On this week’s episode of the RealClearInvestigations Podcast, RCI Editor J. Peder Zane and RCI Senior Reporter James Varney speak with Roger Pielke Jr., a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, about his article detailing how Al Gore’s seminal 2006 book and film on climate change, “An Inconvenient Truth,” helped politicize science.

In our round-up of the week’s best investigative reporting, Zane and Varney discuss Paul Sperry’s article for RCI on newly declassified documents showing how a top government official fast-tracked a politically compromised whistleblower complaint in 2019 that ultimately triggered the first impeachment of President Trump. They also discuss the sexual accusation that forced Rep. Eric Swalwell to resign from Congress – and why this evidently widely-known questions about his conduct had not been reported until now.

00:00 Introduction to the Podcast and Guest
01:00 Impeachment Insights and Partisan Politics
07:05 The Eric Swalwell Controversy
16:05 Legacy of Al Gore's Climate Advocacy
17:01 The Evolution of Climate Change Discourse
22:08 Current Understanding of Climate Science
28:00 Global Perspectives on Climate Change
29:14 Decarbonization and Energy Sources
31:28 The Politicization of Science
38:35 Millenarianism in Climate Science
42:47 Finding Common Ground in Climate Policy
46:38 The Impact of COVID on Public Trust
50:39 The Future of Academia and Climate Policy

Articles Discussed in This Podcast:

Roger Pielke Jr.: The Legacy of Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" 20 Years Later
Paul Sperry, CI: BREAKING: Newly Declassified Docs Reveal Bias of Impeachment 'Whistleblower'
Paul Sperry, RCI: The Beltway's 'Whistleblower' Furor Obsesses Over One Name
Washington Post: How Eric Swalwell Rose Despite Disturbing Reputation
American Prospect: Eric Swalwell and the Death of Accountability

Watch each episode on the RealClearPolitics YouTube Channel