored legitimate criticism when it first emerged, and that he has let us all down.
The editorial board of the UK Telegraph concurs. In its words:
In its zeal to persuade the world of the catastrophic consequences of man-made global warming, the IPCC has lost both its objectivity and the trust of the public. That is one of the main reasons why we… believe that Rajendra Pachauri, the IPCC’s chairman, should step down. This issue is far too important for there to be a scintilla of doubt about the reliability of the reports and raw data on which policy must be based. While Dr Pachauri remains in post, those doubts will remain.
The New Scientist thinks much the same. It says Pachauri has spent “too much time defending the indefensible” and that his continued presence at the helm of the IPCC will “undermine efforts to rebuild the panel’s authority.” Similarly, the editorial board of the Financial Times says “the time has come for [Pachauri] to move on.”
Even Greenpeace is calling for him to leave.
"Dodgy science". "Defending the indefensible".
The credibility of the IPCC has been shattered, which is likely why AlGore has been conspicuously silent of late, and why our local "science writer" has suddenly shut up on the issue of Man-Made Global Warming.
Well, at least we can refer to his previous pronouncements on the subject:
You don't have the right to ruin the planet for the rest of us -- it doesn't belong to you.
I do bring out both sides of an issue, when it's relevant. But journalistic balance does not mean spending 50% on one idea and 50% on its opposite. It means accurately reporting on what the scientific community thinks about the subject. And, whether or not you or anyone else here likes it or not, the climate science community overwhelmingly agrees that the AGW hypothesis has been proven.
Thank goodness that we have folks like him around.
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