Scientists offered cash to dispute climate study

[PhilipShore]

February 2, 2007
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,2004399,00.html


Scientists and economists have been offered $10,000 each by a lobby group funded by one of the world's largest oil companies to undermine a major climate change report due to be published today.

Letters sent by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), an ExxonMobil-funded thinktank with close links to the Bush administration, offered the payments for articles that emphasise the shortcomings of a report from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

[nam78_two]

1. K&R

:grr:

[Spiffarino]

2. Thanks for the link.

I'll send it to everyone I know would be even remotely interested.

K&R

[gatorboy]

3. They make billions in profits,

And they offer a measley $10,000? Greedy, cheap bastards. :rofl:

[gorbal]

4. I'll take it!

I'm not a scientist, but I can draw them a pretty picture of forests and trees enjoying the fruits of global warming. "That is the great thing about art, it's all in how you see it."

[gatorboy]

7. The scientists might be suckers.

But how can you trust an economist that takes such a lousy amount from friggin' oil tycoons?

[aquart]

14. See, that was my reaction.

[aaronbees]

20. It's hard work...

that scientificating, especially if you have to fabricate conclusions and fudge facts.

:crazy: :rofl:

[Wapsie B]

52. My thoughts exactly.

Whoring yourself for 10k makes one a very cheap hooker.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

56. yes 10,000 isn't very much in the scheme of things

[Wapsie B]

58. Belated Welcome To DU!!

[Rosa Luxemburg]

59. Hi!

:hi:

[Kber]

86. Reminds me of SNL offering the Beatles 2500 to get back together

A later skit skows George Harrison complaining that "it's a bit chinzy, isn't it?" esp when he learned that it was 2500 for the whole group, making 750 each.

[OnyxCollie]

105. Or, you could give Ringo less if you choose. It's your decision. nt

[smtpgirl]

88. The sad thing is that these schmucks

accepted the measly $10,000 from them, if it was me, my price would have been MUCH higher.

If you sell your soul, don't sell it for cheap.

[tanyev]

5. So they will pay $10,000 bucks to get scientists to change their stories,

but they don't want to spend a dime to fix the problems that they have created.


:rant:

[kestrel91316]

45. Bribery is much cheaper than actually doing something about the problem.

[rmgarrette64]

101. I saw nothing that indicates they had to change their stories

If I read it correctly, they were offering the money to publish reports criticizing the IPCC report. I did not see anything indicating the scientists had to have previously been in favor of it.

Maybe it comes from spending time around scientists (although physicists in this case, not meteorologists or climatologists, I confess), but I would be very surprised if many scientists were willing to take money to publish something they thought was incorrect. However, they do need to get grant money, and will tend to look for it from organizations that are likely to either use or agree with their findings.

There are some - few, I grant, but some - who are skeptical of global warming. Richard Lindzen from MIT comes to mind as one example. This could be a source of grant money for them, without any need to imply some form of corruption in the process.

My husband was in science for quite a few years. I've seen the grant chase, and I'm not going to begrudge any new entries into funding for science.

(And, of course, I have an annoying love of being contrary - hope people are willing to take this as a different way of looking at things...)

R. Garrett

[MADem]

103. Ten grand at MIT wouldn't cover a half-semester's toilet paper bill for one floor of a lab building

And anyone who chased that tainted money would forever be branded a whore.

I think someone ought to come up with a faith-based justification, as a goof. The more OTT, the better...

[oblivious]

6. Exxon's been doing this for quite a while. It's well documented.

[smtpgirl]

90. The EXXON Valdez story comes to mind

[Spiffarino]

8. The article goes on to say...

Ben Stewart of Greenpeace said: "The AEI is more than just a thinktank, it functions as the Bush administration's intellectual Cosa Nostra. They are White House surrogates in the last throes of their campaign of climate change denial. They lost on the science; they lost on the moral case for action. All they've got left is a suitcase full of cash."

On Monday, another Exxon-funded organisation based in Canada will launch a review in London which casts doubt on the IPCC report. Among its authors are Tad Murty, a former scientist who believes human activity makes no contribution to global warming...

Send this to everyone. Let's do something to stop these bastards.

[Stephanie]

9. What is the company and can we organize a world-wide boycott?

sick of this shit

[ORDagnabbit]

10. the amount of money they make is ludicrous

75000 dollars a minute in 2006

[City Lights]

25. Hi ORDagnabbit!

:hi:

Welcome to DU!

