Senator Joe McCarthy's Fake List of 413 Climate Skeptics

Senator Joe McCarthy, were he still alive, would be proud of Senator James Inhofe. You'll understand why if you recall what McCarthy did on February 9, 1950.

While giving a speech before the Republican Women's Club in Wheeling, West Virginia, he held aloft a piece of paper which he claimed contained a list of known Communists working for the State Department. McCarthy is usually quoted as saying:

I have here in my hand a list of 205—a list of names that were made known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping policy in the State Department.

The list was a sham, but it provoked a flood of press attention that launched and defined McCarthy's career. Last December, Senator James Inhofe launched a similar anti-social gambit, using the McCarthyist tactic of a false list. Inhofe issued a report and claimed:

Over 400 prominent scientists from more than two dozen countries recently voiced significant objections to major aspects of the so-called 'consensus' on man-made global warming.

The report listed the names of 413 scientists. With no Edward R. Murrow around, how do we know the list is a sham?

Adam Siegel over at Energy Smart has called attention to the yeoman work of Mark Johnson of Propeller.com, who went through every name on the Inhofe list, and posted his research on The Daily Green. Here's what he found:

• 84 have either taken money from, or are connected to, fossil fuel industries, or think tanks started by those industries.

• 49 are retired

• 44 are television weathermen

• 20 are economists

• 70 have no apparent expertise in climate science

• Several supposed skeptics have publicly stated that they are very concerned about global warming, and support efforts to address it. One claims he was duped into signing the list and regrets it.

All we can think to say to Senator Inhofe: Good Night and Good Luck.

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