Energy and Commerce chairman agrees to review climate skeptic’s industry ties

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) has agreed to work with Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) to examine petroleum industry backing for climatologist Patrick Michaels.

“He [Upton] agreed to join with me in a letter asking Mr. Michaels to come in and answer questions from us on his financial ties,” Waxman, the panel’s top Democrat, said Tuesday. 

Waxman in January had asked Upton to probe whether Michaels – a climate skeptic with the conservative Cato Institute – had misled the panel about the extent of industry funding for his research. (Waxman’s letter can be found here.)

{mosads}Michaels is a Ph.D climatologist who is also a distinguished senior fellow in the School of Public Policy at George Mason University. He has alleged that models showing catastrophic human-induced global warming are overblown, and questioned the scientific foundation of EPA’s planned greenhouse gas rules.

Waxman and Upton discussed the matter at a committee meeting Tuesday, where the panel adopted its oversight plan for the 112th Congress.