Rick Perry, a Tea Party Republican candidate for president, is a liar. It’s true. The good, nonpartisan folks at Politifact prove it on a regular basis. Even when you ignore his ignorant and bigoted beliefs, like homosexuality is like alcoholism, and when you ignore his questionable actions, like taking massive campaign contributions in exchange for favors and political appointments, or, despite his state’s having the third-highest rate of teen pregnancy, Perry says, “abstinence education works,” not to mention firing those who don’t vote for him, Rick Perry lies twice as much as he tells the truth.
Last week, Perry made news when he said, more and more, scientists are questioning global warming. Perry called global warming a “contrived phony mess,†and suggested that climate change scientists are on the take, falsifying their data to make a buck, and falsely claimed, “we are seeing almost weekly or even daily scientists are coming forward,†to denounce the validity of climate change science.
“I do believe that the issue of global warming has been politicized,” Perry said. “I think there are a substantial number of scientists who have manipulated data so that they will have dollars rolling into their projects. I think we’re seeing it almost weekly or even daily, scientists who are coming forward and questioning the original idea that man-made global warming is what is causing the climate to change.”
Politifact deeply investigated, and reports,
“Perry’s remarks give the impression that the science of global warming is in dispute, that some scientists feel one way, and some scientists feel another way. He says that skepticism is growing. In fact, our research shows that’s not the case. We found that there is solid consensus among the major scientific organizations and that the skeptics seems to be small minority. We rate his statement False.”
One of the most oft-cited reports is from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC), a scientific body considered the leading international organization on climate science. It includes the scientific consensus of thousands of researchers from 194 countries.
“Most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations,” the most recent report states. “The observed widespread warming of the atmosphere and ocean, together with ice mass loss, support the conclusion that it is extremely unlikely that global climate change of the past 50 years can be explained without external forcing, and very likely that it is not due to known natural causes alone.” (External forcing refers to anything outside of the normal climate system that changes the climate, including the results of human activity, sunspots or volcanic eruptions.)
In the United States, the U.S. Global Change Research Program coordinates and integrates federal research on climate. Its 2009 report mirrored the IPCC’s conclusions: “Observations show that warming of the climate is unequivocal. The global warming observed over the past 50 years is due primarily to human-induced emissions of heat-trapping gases. These emissions come mainly from the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and gas), with important contributions from the clearing of forests, agricultural practices, and other activities.”
Earlier this year, a committee organized by the National Research Council and the National Academy of Sciences again reviewed the current research on climate change. The committee concluded that climate change is occurring, that it is caused primarily by the emission of greenhouse gases from human activities, and that it poses significant risks for a range of human and natural systems. It specifically rejected the view that that those findings are in some way questionable.
“Although the scientific process is always open to new ideas and results, the fundamental causes and consequences of climate change have been established by many years of scientific research, are supported by many different lines of evidence, and have stood firm in the face of careful examination, repeated testing, and the rigorous evaluation of alternative theories and explanations,” the committee said.
We asked the Perry campaign for comment on this, but we didn’t hear back. In response to similar questions from the Washington Post, the Perry campaign pointed to various writings questioning climate change. But the Post’s report noted these writings were anecdotal and “not evidence of the groundswell of opposition suggested by Perry.” We concur.