The March issue of Physics Today includes a short piece called ”Is Climate Sensitive to Solar Variability?“ which details a study by Bruce West, chief scientist in the mathematical and information science directorate of the Army Research Office, and Nicola Scafetta, a research associate in the physics department of Duke University.

Their abstract’s money quote:

We estimate that the Sun could account for as much as 69% of the increase in Earth’s average temperature, depending on the TSI reconstruction used. Furthermore, if the Sun does cool off, as some solar forecasts predict will happen over the next few decades, that cooling could stabilize Earth’s climate and avoid the catastrophic consequences predicted in the IPCC report.

The study was supported by the Army Research Office — doubtless they, too, are in the pocket of Big Oil.