[colorado_ufo]

53. Welcome to DU!

[file83]

83. And that's just the PROFIT!!!

My curious mind wonders why this sudden surge in profits? Not how, but why? Why haven't they been trying to make so much profit in the past? Is something big coming to change the world's energy supplies? Are they preparing to cross over to different energy sources?

Or did they just get more greedy?

Probably somewhere in the middle.

[Auntie Bush]

93. Welcome aboard ORDagnabbit! Your off to a good start!

:hi:

[Canuckistanian]

107. Haha, welcome to DU!

Your contribution is much appreciated!

:toast:
:hi:

[Harper_is_Bush]

11. Those fucking assholes. May they rot in hell. n/t

[Reterr]

12. k&R

This makes me so angry...

[mikelgb]

13. That report is rubbish!

now give me $10,000

[Ilsa]

96. You'll need the $10K for a boat for when the tide rises. Permanently. nt

[peacetalksforall]

15. So AEI is the operative for Exxon-Mobil and PNAC and the WH?.

They're welcome on C-Span every time they have a seminar or a lunch meeting. They get a free ride to do their dirty work. They have all these 'experts' similar to the Heritage FOundation. How much do they get paid for their 'representation and activism'?

[burrowowl]

16. Exxon real cheapskates!

A scientist is going to sell his/her soul for $10,000. WOW!

[gulfcoastliberal]

17. Remeberhow evil AEI is when you see Billy Schneider on CNN

He works out of the AEI as a Fellow and thus you KNOW this impacts his spin on politics. This total conflict of interest is apparently A-OK for news organizations.

[City Lights]

26. I'm glad you brought Schneider into this thread.

CNN never mentions that he's an AEIer. Everyone needs to think AEI/Exxon when his mug comes on screen.

[tuvor]

18. Think they can afford it?

HOUSTON - Oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. on Thursday posted the largest annual profit by a U.S. company - $39.5 billion - even as earnings for the last quarter of 2006 declined 4 percent.

http://www.whittierdailynews.com/business/ci_5137283

[Bhaisahab]

19. since i happen to work for the IPCC chairman's institute

in india, i'm gonna make sure he hears about this.

[muriel_volestrangler]

28. Thank you!

A worldwide statement from him on this will do much more than a Guardian article.

[hatrack]

32. Please do, and thank you!

:toast:

[gratefultobelib]

34. Just heard this story on NPR's morning Market Place report. Unbelievable...

[kestrel91316]

46. You'll be a hero for Mother Earth if you do that!! Please do!

[Spiffarino]

57. Kick and link to IPCC's web site

http://www.ipcc.ch/

Thanks for doing the Lord's work.

[happydreams]

72. This is so coooool! I hope you can spread the word to your

friends there.

:hi:

[nam78_two]

98. Thanks a lot!

:yourock: :yourock: :yourock:

[Reterr]

108. We need more people like you

:toast:

[FreeStateDemocrat]

21. Sadly, off-shore news reporting seems to be far superior to our American-made spin reporting.

[ClintonTyree]

68. Yeah, the American corporate media has really pushed this story...

haven't they? 27-7, nothing but this story on cable news and in print. :sarcasm: I'm getting sick of hearing about actually. :grr:

Our freaking media is as bought and paid for as the AEI. The damned Bush administration is behind this 100%. I hate them, I hate them, I can't tell you HOW MUCH I hate them! :mad:

[leftyclimber]

22. Think they'll give ten grand to a grad-student almost-scientist?

I have a lot of student loans that could use some attention.

And the fact that I'm a social scientist would make it even more appropriate, because that makes me (apparently) an expert in all things scientific. Look: (p<.01) -- See? I can play science, too! :eyes:

Trotting out an economist to dispute the findings of climatologists is kind of like saying that a proctologist is qualified to do an eye exam.

[sutz12]

35. As I recall, Ben Stein got a lot of press last year for a 'climate change' article.

Ben Fucking Stein. :shrug:

He's an economic comedian.

[catgirl]

23. Global warming comes cheaply

I hope some names emerge and an all out
boycott brings Exxon down.

I'd love to know what was said in the meeting
Cheney had with oil execs at the White house
last year.

