Photo by republicanconference, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/republicanconference/4171582799/">via Flickr</a>.
What else can we expect next year if the GOP assumes leadership in the House? In addition to protecting the incandescent light bulb, we can expect hearings—lots of them. Specifically, expect annoyer-in-chief Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the would-be chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform, to launch numerous investigations and wield the power of subpoena liberally. He promised as much in a dossier released yesterday listing his planned investigations.
One of the big ones: He plans to investigate climate science and the so-called “ClimateGate” “scandal.” Issa lists it under the subsection, “Politicization of Science,” and outlines his mission:
In November 2009, in a scandal popularly referred to as “Climategate,” a large volume of email messages and documents from the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia were disclosed, raising serious questions about the research that led to the findings released by the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Other news reports have suggested that in an effort to force a determination that carbon dioxide (CO2) endangers human health and welfare, EPA inappropriately limited staff contributions, suppressed dissent, and may have punished those who challenged the Obama Administration’s environmental agenda. The Republican Minority requested that Chairman Towns launch a full Committee investigation into the disclosed emails and EPA’s lack of transparency and alleged misconduct, but did not received a response from the Majority.
Of course, this fails to mention that multiple investigations now have found no evidence of of wrongdoing when it came to the emails, or that a vast body of scientific literature affirms that the climate is changing, regardless of whether a few scientists sent some mean emails.
If Republicans do in fact take the majority in November, welcome to the next few years, folks!
