So much theatrical foolishness happens in Congressional hearings that one wonders why anyone bothers with them. But every once in a while, someone really intelligent, really well informed, really courageous addresses one of them, and then it’s a good idea to pay attention.

Image: Creative Commons under Unsplash

That happened March 23 when our friend Dr. Judith Curry, President of Climate Forecast Applications Network and former Professor and Chair of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology delivered her expert testimony before the Senate Budget Committee. We’re glad to present a PDF of her complete written testimony below.

You can watch the full committee hearing here. Keep in mind that what gets said in a hearing is generally a far cry from what’s in written testimony. Committee members dominate the hearings, using them mainly to promote themselves and their preferred policies and rarely giving the expert witnesses the opportunity to say much of what they really think.

That’s certainly the case with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse’s (D-RI) mishandling of Curry—a mishandling that Curry exposed in a devastating critique here, demonstrating Whitehouse’s injustice toward her and mishandling of evidence.

You might remember that Whitehouse has threatened climate realists (whom he calls denialists), including the Cornwall Alliance and me, in the past, calling for an inquisition to enforce what he (wrongly) perceives as climate-change orthodoxy, which he (wrongly) perceives to be alarmism. Contrary to the First Amendment’s guarantees of freedom of speech and the press, he has threatened to prosecute “climate deniers” under RICO (Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organization) laws, something I have pilloried here, here, here, here, and here.

Whitehouse’s attempt to discredit Curry and her testimony is typical for him: ignore the evidence and attack the person. We need better conduct by Members of Congress.