[The Independent (UK) - 4/20/02] The Bush administration was accused of pandering to the oil industry last night after an outspoken critic of America's energy policy was voted out of his job as chairman of the world's premier scientific body on climate change.
In a secret ballot held at a meeting in Geneva, the UN-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change elected the India delegate, Rajendra Pachauri, as its chairman. He beat the current chairman, Robert Watson, the US delegate, by 76 votes to 49.
Controversy had mired the meeting since it was revealed the US State Department was supporting Dr Pachauri over Dr Watson, who has criticised Mr Bush's energy policy. That controversy turned to outrage when environmental groups uncovered a memo from the US oil corporation ExxonMobil - a major contributor to Mr Bush's election campaign - asking the White House to unseat Dr Watson who it considered had an "aggressive agenda".
The Washington-based Natural Resources Defence Council, which uncovered the memo, said yesterday that the US support for Dr Pachauri could have been crucial in unseating Dr Watson, an American citizen who was born in the UK.
Its spokesman, David Doniger, said that while many countries wished to see a scientist from a developing country head the panel, other countries voted for more selfish reasons. "Clearly it's pure payback and vendetta," he sadi. "He was outspoken and helped produce great reports that shook to the foundations the fossil-fuel industry."
Kate Hampton, for Friends of the Earth, said: "The fossil-fuel industry and the US government will be celebrating their success in kicking out Bob Watson, an experienced scientist. The Bush administration and its friends would rather shoot the messenger than listen to the message."
Dr Watson was appointed to the panel by former president Bill Clinton in 1996.
Speaking from Geneva last night, Dr Watson told The Independent: "US support was, of course, an important factor. They came under a lot of pressure from ExxonMobil who asked the White House to try and remove me."
In the memo last February, ExxonMobil asked the White House's council on environmental quality to "restructure US attendance at IPCC meetings to assure no Clinton/Gore proponents are involved in decisional activities".
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[posted 4/20/02]
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