REVEALED: Marc Morano’s Pack of Climate Denial Jokers

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: Newsbusters' Noel Sheppard responds, "I'm sure I speak for all my fellow jokers when I say that I am honored to be mentioned with these highly-respected climate realists."

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/