"Climate Scientist Disowned By Newt Gingrich Speaks Out Over Book Spat"

"A US climate scientist at the centre of a row over Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich's stance on climate change has spoken out for the first time.

Katharine Hayhoe, an atmospheric scientist at Texas Tech University, had written a chapter for Gingrich's upcoming book of essays on the environment. The chapter was aimed at climate sceptics, and those who fear it will cost too much to deal with climate change, but it was ditched by the presidential candidate after the book came under attack by rightwing talk show host Rush Limbaugh. Gingrich, desperate to shore up his conservative credentials, said of the chapter at a recent campaign event: 'That's not going to be in the book. We didn't know that they were doing that and we told them to kill it.'

In her first extensive comment on the matter, Hayhoe told the Guardian she condemned the polarisation of a crucial global concern. 'I really, really deplore the politicisation and polarisation of this issue. There are these increasingly unprincipled attempts to polarise the science when the science is fact – like the sky is blue, the grass is green and the temperature of our planet is increasing.'"
     
Suzanne Goldenberg reports for the Guardian January 6, 2012.

SEE ALSO:

"And The 2011 Award for Bad Climate Science Goes To ..." (Los Angeles Times/Dean Kuipers)

"GOP Climate Hawks Caught On Video" (Mother Jones/James West)

"Still Searching for Republicans With Climate Concerns" (Dot Earth/NYT/Andrew C. Revkin)

"The 2011 Climate B.S.* of the Year Awards" (Forbes/Pacific Institute/Peter Gleick)

"New Hampshire's GOP Voters Speak Out About Climate Change" (You Tube/Climate Desk/James West)

"New Proof: Republicans Really Are Anti-Science" (DeSmogBlog/Chris Mooney)

"Rush Limbaugh Serving As De Facto Editor Of Gingrich Book" (Media Matters)