Gregory Barker, the climate change minister has given an interview to the Guardian in which he discusses problems with the climate change debate. He also touches on Climategate:
Barker said: "Over the last two years the climate agenda has been on the back foot. The IPCC scandal last year, the email leaks from the University of East Anglia – all were grist to the mill of the climate sceptics.
"Although their significance was greatly exaggerated and the actual substance of those incidents did nothing to undermine the science, the impact on the reputation of climate science was huge. We underestimate it at our peril. There is a need for new voices and a new coherence for those advocating urgent action on climate change.
Several points are worth making here. Firstly we do not know if the incidents at UEA undermined the science because none of the inquiries looked at the science. Secondly, one wonders why there is a a need for new voices if they are also required to have coherence about advocating urgent action on climate change. Wouldn't the same old faces do just as well?
And then there's this:
Barker was careful not to talk in detail about the emails at the UEA, but he said: "That was symptomatic of a view that you must win at all counts. In science, it is really important that dissenting voices are heard and listened to."
So why were McIntyre and McKitrick not heard at any of the inquiries? Does Mr Barker agree that the inquiries were inadequate? And why do none of the ministers at DECC ever seem to speak to anyone who is not either in the energy industry or an environmentalist? Why no sceptics? Why no representatives of consumers?
It's hard to equate Mr Barker's actions with his words.