Big Picture News, Informed Analysis

Canadian journalist Donna Laframboise. Former National Post & Toronto Star columnist, past vice president of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

Rajendra Pachauri: Ever the Activist

According to the head of what is supposed to be a neutral scientific body, young people need to be mobilized to become major agents of change. Does it really need to be said that science is no longer science if those with activist agendas are in charge?

December 23, 2011

Pachauri’s Green Torch Bearers

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is supposed to be a neutral and impartial body. But its chairman is encouraging business students to be green activists.

December 6, 2011

WWF-Affiliated Personnel in Working Group 1

Most chapters in Working Group 1 of the 2007 Climate Bible contained at least one scientist who is affiliated with professional climate lobbyists. In one instance, four of the lead authors were tainted in this manner.

November 2, 2011

78 Names

The scientists on this list either played some role in the 2007 Climate Bible or are helping to write the next one expected to be completed in 2013. In many cases, they’re doing dual duty.

All of them have a documented, public relationship with professional lobbyists.

October 1, 2011

Glaciergate’s Other WWF Connection

The erroneous Himalayan glacier prediction was based on a WWF report. The IPCC chapter in which that mistake occurred was led by two WWF-affiliated scientists.

September 29, 2011

Here an Activist, There an Activist

In a single IPCC chapter we find an author affiliated the WWF, another with Greenpeace, and a third with the Environmental Defense Fund. Sure, this is a scientific document.

September 27, 2011

How the WWF Infiltrated the IPCC – Part 2

Two-thirds of the 2007 Climate Bible’s chapters include personnel affiliated with the World Wildlife Fund. Fifteen chapters were led by WWF-affiliated scientists.

September 26, 2011

How the WWF Infiltrated the IPCC – Part 1

Between 2004 and 2008 the World Wildlife Fund recruited 130 “leading climate scientists mostly, but not exclusively, from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change” to help it heighten the public’s sense of urgency.

September 23, 2011

Behind the Aliens-Will-Smite-Us News Story

The up-and-coming generation of scientific minds appears to assume that humans are a pox on the planet.

August 19, 2011

Why I Won’t Be Renewing my ‘Economist’ Subscription

Rather than helping to keep climate authorities honest, The Economist magazine now serves up a steady diet of green pap. When sound journalistic judgment leaves the building, I stop renewing my subscription.

August 17, 2011

Naming Names: Marine Experts Tainted by Activist Cash

The list of people who’ve accepted $150,000 from an advocacy organization is a long one. There are lots of PhDs here, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with full-blown political activists.

August 5, 2011

Pew, What’s That Smell?

An activist group has been funding a particular corner of scientific research to the tune of $1 million a year for more than two decades. Do we really think this hasn’t influenced how those working in that field see the world?

August 4, 2011

Canadian Scientists and the World Wildlife Fund

When hundreds of Canadian scientists – and 12 science bodies – joined a World Wildlife Fund ad campaign they undermined their own authority. They became politically-motivated actors in a political discussion.

July 29, 2011

IPCC Bigwigs Spout Political, Childish Nonsense

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is supposed to stick to the science. But not only do its leaders make political pronouncements – these pronouncements are startlingly unsophisticated.

July 10, 2011

Chris Landsea and the Moral Midgets

The scientific community expects us to trust its judgment on the question of whether global warming is the fault of human beings. But its response to the Chris Landsea affair demonstrates that that judgment is impaired.

July 7, 2011

Landsea, the IPCC & the Union of Concerned Scientists

There’s a link between hurricane expert Chris Landsea, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and the Union of Concerned Scientists. That link is James J. McCarthy.

July 5, 2011

The Activists, the Media, and the Public

When activists hoodwink the media – and questionable environmental scare stories are the result – why don’t we care?

June 24, 2011

Pachauri’s Cause

The chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says responding to climate change is part of a larger goal: transforming the world economy.

June 21, 2011

Two Population Predictions

40 years ago scientists said radical change was necessary if humanity was to survive. Along the way they endorsed a population prediction that now seems foolish.

June 19, 2011

How Much Harm to Humans is OK?

An IPCC official thinks that quadrupling gasoline prices could help save the planet. What effect such a policy would have on human beings appears to be irrelevant.

June 11, 2011

Climate Change & Violent Fantasies

When did it become acceptable to pen violent fantasies about people with whom you disagree? When did it become OK to talk – luridly and out loud – about their death?

June 6, 2011

David Suzuki is a Drama Queen

While the rest of us approach challenges with determination, optimism, and faith in ourselves as problem solvers, drama queens see only worst-case scenarios. They exaggerate. They emotionalize.

June 3, 2011

Swedish Show Trial

Rather than championing logic and reason, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences now stages political theatre. Humanity is accused, tried, and convicted in a “court case” in which the verdict was determined in advance.

May 19, 2011

The Case of Michael Oppenheimer

Perhaps the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change doesn’t regard activist scientists as damaged goods because neither the National Academy of Sciences nor the American Association for the Advancement of Science does, either.

May 1, 2011

Ka-Ching! More Greenpeace Money

One of the most senior authors for the upcoming climate bible has spent the past 17 years cashing cheques from Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund.

