Thursday, Jan. 18, 2007 3:43 p.m. EST

TV Weathermen: Agree to Global Warming or Else


In an attempt to stifle debate over global warming, a Weather Channel climatologist is advocating that broadcast meteorologists be stripped of their scientific certification if they express skepticism about warming.

The Weather Channel’s (TWC) Heidi Cullen, who hosts the weekly global warming program "The Climate Code," wants the American Meteorological Society (AMS) to revoke its "Seal of Approval" for any TV weatherman who expresses skepticism that human activity is creating a climate catastrophe.

"If a meteorologist can't speak to the fundamental Science of climate change, then maybe the AMS shouldn't give them a Seal of Approval,” Cullen wrote on TWC’s Web site.

"Clearly, the AMS doesn't agree that global warming can be blamed on cyclical weather patterns."

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This attempt to silence skeptics of man-made global warming was the subject of discussion at the just-concluded AMS annual conference in San Antonio, notes Marc Morano, communications director for the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works.

Cullen also wrote: "It's like allowing a meteorologist to go on-air and say that hurricanes rotate clockwise and tsunamis are caused by the weather. It's not a political statement . . . it's just an incorrect statement."

Morano noted that hurricanes (cyclones) do rotate clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.

"Cullen’s call for decertification of TV weathermen who do not agree with her global warming assessment follows a year (2006) in which the media, Hollywood and environmentalists tried their hardest to demonize scientific skeptics of man-made global warming,” Morano wrote on the committee’s Web site.

Scott Pelley, a "60 Minutes” correspondent, compared skeptics of global warming to "Holocaust deniers,” and former Vice President Al Gore has repeatedly referred to skeptics as "global warming deniers."

Cullen’s call for squelching scientific dissent comes as many skeptical university scientists have essentially been silenced over fears of loss of tenure and the withdrawal of research grant money, according to Morano.

Broadcast meteorologists critical of climate alarmism "have - up until now - been unburdened to speak out on climate issues,” he points out.

"Cullen’s call for decertification by the AMS can only serve to intimidate skeptics and further chill free speech in the scientific community.

"Stripping the ‘Seal of Approval’ from broadcast meteorologists could affect their livelihoods, impact their salaries and prestige. TV weathermen are truly the last of the independent scientists and past surveys have shown many of them to be skeptical of manmade global warming claims. Their independence is being threatened now.”

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