TEXAS FIGHTS CLIMATE TRUTH

Texas on the verge of limiting academic freedom of climate scientists
Eric Berger, October 11, 2011 (Houston Chronicle)

"…Texas has long been a natural home for climate skepticism given the number of large fossil fuel energy companies with headquarters or major offices in the state…But the state’s prominence has increased recently, beginning with Rick Perry’s very skeptical comments on climate change…[Now,] Rice University oceanographer John Anderson was told he could not discuss sea-level rise and climate change in a chapter for the periodically published, TCEQ-funded “State of the Bay” report about the environmental state of Galveston Bay. The original chapter he submitted had the references removed.

"Anderson was trying to point out that recent, measured rises in sea level were considerably higher than in the historical record, and that this could have important consequences for the bay…[safely tenured,] Anderson pushed back…saying, ‘It’s not about the science. It’s all politics.’"

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"…[M]ore bold is the response of the Houston Advanced Research Center, a non-profit research center…[which] subsists largely on state and federal grants…[A]fter private and tense negotiations broke down and Anderson went public, HARC vice president Jim Lester is standing behind the scientist…

"How this plays out will be interesting…It’s [likely] the first case…in which Texas is overtly acting to suppress scientific inquiry regarding climate change. That would be a huge blow to climate scientists in the state…[W]ill the TCEQ back down? And will HARC see a decline in future state funding?"