"Controversy had mired the meeting since it was revealed the US State
Department was supporting Dr Pachauri over Dr Watson, who has criticised
Mr Bush's energy policy. That controversy turned to outrage when
environmental groups uncovered a memo from the US oil corporation
ExxonMobil – a major contributor to Mr Bush's election campaign – asking
the White House to unseat Dr Watson who it considered had an "aggressive
agenda"." (Fra Independent, se under).
Erling Fossens syn på global oppvarming og naturvern har mektige
støtter, først og fremst ExxonMobil osv. og Bush II-regimet. Nå har de
fått fjernet en vitenskapsmann som de ikke liker, lederen av FNs
klimapanel Watson, og Fossen kan juble. Også Fossens forbilde og
ghostwriter fra Danmark, den kjente statistiske fuskeren Lomborg, har
vunnet framgang - under den danske høyre- og rasistregjeringen: den har
utnevnt ham til en ledende post med ansvar for miljøpolitikk og
-forskning.
Karsten Johansen
Independent:
Bush energy policy critic ousted as head of climate change panel
By Andrew Buncombe in Washington
20 April 2002
The Bush administration was accused of pandering to the oil industry
last night after an outspoken critic of America's energy policy was
voted out of his job as chairman of the world's premier scientific body
on climate change.
In a secret ballot held at a meeting in Geneva, the UN-sponsored
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change elected the India delegate,
Rajendra Pachauri, as its chairman. He beat the current chairman, Robert
Watson, the US delegate, by 76 votes to 49.
Controversy had mired the meeting since it was revealed the US State
Department was supporting Dr Pachauri over Dr Watson, who has criticised
Mr Bush's energy policy. That controversy turned to outrage when
environmental groups uncovered a memo from the US oil corporation
ExxonMobil – a major contributor to Mr Bush's election campaign – asking
the White House to unseat Dr Watson who it considered had an "aggressive
agenda".
The Washington-based Natural Resources Defence Council, which uncovered
the memo, said yesterday that the US support for Dr Pachauri could have
been crucial in unseating Dr Watson, an American citizen who was born in
the UK.
Its spokesman, David Doniger, said that while many countries wished to
see a scientist from a developing country head the panel, other
countries voted for more selfish reasons. "Clearly it's pure payback and
vendetta," he sadi. "He was outspoken and helped produce great reports
that shook to the foundations the fossil-fuel industry."
Kate Hampton, for Friends of the Earth, said: "The fossil-fuel industry
and the US government will be celebrating their success in kicking out
Bob Watson, an experienced scientist. The Bush administration and its
friends would rather shoot the messenger than listen to the message."
Dr Watson was appointed to the panel by former president Bill Clinton in
1996.
Speaking from Geneva last night, Dr Watson told The Independent: "US
support was, of course, an important factor. They came under a lot of
pressure from ExxonMobil who asked the White House to try and remove
me."
In the memo last February, ExxonMobil asked the White House's council on
environmental quality to "restructure US attendance at IPCC meetings to
assure no Clinton/Gore proponents are involved in decisional
activities".
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