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Deal, Nathan

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State Climatologist of Georgia Ousting: Was It Justified? (‘Skepticism’, not only alarmism, can get political)

by Chip Knappenberger

September 19, 2011

The political battle to control the flavor of scientific discourse claims another victim. This time it was Dr. David Stooksbury, the 12-year veteran State Climatologist of Georgia whose middle-of-the-road opinions about climate change apparently ran afoul of Georgia Governor Nathan Deal’s more conservative views.

In an executive order issued last week, Governor Deal stripped Dr. Stooksbury of his title and conferred it to a current employee of the state’s Environmental Protection Division—a position under direct government control, unlike Stooksbury’s rather independent office at the University of Georgia.

Certainly, the Governor can do as he chooses. And the newly tapped Georgia State Climatologist, Bill Murphey is seemingly qualified for the job. But, the move has all the signs of haste, and none of an orderly, well-thought out and coordinated transition. Which hints of something fishy going on.

It is worth bearing in mind that politics should consider scientific opinion, not shape it.

Stooksbury’s ouster is just the latest in a string of State Climatologists have been “replaced” in recent years for what seem like political reasons.

Patrick Michaels in Virginia. David Legates in Delaware. George Taylor in Oregon. Those three now-former state climatologists were on the rather cautious (and outspoken) side when it came to the possibility for alarming climate changes to occur as a result of human changes to the large-scale composition of the atmosphere. All three were ushered out by governors who had a different take on the issue. Michaels, Legates, and Taylor were victims of their title of “state” climatologist, even though, in this case, “state” referred primarily to geographical location more so than “government.” I guess the governors wanted to alleviate any confusion associated with the name and put someone in that position whose view better reflected that of the “State” (with a capital ‘S’).

What Is a “State Climatoligist”

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John Nathan Deal, a Republican, is the governor of Georgia since 2011. Previously he represented the 9th District of Georgia in the U.S. House of Representatives 1993 to March 2010. The district takes up the entire border with Tennessee and part of the border with North Carolina, and extends into part of the Atlanta suburbs.[1]

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Record and controversies

General information about important bills and votes for can be found in Congresspedia's articles on legislation. You can add information you find on how Nathan Deal voted by clicking the "[edit]" link to the right and typing it in. Remember to cite your sources!

Iraq War

Deal voted for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 that started the Iraq War.[2]

For more information see the chart of U.S. House of Representatives votes on the Iraq War.

ARMPAC

According to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, "Nathan Deal has taken $3,245 from Tom DeLay's ARMPAC... Deal voted with Tom DeLay 93% of the time between Jan. 1 2004 and March 31 2005."[1]

Bio

Deal was born August 25, 1942, in Millen, Georgia. He was educated at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia and served in the United States Army. He later worked as a lawyer, assistant district attorney, judge and member of the Georgia Senate from 1981-93, serving as president pro tem in his last term.

Deal served his first congressional term and the first four months of his second term as a Democrat. However, he switched to the Republicans in April 1995 after stating he felt uncomfortable being the most conservative Democrat in the Georgia delegation. He was reelected as a Republican in 1996 by a large margin even though his Democratic opponent, McCracken Poston, was endorsed by Deal's successor, popular eight-term Democrat Ed Jenkins. [2]

As an immigration reform advocate, Deal has introduced such reform legislation as H.R. 698, the Citizenship Reform Act which would eliminate birthright citizenship in the U.S.[3]

2006 elections

In 2006, the Democrats nominated John Douglas Bradbury to face Deal in his November 2006 bid for reelection. (See U.S. congressional elections in 2006) [4] Deal retained his seat.

2010 elections

In March 2010, Deal resigned his House seat to focus on his run for Georgia governor. "But critics said his resignation was precipitated by an ethics investigation. A week after Deal left Washington, the Office of Congressional Ethics released a report saying Deal had improperly used his position to influence state programs in his favor." Deal won the fall election for governor.[1]

Money in politics

This section contains links to – and feeds from – money in politics databases. cid=N00002610&cycle=2006

Links to more campaign contribution information for Nathan Deal

from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org site.

Links to more campaign contribution information for Nathan Deal

from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org site.

Links to more campaign contribution information for Nathan Deal

from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org site.
Fundraising profile:2006 election cycleCareer totals
Top contributors by organization/corporation:2006 election cycleCareer totals
Top contributors by industry:2006 election cycleCareer totals

Committees and affiliations

Committees

House Committee on Energy and Commerce

Committee assignments in the 109th Congress (2005-2006)

House Committee on Energy and Commerce

More background data

Wikipedia also has an article on Nathan Deal. This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the GFDL.

Articles and resources

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Nathan Deal profile, The Washington Post, accessed January 2011.
  2. ↑ Roll call vote, Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002.
Local blogs and discussion sites

Categories: Georgia | Republican Party (USA)