The Rise of the Climate Right

Energy Secretary Chris Wright seeks to set the record straight about the science

By Kimberley A. Strassel. Excerpts:

"The report—written by five respected scientists, including the former chief scientific officer in the Obama Energy Department—doesn’t deny the climate is changing."

"The report instead provides a holistic picture of the messy reality of climate research—its many areas of uncertainty, disputes and unknowns."

"Global warming has risks, but also benefits, including greater agricultural productivity. We still don’t know the extent to which human activity plays a role in warming, given natural variability, data limitations, uncertain models and fluctuations in solar activity. Models predicting what is to come remain all over the map. U.S. historical data doesn’t support claims of increased frequency or intensity of extreme weather. Climate change is likely to have little effect on economic growth. U.S. climate policies, even drastic ones, will have negligible effect on global temperatures."

"A cottage industry of conservative activists has worked for years to continue highlighting the unseen science and the problems with the “consensus.” Bjorn Lomborg has stressed cost-benefit analysis. Roger Pielke Jr. has done yeoman work correcting the excesses of the climate lobby. Steven Koonin, one of the authors of this report and a former Obama official, has long called for more open and active debate."