[goforit]

24. Hilarious!!! Bribrary on our gas dollar.

[City Lights]

27. This doesn't surprise me, but still makes me sick.

Thanks for the link. I've shared it with lots of people, including some flat-earth types.

[Vidar]

29. Every country that nationalizes Exxon holdings is doing the world a favor.

[KittyWampus]

30. And DU'ers Laughed When I Said "Science-Industrial Complex"

[hatrack]

31. K&R so that all may see the bags of pus who inhabit and direct AEI and its ilk

So you see, boys and girls, there are just three things to remember:

1. Money is more important than truth.
2. Money is more important than integrity.
3. Money is more important than life.

[YankeyMCC]

33. k n r

[gratuitous]

36. See, this is good, sound science

Science dictated by the magic of the great and holy free markets, bought and paid for regardless of the facts, just like science should be. Everything's a commodity, and everything should be sold to the highest bidder. Commit a crime? Well, what is a crime anyway? If you can buy your way out of a conviction, why wouldn't you? If ExxonMobil is destroying the planet, so what? They've got enough money to buy their own scientifical "research."

Nauseating. When and where does it stop?

[LSK]

37. and the hits just keep coming and coming and coming

:grr:

[JPZenger]

38. Will Smoke Out the Scientific Whores

That's great - we can clearly identify which persons are the scientific whores, and use this cash to discredit them.

It reminds me of the old jokes that Dave Barry used to write about Tobacco Institute scientists. They used to constantly come out with studies claiming that there was no proof that smoking causes cancer.

[colorado_ufo]

55. Correction: The "cheap" scientific whores.

[Javaman]

39. I would love to see these "scientists" credentials. nt

[Amonester]

40. They're lying for ...

Exxon-Mobil in exchange for peanuts.

They don't give a flying f about the future of all things living being held hostage for short-term record profits after short-term record profits.

Exxon-MOBil... Sacrifice? Anyone?

[Auggie]

41. I think the cat's out of the bag on this. The world already knows.

Save your money, AEI.

[Bill McBlueState]

42. What a confusing headline

"Scientists offered cash..."

The article doesn't say much about how many scientists actually took the cash. That's why passive voice is considered poor form in journalism; it makes it unclear who the actors are. The only statement in the article from a scientist is the following:

One American scientist turned down the offer, citing fears that the report could easily be misused for political gain. "You wouldn't know if some of the other authors might say nothing's going to happen, that we should ignore it, or that it's not our fault," said Steve Schroeder, a professor at Texas A&M university.

So anyone who's complaining about the scientists' role in this doesn't have any ammunition, given the article. Climate change scientists are generally the ones doing the most to advance earth-friendly policies.

[PATRICK]

43. offer $1000 or expenses

to investigate the record and credentials of aforementioned paid scientists to "evaluate" their integrity and expertise. This chickenfeed lure by the AEI is probably intended as an inducement to a new career working for the AEI. Check out their alumni so far inasmuch as they desperately fishing for more help against science from intellectual Judases.

The scientific community has already considered removing the credentials of notorious stooges against climate warming perceptions.

[Botany]

44. Kenneth Green looking for science whores

< The letters were sent by Kenneth Green, a visiting scholar at AEI, who confirmed that the organisation
had approached scientists, economists and policy analysts to write articles for an independent review
that would highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the IPCC report.

"Right now, the whole debate is polarised," he said. "One group says that anyone with any doubts
whatsoever are deniers and the other group is saying that anyone who wants to take action is alarmist.
We don't think that approach has a lot of utility for intelligent policy." >

Kenneth P. Green's A.E.I. bio
Environmental policy; Environmental chemicals; Air pollution; Climate change;
Energy and environment; Transport and environment; Canadian environmental policy

[Uncle Joe]

47. The Polar Bear in that photo, looks as if he's thinking

WTF is up with you people!?

[sakabatou]

48. That is wrong.

Each scientist should be discredited for such an act or something near that.

[RedStateShame]

49. Has Richard Lindzen received his cut yet?

[rhiannon55]

50. Apparently souls have gone down in value

I thought the devil paid more than $10,000...

:evilfrown: :evilgrin:

[ponthedge]

69. Not enough money...

Just enough to create the story. Divert attention. The number is low. I see the tail of the dog wagging here, just can't figure out why.

