Bob McCarty Writes

Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.)

Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, responded to Penn State’s announcement today concerning its investigation into possible research misconduct by Dr. Michael Mann.

Penn State’s internal inquiry found further investigation is warranted to determine if Dr. Mann “engaged in, directly or indirectly, any actions that seriously deviated from accepted practices within the academic community for proposing, conducting or reporting research or other scholarly activities.”

Dr. Michael Mann

“I want to commend Penn State for recognizing the seriousness of the allegations leveled at Dr. Mann by launching an initial inquiry into whether he committed research misconduct,” Senator Inhofe said in a news release this afternoon. ”As the University moves to the next phase of its investigation, I believe the Inspector General of the National Science Foundation should also commence an investigation to examine possible violations of federal laws and policies governing taxpayer-funded research.

“The stakes involved here are enormous.  The scientific work in question is part of a larger enterprise behind federal climate change policies that will cost American consumers trillions of dollars.  So when we learn, as we did last week, that the IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report included serious errors, raising questions about the integrity of its work, we need to reassure the American people that their tax dollars are supporting objective scientific research rather than political agendas.”

Senator Inhofe, long a skeptic of climate change alarmism, sent a letter to National Science Foundation Inspector General Allison C. Lerner, asking her to investigate possible violations of federal law related to Dr. Mann’s research and funding.

For more details about the announcement by Penn State officials, read, “‘ClimateGate’ Inquiry Determines Investigation Warranted in One of Four ‘Possible Allegations’.”