April 22, 2011

Hansen, Suzuki & Greenpeace

Regarding James Hansen’s (tax-payer funded) salary, David Suzuki’s despair, and Ross Gelbspan’s professional activism.

April 12, 2011

The State of the IPCC’s Leadership

Rajendra Pachauri, as chairman of what is supposed to be a respectable science body, has – with deliberation and forethought – publicly linked that body to left-wing political analysis and activism.

April 9, 2011

The IPCC’s Activist Chairman

Rajendra Pachauri does not display the aloof, dispassionate demeanour traditionally evoked by the term “scientist.” Instead, he repeatedly lends the good name of the scientific body he chairs to activist endeavours.

April 5, 2011

The IPCC’s Pretend Neutrality

Actions speak louder the words. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change claims to be impartial and evenhanded – but that’s not how it behaves.

April 4, 2011

Politically Incorrect Prof May Lose His Job

A UCLA professor who found no link between a certain kind of air pollution and premature death is fighting to keep his job. But the state employee with the fake PhD merely got demoted.

April 1, 2011

Message From Australia

Australians are outraged by a Prime Minister who, prior to last summer’s election, said there’d be no carbon tax – but is now implementing one. At a recent protest rally, a scientist explained why he thinks the dangerous global warming hypothesis has been proved wrong.

March 27, 2011

Earth to Scientists

Half a century ago, a science journalist discovered that anything less than reverential reporting was interpreted by scientists as hostility. It would seem that climate scientists who label critics ‘anti-science’ come from a long tradition.

March 18, 2011

Peer into the Heart of the IPCC, Find Greenpeace

The mere presence of environmental activists undermines the integrity of scientific endeavours. Yet the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has long embraced Greenpeace personnel.

March 14, 2011

Was the Fix In Before the IPCC Existed?

In 1970s and ’80s some scientists already believed human CO2 emissions would cause global warming. How do we know the IPCC’s 2007 conclusions weren’t preordained?

March 13, 2011

Dr Nadelhoffer, I’m Not Impressed

An expert who testified to Congress this week reached well beyond his own scientific expertise. By advocating a particular response to climate change he brings science into disrepute.

March 11, 2011

The WWF Vice President & the New IPCC Report

Why is a Vice President of an activist group taking part in Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change workshops – and serving as a review editor for the upcoming edition of the climate bible?

March 4, 2011

Scientists Speak Out

Two physics professors – one in America and one in the UK – are condemning the behaviour of prominent climate scientists. They say it’s a violation of scientific honesty and integrity.

March 2, 2011

Scientists Have Allowed Themselves to Be Used

An award-winning meteorologist says he’s ashamed of – and embarrassed by – his profession.

February 19, 2011

Andrew Weaver vs Tim Flannery

Two activist scientists, both committed to the climate change fight, have starkly different views of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. One says it’s the most “rigorous scientific process” in which he has been involved. The other says it isn’t good science, but “lowest-common-denominator-science.”

February 16, 2011

How Do You Say ‘Independent’ in Australian?

Any government body headed by eco-campaigner Tim Flannery cannot possibly be considered “independent”.

February 13, 2011

John Holdren’s IPCC Myths

President Obama’s science advisor says the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change bases its conclusions on source material that has been vetted in excruciating detail. According to IPCC insiders, this is bunk.

February 9, 2011

Climategate 2.0

A recently-released collection of candid insider comments confirms many of our worst fears about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

February 7, 2011

NASA, Climate Change, and Children

NASA used to be about the right stuff. It used to be about knowledge, human ingenuity, and the triumph of sheer brainpower in the face of unfavourable odds. Now, rather than seeking to inspire kids, NASA tries to frighten them.

February 4, 2011

Credit Where It’s Due

A news account suggests Michael Oppenheimer is a class act. Rather than calling climate skeptics “deniers” he admits they might be smart people.

January 29, 2011

The Uses and Abuses of a Nobel Prize

A news story tells us we should believe a report because a “Nobel Prize-winning climate scientist” is associated with it. But the Nobel turns out to be the same Peace Prize awarded to Al Gore – and the report’s findings are highly improbable.

January 19, 2011

The Silent Treatment

Should AGW proponents acknowledge critics? Or should they avert their eyes and block their ears?

January 14, 2011

Does Global Warming Look Like Australia?

In early 2009 the Los Angeles Times said hot, dry Australia was a warning to us all – and that things would only get worse. The very next year, dry areas were flooded and snow fell during the summer.

January 7, 2011

Forty Years of Drama Queen Scientists

No matter what the concern, drama queen scientists have been pushing the same solution for decades: less consumption, less travel & less freedom. For them, every problem is a crisis that requires radical social change.

December 13, 2010

If the Science is So Persuasive, Why the Theatrics?

If climate change science is so convincing, why did Timothy Wirth schedule James Hansen’s historic 1988 testimony during the hottest time of the year? And why did he sneak into the hearing room the night before & open the windows so there’d be no air conditioning?

December 11, 2010

A Powerful New Research Tool

A hyperlinked and annotated version of the 2007 climate bible gives us new ways of viewing this document. Produced by two dedicated volunteers, it’s a gift to the public as well as the research community.

