Donald Boesch is president of the University of Maryland’s Center for Environmental Science. He’s also chairman of the Scientific and Technical Working Group for the Maryland Commission on Climate Change. With these positions of prominence and political influence, it is no surprise that Boesch and UMCES have received more than $65 million in federal grants and contracts since 2000, as well as an unknown amount of state money. Judging by the secrecy surrounding a critically important report Boesch edited for Maryland officials, however, taxpayers should start demanding some answers about what they are getting from Boesch in return for their hard-earned money.
The Baltimore Sun reported last week that Boesch edited a report prepared for the MCCC that will be used to submit 42 policy recommendations to Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley on the effects of global warming on Maryland. It’s not clear whether O’Malley’s pet daily got a leaked copy of the draft or final version of the report. When Paul Chesser, director of Climate Strategies Watch, requested a copy of the report from a Boesch spokesman, he was refused. A similar request by this newspaper was also denied.
Based on the Sun description of the report’s conclusion, however, it appears that Boesch is helping O’Malley and other Maryland politicos in their continuing campaign to use global warming alarmism to justify raising Maryland taxes, increasing regulation on Maryland businesses and expanding the reach of Maryland government ever further into the everyday lives of the state’s residents. According to the Sun, the Boesch report warns that global warming will cause sea levels to rise, with an 18-inch increase causing the loss of an estimated 264 miles of roads and 226 miles of rail. In addition, 31 percent of Baltimore’s port facilities would become submerged, and parts of five counties would be lost, as well as Smith Island in the Bay.
The problem with such predictions — as RedMaryland blogger Mark Newgent pointed out in yesterday’s Examiner — is that too often they lack established scientific fact. The Boesch panel relied on the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, but the guy who wrote the sea-rise chapter of that report recently told Congress that “we don’t have a good assessed scientific foundation right now” on that issue.
So, to ensure that Marylanders are getting sound scientific advice, The Washington Examiner has asked for copies of all data sets used in preparing the Boesch report. Those data sets will be submitted for independent analyses and verification. We’ll let you know the results.
