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Local Utility Hires National Consultant to Diss
Warming
August 21, 2006
While Colorado ski resorts are taking global warming very seriously,
a local utility wants to spread doubt about climate science in the
mind of the public. Earlier this year, the Intermountain Rural
Electric Association (IREA) in Sedalia gave $100,000 to Pat
Michaels, professor of environmental sciences at the University of
Virginia and senior fellow at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C.
Michaels has made a name for himself as a national
critic of global warming. He is a regular on Fox News and, according
to an Associated Press article about the IREA contribution, has been
quoted by more than 150 newspapers over the last few years. He is a
source for newspaper articles that scientists disagree about the
existence of global warming. See an outline of his work, along with
a link to his work at Cato on Wikipedia at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Michaels
Michaels' connection to IREA is through the Western
Fuels Association, a coal company with its headquarters located in
Westminster. Western Fuels is the primary supplier for and has its
headquarters in the same building with Tri-State Generation &
Transmission Association. Tri-State generates electricity almost
entirely with coal and serves electricity cooperatives in Colorado,
Nebraska, New Mexico and Wyoming. IREA buys all of its electricity
from Tri-State.
Western Fuels Association (WFA) has taken a national
lead in various coalitions to discredit global warming science. WFA
publishes World Climate Journal, which is edited by Michaels, to
question the existence of global warming and the need for
regulations that might damage coal company interests. Michaels is
also associated with another organization set up entirely with WFA
funding called the Greening Earth Society, which claims that global
warming will be good for the planet. Of course, WFA is not the only
coal company to support Michaels’ work, and Michaels is involved
with a number of organizations that disrespect the notion of climate
change. The Union of Concerned Scientists in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, publishes a list of prominent global warming skeptics
organizations, most of which are funded by the petroleum and coal
companies; see:
http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science/skeptic-organizations.html
On July 17, IREA distributed a letter to scores of
utility cooperatives throughout the West and Great Plains asking
them to contribute to Michaels’ “scientific work” at Cato. And, IREA
pledged another $50,000 to Michaels.
The problem is that although Michaels holds a Ph.D.,
his work is in public relations, not science. His statements that
global warming will be good for the planet because it will increase
alfalfa growth on the Great Plains are crafted in D.C. to play in
Tri-State Territory. I suppose it’s the coal industry’s version of
advertising that smoking improves your sex life.
Needless to say, a number of IREA customers are not
very pleased to see the money they pay to their electricity provider
used for coal industry propaganda. They have formed a blog and email
group for IREA customers. Read about it, and find contact
information in this month’s Colorado Renewable Energy Blog, which is
written by former CRES board member Phil von Hake; see:
http://cres-energy.org/newhtml/news_blog.html |
