Plato thought she was imaging things when she read this quote from the well respected Richard Tol, who writes on climate science for the Irish Times.
"Insiders have long known that some CRU staff were venal, secretive, and sloppy environmentalists.
The CRU specialises in collating data from other institutes and repackaging it. Their main product, an estimate of the global mean surface air temperature from 1850 to 2009, is primarily used to explain climate change to the public..."
Now - just look at what he has managed to say in three sentences - motivation to push an ideological agenda, and a reason to spin their product to win more business by gaining political advantage. It's like a McBride moment.
For reference - a definition of venal:
a. Open to bribery; mercenary: a venal police officer.
b. Capable of betraying honor, duty, or scruples for a price; corruptible.
2. Marked by corrupt dealings, especially bribery: a venal administration.
3. Obtainable for a price.
Read the whole piece here - he gets a terrible kicking in the comments - its clearly open-season on pro-AGW journalists these days [not before time, Ed.]
UPDATE - please read Richard Tol's response in the comments
The kicking came from all sides, actually: green, brown, what have you
ReplyDeleteMr Tol,
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for popping by - I was very impressed at your candour given that this is a very hot potato right now.
If everyone gave you a kicking - then clearly you've done truth a service.
As a scientist myself, I deplore the antics of the CRU and their cronies - science isn't X Factor - I do hope that a grown-up stance is taken from now on about it.
Cheers
Plato
I trimmed my screed to less than 4096 characters then thought better of imposing myself upon our Gracious Host, only to find the Irish Times has a limit of 3000!
ReplyDeletePerhaps I should have done it in txt spk.