A lullaby from the Heritage Foundation

The IPCC Summary for Policymakers is out, and it's some pretty serious stuff. Serious enough to give many a conservative think-tank the heeby-jeebies, and enough to lead them to release this balm to their adoring hand-wringers:

Just a Summary

It should be emphasized that only a short "Summary for Policymakers" has been released, not the actual report which contains the underlying scientific assessment. The final version of the full report is scheduled to come out later this year. IPCC summaries are written at the direction of political appointees representing member nations. The limitations and potential biases of such summaries give reason to withhold judgment until the scientists actually weigh in--both the IPCC scientists and especially the independent scientists who will comment on the final report. That the summary is being so aggressively marketed ahead of the science is itself reason for caution.

Read the whole thing. You'll notice a glaring omission -- no mention of the SFP's primary conclusion that there is a greater than 90% chance that current global warming is anthropogenic.

But don't think about that, Heritage's Ben Lieberman seems to say. Just focus on the independent scientists who will review the final report once it comes out to provide us all with good, bromidic arguments to avoid having to face up to reality.

Lieberman goes on to provide us with copy that could be written any and every day:

Science should play a big role in global warming policy, and the full IPCC Report should be a part of that. But economics must also play a role, lest the U.S. embark on a course that does more harm than good.

Duh.

So can we stop the denial now and get on with the hard work of deciding what to do? Where's our Stern Review? Shouldn't we in the US be commissioning dozens of them, each by different groups?