On Capitol Hill, getting a celebrity to appear at a committee hearing is usually a big deal. Lawmakers know that reporters will cover an event with a popular entertainer or athlete, which in turn generates interest in whatever it is the committee wants to talk about.<\/p>\n
The point, of course, is to use the celebrity’s notoriety for publicity purposes, not policy<\/i> purposes. Unfortunately, Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, seems confused about this. Inhofe — probably the senator most<\/a> hostile<\/a> to any kind of environmental protections — is holding a hearing<\/a> today on “the role of science in environmental policy making.”<\/p>\n As Think Progress noted<\/a>, Inhofe’s expert witness is none other than Jurassic Park author Michael Crichton.<\/p>\n Crichton, in case it isn’t clear, writes fiction<\/i>. So why did Inhofe extend the invitation? Because Crichton’s latest book, State of Fear, fits in nicely with the GOP environmental agenda. Consider this synopsis<\/a>:<\/p>\n [Fictitious scientist Nicholas] Drake is frustrated by the public’s lack of fear about global warming and, hence, lack of enthusiasm for funding NERF [the fictitious environmental group Drake runs]. To remedy the situation, he plans a high-profile conference on “abrupt climate change,” a phenomenon that is essentially fabricated. To make sure folks are good and scared about the imaginary threat, he contracts with the Environmental Liberation Front (ELF) — …a sophisticated, highly coordinated, techno-savvy worldwide terrorist network of dreadlocked hippies — to create a series of floods, hurricanes, and tsunamis that will devastate the world on the eve of the conference.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n