Governor: Oregon has no 'climatologist'

Global warming - Ted Kulongoski wants contrarian meteorologist George Taylor to stop speaking for the state

SALEM -- Gov. Ted Kulongoski wants to make it perfectly clear who has the official word on global warming in Oregon: He does. Kulongoski has asked the president of Oregon State University to stop George Taylor, head of the Oregon Climate Service, from calling himself the "state climatologist."

Taylor, who has a master's degree in meteorology, has been widely known as Oregon's state climatologist since 1991 and uses that title. Technically, however, the position was discontinued along with federal funding in the late 1980s. The state-funded Oregon Climate Service tracks weather and generates maps from offices at OSU.

But Taylor has gained a national reputation as a climate change contrarian. He argues that natural variations -- not human activities -- are the main cause of global warming. And those views don't sit well with Kulongoski, who believes the science increasingly points to human activity as the most likely cause of global warming. He has appointed task forces of well-known Oregon scientists and business leaders to advise him on climate change.

The governor also has staked his political legacy on developing Oregon as a center for climate research and development of renewable energy.

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It's high time this bozo sits down and stops embarrassing himself and the state...

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1171083308311040.xml&coll=7

I was just informing my fundie boss on this very person today. He is desperately clinging to the talking point "not everyone agrees that Global warming is true"

AAGGGGHHHH! I 'bout smacked him upside the head... but that would lessen the chances of me getting the raise I'm going to ask for next month. :shrug:
I politely told him that the 6 'scientists' who claim it's normal are out-numbered by the 2000 or so that say "IT'S NOT NORMAL!"

it's gone national and thankfully, Think Progress has a great report on how George Taylor got his so called "position."

Right Wing Spreads Misinformation About Oregon’s Global Warming Denier
Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski (D) is considering replacing the “state’s climatologist,” George Taylor, who has suggested that “natural variations” — not human-induced greenhouse gases — are to blame for the Earth’s recent warming. Taylor’s view is not in line with the state policy of Oregon to reduce greenhouse gases, nor is it in line with the consensus of the scientific community.

Conservatives have been up in the arms over the Taylor replacement. Yesterday, Drudge breathlessly reported “Governor plans to fire Oregon climatologist for skeptical view of warming…” And last night, Tucker Carlson blasted Oregon’s Governor for considering replacing Taylor. Watch it: (see video at link)

The right wing has resorted to distorting the facts and spreading misinformation in order to attract attention to the issue. Here are the facts:

1) Taylor is not the “state climatologist.” Oregon abolished the position in 1989. He was bestowed the title by Oregon State University, not by Gov. Kulongoski or the state of Oregon.

2) Taylor is not a “climatologist.” Taylor is a meteorologist. He does not possess a PhD or have a background in climatology.

3) He will not be fired. Taylor will not lose his job or income, which comes from Oregon State University. He will merely be stripped of his title, which he never earned but claims to retain. Gov. Kulongoski has the right to appoint a climatologist who is an expert in the field and adheres to the state’s climate policies.

UPDATE: News Hounds has more.

UPDATE II: Blue Oregon has more on Tucker’s “hot air.”

UPDATE III: Brian Hines confirms with Oregon State University that Taylor is not the “state climatologist.”
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/02/08/oregon-denier

Not only that but apparently George Taylor, Oregon State University's head climatologist (not "Oregon state's") writes articles for Tech Central Station for 500 bucks a shot. Tech Central is supported by Exxonmobil so there you have it.

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!!!

In a report from Willamette Weekly comes this timely news:

Taylor's colleagues at Oregon State's College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences have grown frustrated over the years with what they consider his misunderstanding of climate-change facts. On multiple occasions, faculty members found it necessary to correct statements in Taylor's regular "Weather Matters" column in the Corvallis Gazette-Times.

In 2004, a letter to the editor of the Gazette-Times signed by Prof. James Coakley "and all professors of the College of Atmospheric Sciences" said Taylor's statements in the newspaper "misrepresent the widely accepted scientific knowledge concerning the Earth's climate and global warming."

In 1999, another letter to the Corvallis newspaper, signed by six of the college's faculty members, took Taylor to task for dismissing the depletion of the ozone layer as "a rather small problem." Another letter written by a faculty member, the late Jack Dymond, observed, "First with ozone depletion and now with global warming, George Taylor continues to misinterpret the science of some of the most important environmental issues facing the planet."

http://www.wweek.com/editorial/3142/6655/


In other words, George Taylor is a :dunce: