Climatologist Draws Heat From Critics

"What state agencies, politicians and citizens need now is something different from when that position was created," said Jane Lubchenco, a marine biologist at Oregon State University who has studied how climate change affects the ocean. "I know there's a lot of frustration with not having a state climatologist reflecting the very strong consensus in the scientific community" about the human impact on global warming, she said.

But few state climatologists have generated as much frustration among the scientific establishment as Michaels has in Virginia.

Michaels was appointed to his position by Gov. John N. Dalton (R) in 1980, a year after Michaels received his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin. And it's hard to find anyone who faults his work in keeping the state's weather data.

"He's done an outstanding job," said Paul G. Knight, the state climatologist for Pennsylvania and head of the American Association of State Climatologists. Knight said that Michaels and his staff have excelled at gathering data and answering questions. "His office is really one of the very good offices" in the association, he said.

Michaels has built his career as a fiery and frequently quoted global-warming doubter. His position is that the climate is becoming warmer, but it will not turn out to be as hot -- or its consequences as bad -- as some fear. Michaels has criticized other scientists, as well as political figures such as former vice president Al Gore (a "scientist wannabe," Michaels wrote this year), for exaggerating the risks and results of climate change.

"The preponderance of bad news almost certainly means that something is missing, both in the process of science itself and in the reporting of science," Michaels wrote last month in "Is the Sky Really Falling? A Review of Recent Global Warming Scare Stories," an article for the Cato Institute, where he is a senior fellow in environmental studies.

That position has earned him wrath from others in the climate-change debate who say that Michaels -- especially when he is quoted as a state climatologist -- creates the false impression of another side to a closed debate.

"He's sort of one of the central figures in what I would call a disinformation campaign," said Eileen Claussen, president of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. She added: "He says it's a little bit, and it's of no consequence. . . . And it's not a little bit, and it is of serious consequence."

This summer, news reports revealed that Michaels had asked for money for his research from coal-burning utilities. Such companies often are criticized for emitting pollutants that lead to global warming, and critics have said this fundraising proves that Michaels's views are calculated to please his financial backers. Michaels said it doesn't prove anything.

"I was working on climate change long before I worked as a consultant" to outside groups, he wrote in an e-mail to The Washington Post, "and my views have been quite consistent over that period."

After the fundraising reports came out, the Kaine administration investigated how Michaels had come by his title, and officials determined that he worked for the university, not the governor. So they sent Michaels a letter asking him to make it clear that he was not speaking for the state during his "outside activities" or consulting.

The bifurcated nature of Michaels's professional life is made clear in the text of an e-mail sent out last week to other state climatologists by Mark Shafer, the director of climate information at the Oklahoma Climatological Survey. Shafer's e-mail, which was obtained by The Post, came as state climatologists and their staff debated whether to issue a "letter of support" for Michaels.

"Regardless of your views on climate change, Pat Michaels is one of us," Shafer wrote. "He has a 25+ year record of climate services to the people of Virginia and provides a lot more services that do not get the press of his research."