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DENVER (AP) — A University of Colorado environmental studies professor says he is the target of a congressman's "witch hunt" because he expressed doubt in congressional testimony about whether climate change is making natural disasters worse.
Roger Pielke (PELL'-kee) Jr. made his comment this week after Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., asked whether he had any undisclosed funding from fossil fuel companies.
In a letter dated Tuesday, Grijalva, a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, asked the University of Colorado for a list of Pielke's external funding sources. Grijalva cited Pielke's testimony before a U.S. Senate panel in 2013 in which Pielke said it was wrong to blame greenhouse gases for worsening disasters.
In a blog post Wednesday, Pielke said he gets no funding from fossil fuel companies. He also said he is not a climate change skeptic and that he supports a carbon tax and stricter regulations on carbon pollution proposed by President Barack Obama's administration.
"I know with complete certainty that this investigation is a politically motivated 'witch hunt' designed to intimidate me (and others) and to smear my name," Pielke wrote.
In an email to The Associated Press on Friday, Pielke referred to his post as his response to Grijalva.
Adam Sarvana, a spokesman for Grijalva and other Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee, said the lawmakers believe witnesses who testify before Congress should have to disclose more about their funding sources. He said they're currently required to reveal public funding but should disclose private money as well.
Sarvana didn't respond directly to Pielke's criticism.
Pielke's 2013 Senate testimony prompted White House science adviser John P. Holdren to publicly disagree. Holdren wrote on the White House website that Pielke's views "were not representative of mainstream views on this topic."
University of Colorado Boulder Provost Russell Moore issued a written statement supporting Pielke.
"Professor Pielke is a highly regarded faculty member who is clearly operating under the principles of academic freedom, which we strongly defend. We stand behind him," Moore said.
Moore said Pielke's funding has come from the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other government agencies or organizations.
Pielke is an environmental studies professor at CU. He formerly was a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
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