Energy Efficiency

Prominent scientist and author Dr. Peter Gleick has admitted to duping the heavily biased conservative USA think tank The Heartland Institute into releasing sensitive documents about its budget and its payments to climate-change sceptics all over the world.

Dr Gleick published a statement on the internet apologising for obtaining the documents by deceptive means, which had the stink tank of The Heartland Institute up in arms becasue he used tactics similarto theirs.  

Dr Peter Gleick -  a published US scientist and water researcher – said he emailed a staff member at The Heartland Institute pretending to be someone else, and was sent a set of eight documents that included the names of hundreds of companies that had donated to the institute, details of the group’s strategies and a list of payments to bloggers and scientists, including an Australian, James Cook University adjunct professor Bob Carter.

Dr Gleick claimed to have been sent an anonymous memo apparently outlining the institute’s strategy. Heartland has subsequently claimed the memo was fake.  After receiving the memo, Dr Gleick is alleged to have said ‘in an effort to verify the memo and in a serious lapse of his own professional judgment and ethics, he solicited and received additional materials directly from The Heartland Institute under someone else’s name. The materials The Heartland Institute sent him confirmed many of the facts in the original document, including, especially, their 2012 fund-raising strategy and budget.

Dr Gleick said no changes or alterations of any kind were made to any of the Heartland Institute documents or to the original anonymous communication.  Dr Gleick is no doubt aware he will not be receiving a Christmas card from The Heartland Institute who describe him as ’a true enemy’.

It is interesting to note that this ‘Institute’ was embarrassed, particularly as its had promised donors – like Microsoft – anonymity.

The lack of integerity of donor companies and The Heartlands Institute is obvious to even the most dyed-in-the-wool, misguided and ill-informed.

Perhaps they should seek payment from The Heartlands Institute (or whatever name they may change to) as it appears a big business to lie, distort and misrepresent, given the millions of dollars being spent on a range of projects designed to create uncertainty about climate science in schools, newspapers, on television and the internet.