The Washington Post took up the whole skeptical-about-climate-change topic over the weekend.
And it appears that voiceofsandiego.org isn’t the only publication interviewing Patrick J. Michaels, the Virginia state climatologist, by e-mail.
The Post delved into what has become quite the controversy in Virginia, where the Democratic governor isn’t too happy about Michaels’ perspectives on global warming.
(Question: Can you be a state climatologist if you work in Virginia? It’s a commonwealth, after all, not a state.)
Post reporters Juliet Eilperin and David Fahrenthold say:
Patrick J. Michaels, the Virginia state climatologist, has a day job that makes him a cross between a meteorologist and a librarian. He gathers weather data and answers weather questions: What caused the great James River flood of 1771? How windy was it last Tuesday? Where’s the best place to put a vineyard?
Nobody dislikes him because of his day job. But Michaels, a professor at the University of Virginia, also moonlights as one of the country’s most aggressive and, in some circles, most reviled skeptics about the scientific consensus on climate change. It was that role that landed Michaels in the center of a small controversy in Richmond last month, when the administration of Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) asked him to be clear that he is not speaking for the state when discussing issues such as global warming.
The Post story is here.
Our climate change story with some perspective on Michaels is here.