(MintPress) — A scientist formally touted by the Koch brothers for his anti-climate change views is reversing his assertions, now claiming that the phenomenon is real and caused by humans, raising alarm among those in the conservative party who question the scientist’s allegiances.
Richard A. Muller’s new claims come just days after NASA scientists claimed Greenland’s ice sheets began melting at rapid rates this month. The University of California Berkeley physics professor came out Saturday in the New York Times, writing an opinion piece that defied his earlier claims against man-made climate change.
Muller is co-founder of Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature, an organization funded by the Koch brothers, David and Charles, who earned their fortunes through the oil industry and heavily support conservative organizations.
The Kochs’ support for the organization is not likely to continue with Muller’s conclusions, which are now published on the organization’s website. In the first phase of the project, the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation donated $150,000 — there was no mention of donations from either of the Kochs in the second phase of the donation.
“Many of the changes in land-surface temperatures can be explained by a combination of volcanoes and a proxy for human greenhouse gas emissions,” the organization states in its most recent study. “Solar variation does not seem to impact the temperature trend.”
His opinion piece in the Times summed up his most recent findings, and it also explained his turnaround, now referring to himself as a “converted skeptic.” Muller completed the study with the help of his daughter, Elizabeth, who is also co-founder of Berkeley Earth Science. Their study looked back over the last 250 years, determining that rises in the earth’s temperature, especially within the last 50 years, is attributed to human emission of greenhouse gases.
And while Muller’s ‘coming out’ has shifted his position, he isn’t abandoned skepticism altogether, claiming that the alarmist scientists are still off base in their assertions that the nation is seeing more intense hurricanes and tornadoes as a result of climate change.
“It’s a scientist’s duty to be properly skeptical. I still find that much, if not most, of what is attributed to climate change is speculative, exaggerated or just plain wrong,” he wrote in the Times. “I’ve analyzed some of the most alarmist claims, and my skepticism about them hasn’t changed.”
Just last year, Muller told news outlets that he did believe climate change was occurring, remaining skeptical on the role man-made emissions had on his findings.
The problem behind the debate
In a June video, Muller explained the dangers with the American public taking climate change on as a moral issue, warning that such a view could limit the amount of scientific study and persuade the average person to look at the issue, not through a scientific lense, but a lense which provides information matching their moral stance.
“ … When it becomes a moral issue, then people start giving the facts that most support their side. This then lends people to believe – it leads people to believe that the issue has no more scientific content, that it hardly even needs any more scientific investigation. When in fact, it’s critical that we do more scientific investigation and study it,” Muller said.
His plea to take to the politics — or morality — out of climate change is further explored in his book, “Energy for Future Presidents,” in which he looks at the role energy plays in today’s political systems.
Muller also alluded in his New York Times piece that something must be done to address the issue of climate change, outside of party lines.
“I hope that the Berkeley Earth analysis will help settle the scientific debate regarding global warming and its human causes,” he wrote. “Then comes the difficult part: agreeing across the political and diplomatic spectrum about what can and should be done.”
His opinion piece comes just weeks after two House Democrats penned a letter to the chairmen for the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Subcommittee on Energy and Power to hold an investigation into the role climate change could be having in relation to the country’s extreme weather. It was the 15th time the representatives requested such a hearing — and the 15th time their attempts went unanswered.
The letter attacked the Republican chairmen, Rep. Frederick Upton (R-Mich.) and Rep. Edward Whitfield (R-Ky.), claiming that ignoring the issue is a negligent action.
“Willful ignorance of the science is irresponsible and it is dangerous.” the letter states.