[LunaSea]

51. So....how many whores does it take..

to change the climate?

[Wapsie B]

54. I wonder if any American news outlet has reported this.

[mantis49]

89. NPR did this morning on Marketplace

n/t

[PegDAC]

113. I heard about it

the other night on Olbermann.

[daleo]

60. Very reminiscent of the tobacco wars

Co-opting scientists was a key part of the tobacco industry's strategy.

Bribing scientists is certainly a sign of real desperation.

[Larry Ogg]

63. It reminds me to of the tobacco wars. What’s next,

maybe someone will bribe scientist into saying depleted uranium is good for us!

[daleo]

81. I remember when they argued "dying young is good for the economy"

So, smoking was really a good thing. Maybe we will hear the same thing about global warming - "it's acutally good for the earth, since it will flood all the major cities".

[Larry Ogg]

84. Yea, talk about the economy, just think millions of jobs will be created

in the area of levee building and air tight sealed domed air conditions cities built by Halliburton and Exxon Mobil. Sounds like a real money maker! Ware do I invest?

[Thoreau-Ly]

61. Another Reason to Buy Citgo.

Boy, what a sick joke this Administration and their Corpo buddies are turning out to be.

IMPEACH!

[PegDAC]

112. Or Hess,

if there's one near you. I haven't heard that any American lives have been lost due to hostile fire in the North Sea lately.

[Larry Ogg]

62. I guess it’s perfectly legal to bribe scientist into lying and distorting facts that could affect

future laws that might preserve the environment for future generations. It’s against the law too bribe a reporter, policemen and politicians is it time to extend that too scientist also?

[Yavin4]

64. Most Economists Are Openly For Sale

That profession has the LEAST amount of integrity than any other profession in the known world. You can buy any opinion that you want whenever you want on whatever you want.

[whistle]

65. American Enterprise Institute is also a big neoconservative propaganda

...organization which the likes of Rush Limbaugh and other extreme right-wing nut cases reference all the time. The main function of AEI is spread misinformation as much as possible.

[Morgana LaFey]

66. The punishment for this crime should be

something like disbanding the corporation -- including AEI (I presume it's a non-profit corporatin) -- and nationalizing Exxon's operations and resources in the process.

[lligrd]

67. Selling Out The Human Race For $10,000

Anyone who takes this offer should be tried for crimes against humanity in the World Court.

[ponthedge]

70. Amount is low.

Makes me think the tail is wagging. Diversion...Libby trial is heating up. Troops are poised near Iran...I feel like I am being ask to watch the birdie while the magician puts his hand in my pocket and steals my wallet...

[happydreams]

73. Good point. Welcome to DU

:hi:

[happydreams]

71. My barf bucket is full. I hope I can hold on till I

dump it!!

AAAAAAh

:puke:

just missed thekeyboard.

[Lisa]

74. if climate researchers are as well-off as Michael Crichton says they are, $10k isn't enough!

I'm sure they will sneer at such a small amount (as they drive off in their expensive sports cars, en route to their lavish mansions).

For the record -- I've been studying global warming for almost 20 years. I laughed my head off when I heard Crichton saying it's been a gravy train for scientists. It's been an uphill struggle, trying to get enough funding to do research -- and many of us put our own money (including what we scrape together from teaching and non-academic employment) into it. Only a handful of the hundreds of people I've met at conferences and project meetings make anything near what oil industry execs pull down ... and they work incredibly long hours, doing teaching and administrative duties on top of their own research time.

I don't know anybody who is in it for the money. One prof I know did get a grant of several hundred thousand dollars, but the money did NOT go into his pocket (and the right-wingers who claim that scientists are siphoning off funds clearly do not know how stringent the accounting and oversight procedures are ... certainly better than Enron's!). He bought a secondhand mass spectrometer (wheeee!) and started analyzing samples.

For me and the other students, post-docs, and freelancers I know -- ten thousand dollars would come in very handy right now. But for some reason, after reading hundreds of papers and reports, and spending thousands of hours in the lab and field ... I just can't bring myself to endorse something which I believe to be untrue.

[DinahMoeHum]

75. $10,000 ?? Too cheap and not worth owning, IMO. . .

If they want ME to shill for them, my going rate is at least $500,000. In cash and up front.

