The Inquisition of Climate Science

PrefaceIntroductionNot Skeptics, by Deniers1. Science and Potemkin ScienceNever a CrisisA Political MovementA Cheap TuxedoBetter Than Scientists2. Adventures in Denierland Urban Myth?Cave Junction3. The Evidence for ConsensusSpam FilterNewton's Second LawPolling ScientistsAn Extremely Pernicious Development4. Discovery of Global Warming One of the Oldest TheoriesA Large-Scale Geophysical Experiment5. The Greenhouse Effect: From Curiosity to Threat Models Predict WarmingGlobetrottersThe Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change6. Global Warming: All You Really Need to Know in One Chart7. Tobacco Tactics: The Scientist-DeniersAll of Those People Are Wrong With All Due Respect, by Dr. MichaelsThe $45 Million ManIf Science Doesn't Have IntegrityBlue MarbleNuke Vietnam?Foot Soldier8. Fear of State: The NonscientistsAren't You Embarrassed, by Mr. Will?Once AgainThe Lomborg DeceptionBed-Wetting, by Messianic9. Toxic TanksHarry and LouiseTale from the CryptPlease Don't Poop in My SaladEmbarrassing General MarshallPush Down on the Accelerator10. An Industry to TrustMost Profitable Company in HistoryAn Industry That Cannot Afford Denial11. Balance as Bias: How the Media Missed "The Story of the Century"The Prestige PressPlumes of Smoke from ChinaCarbongateEnd of Objectivity?Systemic Failure12. Science Under AttackIt's the Sun, by OzoneTestosteroneWatts Up with That?Slap ShotThe Medieval Warm PeriodDo Climate Models Work?Did Global Warming End in 1998?Chicken or Egg?GRACETropospheric Cooling?13. Greatest Hoax in History?Who's to Blame? Liberals, by of CourseTo Command SpringFunding ResearchTraitors 14. Climategate: Much Ado About NothingOne Million WordsInnocent of All ChargesGates and More Gates15. Anatomy of Denial To Roll Back Industrial Society16. Escalating TacticsMonkey TrialsOld Virginia Home17. Earning TrustAppendixNotesBibliographyAcknowledgmentsIndex

James Lawrence Powell was born and raised in Kentucky and graduated from Berea College. He received his Ph.D. in Geochemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has had a distinguished career as a college teacher, college president, museum director, and author of books on earth science for general audiences. He serves as executive director of the National Physical Science Consortium, a partnership among government agencies and laboratories, industry, and higher education dedicated to increasing the number of American citizens with graduate degrees in the physical sciences and related engineering fields, emphasizing recruitment of a diverse applicant pool that includes women and minorities. He has taught at Oberlin College and has served as its acting president. He has also been president of Franklin and Marshall College, Reed College, the Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History. Both Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush appointed Powell to the National Science Board.

This book is a winner, written in an easy, logical style with thorough and fascinating discussions of major deniers. -- Orrin Pilkey, Duke University, coauthor of The Rising Sea With the evidence for global warming so strong, why, Powell asks, does half the American public doubt it? His answer is a history of the campaign of denial, the most comprehensive and up-to-date history available. It is well written and well worth reading: this is the most important issue facing our generation. -- Spencer Weart, author of The Discovery of Global Warming This courageous and well-researched book exposes how ideologues and money combined to attack sound climate science. -- Richard Somerville, University of California, San Diego, author of The Forgiving Air: Understanding Environmental Change, second edition Powell consistently brings the sharp insight of a knowledgeable insider melded with the skepticism of a critical outsider to the most important issues in science. In his latest book -- his best yet -- he shows us the path to understanding climate change. -- Peter D. Ward, The University of Washington James Lawrence Powell's must-read book is a welcome addition to the growing literature debunking fossil fuel-funded, anti-science disinformation. As Powell makes clear, it is time for scientists to stand up and be counted. -- Joseph Romm, editor of Climate Progress and senior fellow at American Progress ... this is a highly authoritative and accessible book that should be read by everyone who has any doubts about the reality of climate change. Irish Times 7/9/2011 Books like 'The Inquisition' offer a clear antidote to the evolving national viral infection of antiscience. Get it. Read it. Tell others about it. -- John Atcheson 1895 8/29/2011 By looking at climate science, business, politics, and media, Powell has taken a comprehensive approach, doing a thorough job of boxing in the deniers' arguments and deflating them while at the same time providing an accessible read for