What Others Are Saying | 'Climategate' derails science of global warming; run, don't walk, away from cap and trade

Eight months after a trove of e-mails from climate researchers appeared on the Internet, two inquiries into “climategate” reported their findings. Neither report does anything to weaken the case for acting to limit carbon emissions.

Greenhouse gases still warm planets, carbon dioxide is still a greenhouse gas and the amount of it in the Earth’s atmosphere is still shooting up. This makes moving away from fossil fuels a global priority. Yet the science of climate change has seemed to be derailed by climategate and the discovery of some errors in IPCC reports, even the gravest of which come far short of undermining its conclusions. Part of the explanation is no doubt a noxious campaign against the credibility of environmental science in general, and climate science in particular. The Internet has allowed the doubt thus manufactured to go viral. But the problem also stems from the failings of climate scientists themselves, and the institutions they work in.

A better set-up could help. At present, the IPCC lacks a full-time chair (Dr. Pachauri continues to run a large energy-research institute in India). It does not have the resources needed to support its volunteer authors. It lacks clear standards for judging conflicts of interest and an independent ombudsman.