DISSECTING DECEMBER'S CANADIAN SENATE CLIMATE HEARING
January 5, 2012: On the morning of December 15, 2011, The Senate Standing Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources heard from four expert witnesses about the science and economics of climate change. This was the first time since 2005 that scientists who do not accept the hypothesis that humanity’s carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions are causing dangerous global warming were permitted to testify before a Canadian government committee.
The committee hearing announcement may be seen here. The English language official transcript of the hearing is available here. The French language official transcript is available here.
The whole hearing may be viewed on-line here (2 hours). Audio podcasts of all of the testimonies and questions and answers may be downloaded here. The podcasts are also inserted along with each video below.
For ease of viewing, ICSC has assembled interesting parts of the hearing as separate video excepts, with all the slides shown inserted, as follows (double click on any video to view it in full screen mode. Click on YouTube logo at the lower right of any video to make comments):
Ross McKitrick, PhD
Professor of Economics Department of Economics The University of Guelph Guelph, Ontario E-mail Professor McKitrick Professor McKitrick's Webpage
Click above image to watch Professor Clark's prepared testimony.
Jan Veizer, PhD
Distinguished University Professor EmeritusDepartment of Earth SciencesUniversity of OttawaOttawa, Canada E-mail Professor VeizerProfessor Veizer's Webpage
Also see "Read the Sunspots", by Professor Patterson. This is the 2007 Financial Post piece that, after being featured on The Drudge Report, is reputed to have had the highest number of hits in the newspaper's history.
Click above image to watch Professor Patterson's prepared testimony.
Questions and Answer Session
Senators asked the following twelve questions of the scientist witnesses, questions we often hear from the public and the media. Watch each question and the scientists' answers as follows:
What needs to happen so that citizens are properly informed about the climate debate?
Former Alberta Senator Tommy Banks asks how one decides on a course of action, given the very different viewpoints the committee has heard. Professor McKitrick and Patterson respond.
NunavutSenator Dennis Patterson asks if Canada's targets of 17% reductions below 2005 levels by 2020 are worthwhile. Professor McKitrick explains why they are not.
Alberta Senator Grant Mitchell asserts that witnesses are out of step with "thousands upon thousands upon thousands" of climate experts. Professors Patterson and McKitrick respond.