December 7, 2010

Kevin Anderson: The Ration Card Man

Kevin Anderson says additional nuclear power plants are unnecessary because climate change can be easily dealt with. Instead, he wants to establish a costly, intrusive, liberty-restricting bureaucracy to ration your access to energy.

November 30, 2010

The Royal Society’s Big Oil Award

The UK’s Royal Society awarded an Esso Energy medal annually for 25 years. A short time later, when opinions on climate change diverged, the society began painting Esso’s parent company, ExxonMobil, as demon spawn.

November 29, 2010

Why Good Judgment Matters

Data is collected, recorded, adjusted & interpreted not by disinterested robots but by people. Because highly-educated individuals can look at the same data and come to different conclusions, the degree to which a person’s judgment can be trusted becomes a central concern.

November 28, 2010

Lest We Forget the Importance of Liberty

To a large degree the climate change story is a media story. Journalists are supposed to be guard dogs, not lap dogs. Instead, they’ve become arbiters of scientific truth – refusing to report on non-conformist perspectives.

Last of a five-part series.

November 11, 2010

Another IPCC Train Wreck: Species Extinction (Part 2)

When five out of ten lead authors of an IPCC chapter have documented links to the World Wildlife Fund their findings aren’t credible.

October 7, 2010

If We Are Not Free to Disagree, We Are Not Free

If we are not free to disagree, we are not free. Period.

October 1, 2010

David Suzuki’s Odd View of Women

David Suzuki thinks women are capable of saving the world. I agree. But before we support him financially and in other ways, shouldn’t we spend a few minutes looking closely at the kind of world he wants us to fight for?

September 27, 2010

Seven (Real) Questions for David Suzuki

David Suzuki has been asked a series of softball questions by a mainstream newspaper reporter. My own list of questions begins with:

1. You think there are too many human beings, that our numbers over-burden planet Earth. Why, then, did you yourself father five children?

September 20, 2010

Anti-Science Claim Is Devoid of Meaning

During the first half of this month, activist-scientist-blogger Joe Romm described other people as anti-science on 16 separate occasions. This is the equivalent of a toddler calling everyone from the babysitter to grandad a poopy head.

September 17, 2010

Politicians Dressed in Lab Coats

When a forensic pathologist testifies at a murder trial he describes bruises, lacerations & bullet holes. He does not decide whether the accused is guilty. Nor does he opine to the media about how such murders might be prevented.

So why do climate scientists think it’s their business to prescribe solutions – rather than telling us about their data and only about their data?

September 12, 2010

The New Graduate Who Served as IPCC Lead Author

A recent medical graduate with no relevant publications was a lead author of the IPCC’s first health chapter. That report was supposed to have been written by the world’s top experts.

September 9, 2010

The Book the IPCC Plagiarized

Entire passages in the IPCC’s 1995 report were lifted from a 1993 book authored by Anthony McMichael – the IPCC person in charge of the health chapter.

September 3, 2010

IPCC Author Profile: Alistair Woodward

In June the IPCC put Alistair Woodward in charge of the climate bible’s health chapter. He thinks doctors should “educate and encourage” their patients in “climate change action.”

August 25, 2010

Who is William R.L. Anderegg?

A naive grad student is the lead author of a controversial paper that purports to assess the credibility of scientists who hold a variety of views on climate change.

June 24, 2010

Scientists & Science Journalists – Please Grow Up

The “screaming death spiral” scientist now admits he might have overstated the Arctic ice melt situation.

June 18, 2010

The Activists, the Poll & the Data

When the biographies of university-affiliated “researchers” talk about saving the world from climate change, the polling data they produce should be taken with a grain of salt.

June 15, 2010

Shielding Climate Orthodoxy from Free Speech

American professors are encouraging journalism students to suppress certain kinds of news so that the public won’t be confused by climate skepticism. This turns journalists into arbiters of truth and treats the public like children.

May 5, 2010

James Hansen Drags NASA into His Personal Politics

Activist scientist James Hansen is entitled to his personal political views. But he should not be citing his employer in order to advance them.

February 9, 2010

NASA’s Mistaken Glacier Info

NASA’s website parroted the climate bible’s inaccurate prediction regarding the melting of Himalayan glaciers. Rather than independently confirming this prediction by collecting its own evidence, the agency simply accepted the IPCC report as authoritative.

January 25, 2010

Scientific Organizations – Should We Trust Them?

Since the 1970s, some scientists have embraced social & political activism. The public needs to be aware, therefore, that not every pronouncement made by a “scientist” is neutral or disinterested.

November 17, 2009

The Honest Broker

A moderate and pragmatic voice in the climate debate, Roger Pielke Jr. argues in this book, The Honest Broker, that scientists deserve this label when they present a variety of options to the public – rather than advocating a single course of action.

September 27, 2009

James Hansen and the Experts

Activist scientist James Hansen says the “experts agree” that meeting our current energy needs is possible via efficiency measures & carbon-free sources. But lots of experts don’t agree. Does he make a habit of pretending those with contrary opinions don’t exist?

July 6, 2009