REVEALED: Marc Morano’s Pack of Climate Denial Jokers
The Wonk Room, February 17, 2009 -- Marc Morano, Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK)’s environmental communications director, sits at the center of the right-wing global warming denier propaganda machine — of 52 people. Conservative columnist Fred Barnes recently refused to tell TPM Muckraker who’s informed him “the case for global warming” is falling apart, but all signs point to Marc Morano. Morano’s “entire job,” Gristmill’s David Roberts explains, “is to aggregate every misleading factoid, every attack on climate science or scientists, every crank skeptical statement from anyone in the world and send it all out periodically in email blasts” to the right-wing echo chamber. The Wonk Room has acquired Morano’s e-mail list, and we can now reveal the pack of climate skeptics, conservative bloggers, and corporate hacks who feed the misinformation machine.
Promoted on the Drudge Report and Fox News, Morano’s moronic misinformation enters mainstream discourse through columns by Barnes, George Will, Robert Samuelson, and others. Many in the Morano gang are funded by right-wing think tanks, though a few are committed activists, conspiracy theorists who believe their homebrew interpretations of climate data. Others are aging scientists with strong conservative beliefs, motivating them to challenge action on global warming not because they disbelieve its existence, but because they are ideologically opposed to regulation of pollution:
| Marc Morano’s Pack Of Climate Denial Jokers | ||
|---|---|---|
| Marc Morano, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), Committee on the Environment and Public Works | ||
| The Scientists | ||
| Name | Website | Affiliations |
| Bob Carter | James Cook University, Queensland, Australia | |
| John Christy | University of Alabama at Huntsville | |
| David Deming | University of Oklahoma / National Center for Policy Analysis | |
| David Douglass | University of Rochester | |
| Don Easterbrook | Western Washington University | |
| Stanley Goldenberg | NOAA | |
| Vincent Gray | New Zealand Climate Science Coalition / Natural Resources Stewardship Project | |
| William Gray | Colorado State University (ret.) | |
| Ben Herman | University of Arizona | |
| Craig Idso | co2science.org | Arizona State University / Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change |
| Richard Lindzen | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | |
| Roger Pielke | Colorado State University (ret.) | |
| James A. Peden | Extranuclear Laboratories (ret.) | |
| Hans Schreuder | ilovemycarbondioxide.com | Rocky Mountain Research Station |
| Thomas P. Sheahen | Western Technology, Inc. | |
| Fred Singer | University of Virginia (ret.) / Science and Environmental Policy Project / National Center for Policy Analysis | |
| Roy Spencer | drroyspencer.com | University of Alabama at Huntsville / Marshall Institute / Interfaith Stewardship Alliance |
| Philip Stott | University of London (ret.) | |
| Willie Wei-Hock Soon | Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics / Marshall Institute / Fraser Institute / Science and Public Policy Institute | |
| The Bloggers | ||
| Michael Asher | dailytech.com | |
| Joseph Bast | globalwarmingheartland.org | Heartland Institute |
| Edward John Craig | planetgore.nationalreview.com | National Review |
| Dan Gainor | newsbusters.org | Media Research Center |
| Barry Hearn | junkscience.com | |
| Steven Milloy | junkscience.com | Competitive Enterprise Institute |
| Tom Nelson | tomnelson.blogspot.com | |
| Lubos Motl | motls.blogspot.com | Harvard University (ret.) |
| Roger Pielke, Jr. | sciencepolicy.colorado.edu | University of Colorado |
| Jon Jay Ray | jonjayray.blogspot.com | |
| Gabriel Rychert | co2sceptics.com | |
| Marc Sheppard | opinioneditorials.com | Frontiers of Freedom |
| Noel Sheppard | newsbusters.org | Media Research Center |
| Matthew Sheffield | newsbusters.org | Media Research Center |
| Phil Valentine | philvalentine.com | The Phil Valentine Show |
| Anthony Watts | wattsupwiththat.com surfacestations.org | |
| The “Think Tankers” | ||
| Dennis Avery | hudson.org | Hudson Institute |
| Mike Burita | accf.org | American Council for Capital Formation |
| Terry Dunleavy | climatescience.org.nz | New Zealand Climate Science Coalition |
| Robert Ferguson | scienceandpublicpolicy.org | Science and Public Policy Institute |
| Tom Harris | climatescienceinternational.org | International Climate Science Coalition |
| Christopher Monckton | scienceandpublicpolicy.org | Science and Public Policy Institute |
| Craig Rucker | cfact.org | Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow |
| James Taylor | heartland.org | Heartland Institute |
| The Weathermen | ||
| William M. Briggs | wmbriggs.com | statistician |
| Richard S. Courtney | CoalTrans International (ret.) | |
| Joseph D’Aleo | icecap.us | Weather Channel (ret.) |
| Art Horn | theartofweather.com | weatherman (ret.) |
| Alan Siddons | ||
| George E. Smith | Monsanto, Hewlett Packard (ret.) | |
| James Spann | jamesspann.com | weatherman, ABC 33/40 |
| Herb Stevens | weatherman (ret.) | |
– The Scientists: Ph.D.s, often with strong industry ties, who may or may not have experience in climate science, but are ready to denounce the scientific consensus
– The Bloggers: They flood the Web with “news” and opinion, ready to be picked up by Drudge, Fox News, and the rest of the right-wing echo chamber
– The “Think Tankers”: Ready spokesmen associated with impressive-sounding organizations, often founded by themselves
– The Weathermen: Meteorologists, statisticians, and corporate scientists not associated with a think tank or university, but happy to give reporters their “expert” opinion
Update: DeSmogBlog is "working to research the individuals on Morano's list" and compiling this handy referral guide; we're linking the names to their backgrounders as they're added.
Update: George E. Smith (gsmith@avagotech.com) writes in to inform The Wonk Room that he is not the George E. Smith formerly of Bell Labs who invented the charged coupled device. In fact, this Smith is a different inventor with "no discernible experience in climate or earth sciences." He writes: "I think you owe George E. Smith, Bell Labs (ret) an apology." The Wonk Room agrees and apologizes for sullying that George E. Smith's reputation.
Update: In an email interview spurred by John Tierney's attack on Obama's scientists that cites "Obamite" Roger Pielke Jr., Pielke compares me to Joe McCarthy.
Link to blog post and comments: http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/02/17/marc-morano-jokers/
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1 comment:
Ian, this blog is completely non-commercial. Do not come back.
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