Wallace testifies in Senate on climate change impacts
May 14, 2008Terry Wallace, principal associate director for Science, Technology, and Engineering (PADSTE), testified Tuesday morning [13 May 2008] before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee regarding the Laboratory’s efforts to develop tools for understanding and mitigating the consequences of global climate change and the growing demand for energy.
The Senate Committee is examining the impacts of climate change on the reliability, security, economics, and design of critical energy infrastructure in coastal regions.Click here to read Wallace's prepared remarks to the committee.
Wallace addressed how the Laboratory is using the best science to help decision makers understand vulnerabilities to the nation’s energy infrastructure from increased energy demand and climate change.
[Below is a 3 minute excerpt of the hearing video. Senator Ken Salazar (D-CO) asks a question of Dr. Terry Wallace, and also asks Dr. Virginia Burkett (Chief Scientist of the Global Change Programs, United States Geological Survey) to respond to his question.]
12 comments:
NOAA is starting to make loud noises that they are the rightful place for any growth in programs for US climate research. This should get very interesting.
Of course, I doubt NOAA researchers cost anything close to an FTE of $450K per year. The high labor rates at LANL put the lab at a disadvantage in this area.
Seriously, how can you believe anything from a man with no eyebrows?
Terry lost them while shoving his head up all the Rectal asses to get his PADSTE position and to ensure he gets to be Lab Director once Mike leaves in a few days.
Wow, hadn't heard Mike was leaving.
Quoting Terry's testimony
"The midpoint prediction for rising temperature in California in the year 2030 is between 2 degrees F (winter) and 4 degrees F using today's best climate models."
If Terry was an expert on the subject, he would know that these numbers are well beyond any credible prediction.
Extrapolating from the record over the last 30 years, the global temperature will be about 0.5 degrees F higher in 2030, far below Terry's claimed 2 to 4 degrees F for California. In addition, global warming has actually slowed in the last 10 years, extrapolating from 1998 to the present, the global temperature in 2030 will be less than 0.1 degrees F higher.
So why is Terry so alarmist? Simple, profit motive - Terry's bonus is tied to growing LANL's non-weapons' work. LANL can't grow in climate modeling without making claims that the effects of global warming are so large and so close in time that LANL's only real expertise (infrastructure modeling) is needed immediately. After all, LANL has no other demonstrable expertise related to climate modeling.
Congress and DOE must consider that LANS managers have these kinds of profit motives and conflicts-of-interest and therefore cannot be trusted to provide fair and unbiased advice.
Corporatization of the National Labs was a grevious mistake.
"Corporatization of the National Labs was a grevious mistake." (5/19/08 7:47 PM)
LANS and LLNS were, but not Sandia Corporation, the subsidary of Lockheed Martin that has the M&O contract of SNL.
So LANS' Mr. Stud-ly told the Congress people that California's temperature would soon rise by a ludicrous 4 degrees by 2030 "using today's best climate models."
And he said this with a straight face? A 4 degree rise in only 22 years? Using LANL's best climate models, no doubt? Amazing!
LANL's only real expertise (infrastructure modeling)
If you refer to TranSims/EpiSims, most of the scientists left to Virginia Tech years ago when the NISAC money "dried up".
Terry will say almost anything if he thinks it will further his agenda. This is not a man you can trust.
"Yep, Terry Wallace is a lying sack of shit who would sell out his own family if it furthered his cause."
Ummm... I don't think Terry has a family to sell out, 7:44 PM. In fact, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Terry is even married.
He's got a Mommy.
Hi 11:05 AM - yes, someone actually married Terry. He left Arizona and his museum curator position in a snit because they wouldn't give his honey tenure. But that was OK since his Mommy got him a job a LANL.
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