:evilgrin:

[RestoreGore]

76. A typical morally reprehensible response

They are so desperate to hide the truth that they are stooping to bribery. THEY ARE PATHETIC, and are now accomplices in the destruction of this planet, and THEY WILL LOSE.

[lvx35]

77. Is that what souls are going for these days?

Gonna have to get me a couple then...

[ProudDad]

78. Anyone buying Exxon/Mobil should be boiled in oil!

Defund the bastards, never buy their gas!!!

[stanwyck]

79. More Swiftboat Liars for Hire. And a question

what are the credentials of these "scientists"? Let's compare degrees and education of the scientists who believe in global warming and the contribution to that climate change from man made sources and the deniers. Chances are, the deniers are akin to the "scientists" who don't believe in evolution and argue against stem cell research. Their degrees aren't in science at all, but in theology. Or their "science" degrees are from fundamentalist colleges where science is indistinguishable from Bible class.
We're not talking Albert Einstein here, people.

[RiverStone]

80. It's our children and their children...

Who will pay the biggest price in both the degradation of our planet's atmosphere and associated effects, as well as the economic impact over the next 50-100 years.

These oil company bastards who are currently paying informants to lie so they can keep bringing in mega billions won't be living when the shit really hits the fan.

What arrogant, selfish asshats they are! :grr:

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

82. Deer Amerikan Ennerprize Institoot...

Global warming don't exist. It's just a bunch of librul propaganda.


There. Now send me my friggin' $10,000.

[npincus]

85. B*sh says: "It'sThe Best Science Money Can Buy!"

[stevedeshazer]

87. Paging Norman J. Ornstein

Frequent guest on the soon-to-be late Al Franken Radio Show and AEI Senior
Fellow:

WTF's up?

[Plaid Adder]

91. Oh, this kind of payment-for-article thing is totally normal in academic circles.

It is called a "dishonorarium."

<rimshot>

Seriously. These people are desperate. It's pathetic, it's not going to work, and it's not even really necessary. I mean, the IPCC just told everyone there's no way to reverse the process--what else could the petroleum industry hope for? "Hey, we're already doomed! Keeeeeep on drivin', folks!"

THe Plaid Adder

[BootinUp]

92. Will this story appear in the American press? n/t

[Kajsa]

94. Thanks so much for posting this.

K&R.

[Raster]

95. The Texas-American Petroleum Mafia OWNS bushco* . When bush*

slithered into the White House, along with him slithered Phillip Cooney:

"Philip A. Cooney, the former White House staff member who repeatedly revised
government scientific reports on global warming, will go to work for Exxon
Mobil this fall, the oil company said yesterday.

"Mr. Cooney resigned as chief of staff for President Bush's environmental
policy council on Friday, two days after documents obtained by The New York
Times revealed that he had edited the reports in ways that cast doubt on the
link between the emission of greenhouse gases and rising temperatures.

"A former lawyer and lobbyist with the American Petroleum Institute, the main
lobbying group for the oil industry, Mr. Cooney has no scientific training.
The White House, which said on Friday that there was no connection between
last week's disclosure and Mr. Cooney's resignation, repeated yesterday that
his actions were part of the normal review process for documents on
environmental issues involving many government agencies.

""Phil Cooney did a great job," said Dana Perino, a deputy spokeswoman for
the White House, "and we appreciate his public service and the work that he
did, and we wish him well in the private sector."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/15/politics/15climate.html

These bastards KNEW a long time ago the problems their petro-carbons were and would be causing. They planted a deception artist on White House payroll to obscure and obfuscate the truth. Even as the Earth was dying they were counting their coin. And it continues today.
:kick:80!

[spooky3]

97. And Dr. Evil wanted to hold the world hostage for $1 MILLion

in Austin Powers I. Maybe he's working with them...

[Warren DeMontague]

99. Well, that's just the free market at work.

:eyes:

[truthisfreedom]

100. Probably the worst PR investment that Exxon has ever made...

Just filthy and ridiculous.

[TheMadMonk]

102. Perhaps the oil companies should review what happened to big tobacco.

They have the much same people shilling and obfuscating on their behalf. And IIRC those people ultimately lost the fight and the tobacco Co.'s lost out to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars. Not because tobacco was a dangerous substance, but because of the campaigns of misinformation and outright lies.

