The Great Meltdown continues; the London Times reports that British government official responsible for monitoring compliance with UK freedom of information law has found that the ‘climategate‘ scientists at East Anglia University violated the law. Although neither the scientists nor the university can be prosecuted because the revelations about their behavior came after the time limit specified by law, the Information Commissioner’s Office will propose changes in the law so that future violations of this nature could become subject to legal action.
Although President Obama urged Congress to pass a cap-and-trade bill in the State of the Union address, he seems to be flogging a dead horse. Inaccurate predictions and unethical behavior by some of the leading figures in the climate change movement have given skeptics enough ammunition to ensure that a nervous U.S. Congress will not pass a serious climate change bill in 2010.
The news about East Anglia’s violations came the day after Britain’s chief science adviser spoke out publicly about the inadequate track record of some key figures in the global warming movement, warning in the words of the London Times that there was an urgent need for more honesty about the uncertainty of some predictions.
He is absolutely right; the anti-climate change movement will not soon regain the credibility it has lost.