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Expert scientists disagreed on the key contributor to global warming at a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing addressing the science and implications behind climate change.

There were fundamental differences between Roy W. Spencer, former NASA scientist during the Clinton Administration, and Dr. Kevin E. Trenberth, senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Spencer attributes the majority of global warming contributions to errors in Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) measurement due to natural causes, while Dr. Trenberth argues that climate change is a result of carbon emissions from human activity. Spencer cited evidence of natural cloud variability from satellite footage that has contributed to inaccuracies in the IPCC measurements. Forty experts saw this evidence and had no objections, Spencer said.

Spencer claimed that the Clinton Administration told him what he could and could not say to Congress about global warming and greenhouse emissions. Since Spencer is skeptical of climate change, he believes the administration was protecting Vice President Al Gore’s political agenda by censoring him.

Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) cited Spencer’s blog, where he admits that the Clinton Administration never told him what was and was not permissible to say to Congress. Dr. Trenberth warned that global warming is a problem that exists today and is accelerating. Jason Burnett, former Associate Deputy Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said that the climate change issue is not a matter of opinion, but about the facts, which undoubtedly show that it is happening.