Discrediting Climate Scientists

The Heartland Institute who is largely funded by Exxon, the largest producer of oil in the world, was recently burglarized. The burglars were after something that would once again expose how corporate influence dominates the understanding of climate change among the world's people. In the documents, was a plan hatched by the think tank to continue to personally attack climate scientists to cast significant doubts in the science. Science that has been verified by hundreds of the world's top scientists and the United Nation's IPCC.

In an interview posted on Wired.com, Michael Mann, one of principle scientists behind the famous "hockey stick" curve, depicting the sudden change in global temperatures due to anthropocentric means, has claimed that almost daily he has receive attacks and personal threats. He is also not alone in this, he also says that many of his colleagues have also been the victims of hate mail, physical threats, and other means to persuade them to give up their research. In one recent example, he even claims that influence from media corporations allowed for the removal of a radio advertisement, announcing a lecture he was giving at Penn State. Further, Penn State had been pressured to remove his lecture, they did not.

While there is not a direct connection between these threats and the Heartland Institute, and this does not charge Heartland had any participation in this, it still is a very troubling example of how corporations, backed with large amounts of money can influence human thought.

I have reviewed the science for many years. I have personally talked with a member of the IPCC, and I have read documents like those that were exposed. In my opinion, climate change is real, it is anthropocentric, and it will cause significant and devastating changes to our climate. Further, I believe the influence corporations have in our scientific, political, and future is unjust, and more attention is needed to allow the world's people to determine their own decision, without influence from unlimited amounts of money.

To those who could criticize this as anti-capitalism, I ask you, is it beneficial to society to be mis-informed, where our daily lives, environment, and habitats could all be directly threatened, all for a direction that gives us more of something that is manmade and inorganic, i.e. money? It is the responsibility of anyone who cherishes our planet, their future generations, and their neighbor to preserve this great gift, that we call home.

 




For more on this please visit the links below:

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/02/climate-desk-michael-mann/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/15/heartland-institute-fraud-leak-climate