Deny Climate Change, Make a Cool $10,000 [1]
Submitted by Diane Farsetta [2] on
"Scientists and economists have been offered $10,000 each" by the American Enterprise Institute [3] (AEI) think tank [4], "to undermine a major climate change report" from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [5] (IPCC). AEI wants "articles that emphasise the shortcomings" of the IPCC report, which "is widely regarded as the most comprehensive review yet of climate change science." AEI "has received more than $1.6m from ExxonMobil [6]," reports Ian Sample, "and more than 20 of its staff have worked as consultants to the Bush administration [7]. Lee Raymond, a former head of ExxonMobil, is the vice-chairman of AEI's board of trustees." AEI visiting scholar Kenneth Green [8] sent the offer "to scientists in Britain, the US and elsewhere," in a letter describing the IPCC as "resistant to reasonable criticism and dissent." On February 5, the Fraser Institute [9], "another Exxon-funded organisation based in Canada," launched "a review in London which casts doubt on the IPCC report." The review is co-authored by Tad Murty and the event was attended by Nigel Lawson and David Bellamy [10].