How soon before the City of New Orleans, joins up with Aussie farmers, a couple of million Bangladeshis and the Inuit to SUE, SUE, SUE?

[AnnieBW]

104. I'm Shocked

Shocked. There's *gambling* going on in this establishment!

Your winnings, sir.

[Canuckistanian]

106. 10 Grand?? Is that it? What fucking cheapskates.

If there's nothing more I despise more than a hustler, it's a cheap one.

C'mon, where are these $millions they throw around on PR campaigns, fake news stories and bogus "consumer action groups"?

Bad form, old boy.

[daleo]

109. This is a great quote:

Ben Stewart of Greenpeace said: "The AEI is more than just a thinktank, it functions as the Bush administration's intellectual Cosa Nostra. They are White House surrogates in the last throes of their campaign of climate change denial. They lost on the science; they lost on the moral case for action. All they've got left is a suitcase full of cash."

[Up2Late]

110. This is absolutely what I WOULD expect from AEI, they are Scum.

Grrrrrrrrrrr!:grr:

[ohio2007]

111. China media downplays UN climate change report

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070203/wl_afp/unclimatechina

The smoking gn behind the scientist payoff ?

[Imagevision]

114. Too bad Jon Stewart or KO. won't do a piece on the EXXON cash story

[Shoelace]

115. Olbermann talked about Exxon, AEI, last night

he did just that. Tried to find the transcript but not up yet.
He spoke to the whole AEI payola scheme and how the climate skeptics are bankrolled by Exxonmobil.
Now on Olbermann's "Countdown Nation" message board, the trolls hit with a vengeance, no doubt in response to his comments about Exxon. The Oil boyz have so many trolls around, guess he's their latest target.
He could use a little help from his friends on that board. I popped in for a visit and left my comments. Long live KO!

Here's the link to his MSNBC site with link to the message board.

[PhilipShore]

116. A copy of the AEI letter Offering $10,000 Payments Only For Views Critical Of The IPCC Report

Think Progress

A copy of the AEI letter can be read http://websrvr80il.audiovideoweb.com/il80web20037/ThinkProgress/2007/aeiletter.pdf">HERE

[PhilipShore]

117. WaPo: AEI Critiques of Warming Questioned-Think Tank Defends Challenging Climate Report

By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, February 5, 2007; Page A04

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/04/AR2007020401213.html



A Washington-based think tank has been soliciting critiques of the just-released international assessment of the evidence on climate change, a move that prompted some academics and environmentalists to accuse the group of seeking to distort the latest evidence for global warming.

Advocacy groups such as Greenpeace and the Public Interest Research Group questioned why the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) has offered $10,000 to academics willing to contribute to a book on climate- change policy, an overture that was first reported Friday in London's Guardian newspaper.

AEI visiting scholar Kenneth Green -- one of two researchers who has sought to commission the critiques -- said in an interview that his group is examining the policy debate on global warming, not the science.

"It's completely policy-oriented," said Green, adding that a third of the academics AEI solicited for the project are interested in participating. "Somebody wants to distort this."

[PhilipShore]

118. WaPo: AEI Critiques of Warming Questioned

By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, February 5, 2007; Page A04

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/04/AR2007020401213.html



A Washington-based think tank has been soliciting critiques of the just-released international assessment of the evidence on climate change, a move that prompted some academics and environmentalists to accuse the group of seeking to distort the latest evidence for global warming.

Advocacy groups such as Greenpeace and the Public Interest Research Group questioned why the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) has offered $10,000 to academics willing to contribute to a book on climate- change policy, an overture that was first reported Friday in London's Guardian newspaper.

AEI visiting scholar Kenneth Green -- one of two researchers who has sought to commission the critiques -- said in an interview that his group is examining the policy debate on global warming, not the science.

"It's completely policy-oriented," said Green, adding that a third of the academics AEI solicited for the project are interested in participating. "Somebody wants to distort this."

[ck4829]

119. K&R - People need to know about the AEI

[youngdem]

120. This is only the worst thing those assholes have done this week

They are un-American corporate pirates with an allegiance to themselves only. AIPAC, AEI and PNAC all need to be exposed for what they are....warmongers, religious shills and corporate whores.

[PhilipShore]

121. This is -- Watergate -- all over again...

the can of worms this story could open for the Repukes -- is mind boggling.