Richard Lindzen, noted stooge of the fossil-fuel industry, throws wild and unsubstantiated accusations against scientists in his written congressional testimony

Climate Denier Dick Lindzen Accuses Colleagues Of ‘Overt Cheating’

by Brad Johnson, Wonk Room, Think Progress, November 17, 2010

In written testimony for a congressional hearing on the state of climate science that comes on the one-year anniversary of thehacking of climate scientist emails, Dr. Dick Lindzen of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology accuses his colleages of academic corruption. Lindzen, a right-wing ideologue who has also argued on behalf of corporations that cigarettes are safe and CFCs don’t hurt the ozone layer, wasasked to testify by the Republican minority, dominated by global warming deniers.

Lindzen cites “climategate” as proof of “overt cheating” and claims “so-called climate science” is actually “science in the service of politics.” Although he concedes that manmade global warming is “trivially true,” Lindzen essentially argues that as long as you ignore the data that indicates CO2-driven global warming, you can’t find CO2-driven global warming.

Other lowlights of Lindzen’s testimony:

– Argues that the deceased Steven Schneider, one of the most influential climate researchers up to the time of his death this year, was not an “active contributor” to climate science
– Calls the global surface temperature anomaly an “obscure statistical quantity.”
– Claims “so-called climate science” is actually “science in the service of politics.”
– Says climate science “has become a quasi-religious issue.”
– Says “climategate” is one of several “instances of overt cheating.”
– “I am quite willing to state that unprecedented climate catastrophes are not on the horizon.”

Of course, Lindzen’s testimony somehow manages to ignore the crushing weight of scientific research finding dramatic, unprecedented changes in the natural world in all realms, including (for just one example) the freak Russian heat wave and associated Asian monsoon which killed over 60,000 people this summer during the hottest year on record.

Lindzen’s own work carries all the hallmarks of the crimes he plants on the rest of his colleagues — science designed to get pre-determined results driven by political ideology.

Link: