Joe Barton

Congreaseman Joe Barton (R-BushCo) goes straight to the top of the list of human-sized impediments for a couple of issues he has gotten himself embroiled in recently.

He lorded over the House energy bill, of which The Oil Drum noted lacked commitment in a few key areas compared to the Senate bill -- namely in the areas of fuel savings, tax breaks, and ethanol.

But more seriously, Chris Mooney notes how Barton put undo pressure on climate researcher Michael Mann (of RealClimate.org).

By way of a belligerent memo, Barton essentially played the role of a Dilbertian boss to someone he has absolutely no supervision over. I realize that all of us taxpayers support climate research, but poor Joe does not understand the first thing about academic freedom. I would give it a whoop-ass response if someone layed down these threats to me:

1. Your curriculum vitae, including, but not limited to, a list of all studies relating to...
2. List all financial support you have received related to your research, including, but not limited to, all private ...
3. Regarding all such work involving federal grants or funding support under which you were a recipient of funding or...
4. Provide the location of all data archives relating to each published study for which you were an author or...
5. According to The Wall Street Journal , you have declined to release the exact computer code you used to generate your results. ...
6. Regarding study data and related information that is not publicly archived, what requests have you or your co-authors received for data relating to the climate change studies, what was your response, and why?
7. The authors McIntyre and McKitrick... [ed: BWAH Ha Ha!]
8. Explain in detail your work for and on behalf of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, including, but not limited to...

Read Mooney's post and the comments section to see how upset scientists have become over the threatening tone of this "academic subpoena".

And what's the deal with Barton's picture from joebarton.house.gov? (see above) It appears as if he proudly flies the flag of (1) Kenya or (2) Iraq based on his color scheme. Why does Joe hate American scientific freedom?

Update: Joe Barton Fink! Looking at the color scheme on a different browser, Barton now shows red, white, and blue. I guess I won't trust my lying eyes again.