The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, led by James Inhofe (R-OK), will hold a hearing today to “discuss the role of science in environmental policy making.”

The list of guests includes atmospheric scientists, Ph.Ds, and one Michael Crichton. What makes Crichton, a fiction writer, qualified to testify on the role of science in environmental policy making? Well, Crichton DID write a novel called State of Fear, which is about global warming. More specifically, it's "a heart-pounding, edge-of-your-seat story about its hero's struggle against those who are trying to dupe the world into thinking global warming is a real problem."

Yes, the same man who wrote a novel about a park full of cloned dinosaurs will pull up a chair next to atmospheric scientists and explain to the government why he thinks global warming doesn't exist. His opinions on the subject are actually surprisingly similar to President Bush's, which is "since we don't know everything, we actually know nothing" about global warming.

Another speaker at today's hearing will be David Sandalow, from the Brookings Institution, who has written a column about the faulty science used in Crichton's book. (And Sandalow is not the first to question Crichton's distorted science, see here).

But, all joking aside, this is an important precedent. Crichton's testimony opens the door for other authors to take part in governmental decision making. Now we can put Tom Clancy in charge of the war on terror, John Grisham can be the next Supreme Court nominee, and Sebastian Junger can take control of FEMA.

But if they really want a diverse and ficticious view of global warming, the committee should have also invited Bobby Henderson, who conclusively proved that global warming was inversely related to the number of pirates sailing the seas.

At least he was a physics major.

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