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But newly released documents show the extent to which Dr. Soon's work has been tied to funding he received from corporate interests.
He has accepted more than $1.2 million in money from the fossil-fuel industry over the last decade while failing to disclose that conflict of interest in most of his scientific papers. At least 11 papers he has published since 2008 omitted such a disclosure, and in at least eight of those cases, he appears to have violated ethical guidelines of the journals that published his work.
Soon has been a known paid denier for quite some time now, but it's nice to see that there is finally proof and that the newspapers are actually paying attention.
Here's the same story in case someone's article limit has been reached:
I didn't know that a private university was required to comply with the FOIA, I assume because he does work through the Smithsonian which is federally funded.
His opinion stood out on it's own because of his academic credentials, I guess they are back to Anthony Watt. Always willing to listen to opposing points of view except when they are backed by money.
Universities have become echo chambers in return for government grants so let's discoutn them as well.
That is not quite the same, the government doesn't equate pay with opinion they receive research funding regardless . If that were the case the Smithsonian would have taken him off the payroll because his papers went against their philosophy.
Does the Southern Company also pay those that back AGW or was this just one big coincidence.
Though often described on conservative news programs as a “Harvard astrophysicist,” Dr. Soon is not an astrophysicist and has never been employed by Harvard. He is a part-time employee of the Smithsonian Institution with a doctoral degree in aerospace engineering. He has received little federal research money over the past decade and is thus responsible for bringing in his own funds, including his salary.
Quote:
Dr. Soon rarely grants interviews to reporters, and he did not respond to multiple emails and phone calls last week; nor did he respond to an interview request conveyed to him by his employer. In past public appearances, he has reacted angrily to questions about his funding sources, but then acknowledged some corporate ties and said that they had not altered his scientific findings.
“I write proposals; I let them decide whether to fund me or not,” he said at an event in Madison, Wis., in 2013. “If they choose to fund me, I’m happy to receive it.” A moment later, he added, “I would never be motivated by money for anything.”
I find it very difficult to fathom how Dr. Soon can claim he's "never motivated by money for anything" when he's "responsible for bringing in his own funds, including his salary." My objective is not to single out Dr. Soon however, let's get real here, can we look at the big picture?
Always willing to listen to opposing points of view except when they are backed by money.
The problem is you're probably going to have a really hard time finding one.
What separates Soon from Spencer, Christy, Curry and Linzen is that he wasn't careful.
Here is the right wing media vigorously defending Soon:
“I write proposals; I let them decide whether to fund me or not,” he said at an event in Madison, Wis., in 2013. “If they choose to fund me, I’m happy to receive it.” A moment later, he added, “I would never be motivated by money for anything.”
So basically, he writes up a proposal, tells the oil companies that it says that CO2 is not responsible, and they pay him.
So basically, he writes up a proposal, tells the oil companies that it says that CO2 is not responsible, and they pay him.
Yup.
He calls 'em “deliverables.”
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