In the ongoing mini-drama over the acquisition of electronic-format documents by deception from the obscure Heartland Institute think-tank, the fabrication of another and the subsequent publication of the batch on a number of warmist web-sites, we see a further development.

This is the online confession by an even more obscure person by the name of Peter H. Gleik, who purports to be a "water and climate analyst", published in the Huffington Post.

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One of the interesting things about this is that Gleick only confessed after sceptics had already pointed a finger at him as the likely candidate in the first place:

http://progcontra.blogspot.com/2012/02/ ... leick.html

Made all the more worse by the policy entrepreneurs on their policy based evidence making climate crusades.

It is probably too much to hope that politicians admit their mistakes, even if it was only through claiming to have been misled, and dismantle the policy and physical follies they have created.

Gleick is not obscure at all.

He has testified before Congress on the subject of scientific ethics.

He is also the American Geophysical Union's current Chair of their task force on scientific ethics and integrity.

Irony -- meet Hubris.

He has so far not admitted to being the author of the fake document, but if it is discovered to be him, then there's major damage coming to the CAGW movement.

This is a very interesting case of blogosphere ecology. A crime occurred and like ants repelling invaders in their nest the blogosphere dissected the evidence and found a suspect. That the moron went and confessed to an indictable crime was obviously a bonus.

The science is clear, CO2 driven warming is rubbish. But there's a lot of clearing up to do and pinning accountability firmly where it lies will be an enormous battle.

There is only "major damage coming to the CAGW movement" if the Media and "Law Enforcement" choose to do so. Based on all of their actions that you have seen thus far, how likely is that?

Irony indeed ... but he is obscure, in the sense that most people - and especially this side of the pond - have never heard of him, and care less. As to damage to the CAGW movement, that matters little - most of the regulatory damage has already been done, and the imposts will continue to be accreted, albeit under different headings, such as sustainability, energy security and the rest.

The real issue, therefore, is the political system that allows itself to be overtaken by periodic scares, the lack of accountability in the system, and the inability to overturn expensive and useless regulation.

I thought the science was settled.Now its open for debate again,I take that as an initial plea for terms of a surrender.

Rick Bradford said:



FFS and inward groan.

Ethics indeed - on which side [ethical/unethical] did his advocacy favour? - Now let me guess.................... .

Anyway, if their lot in Congress are as braindead as this lot obviously are..'science and Technology Committee' - they will be making edicts such as this - I was tempted to comment - that [science and Technology Committee] this lot have had their brains removed - but that's impossible.
Anyhow, conclusion - Parliament/Congress - groupthink = collection of f83$wits.

And no, more computer power does not equal more accurate forecasts!

And, huh - science is settled - the only thing settled is that MMCO2 = a good thing, and the sun of course - we luv it

Once more Richard you have hit the nail on the head. It always comes down to politicians, and always down to the mistakes they make. Good judgement seems a term completely alien to the modern politician. Global warming, climate change, call it what you like would never have got any traction if the political class had not been so keen to seek political advantage at the expense of those they represent. The science was never settled or anything like it. And you are correct in saying the scientific argument was never the deciding factor in this whole affair.

As the public mood changes with the shrinking of our std of living those seeking to squander even more money on useless projects are going to get short shrift. Science has been damaged in all of this and for a time we are likely to see a contraction in scientific expenditure. This will be a good thing in my opinion, as perhaps it will refocus the minds of those who's job it is to promote science, not politics.

A similar thing is happening over who to blame for the financial crisis. My vote goes 100% towards laying all the blame on the political class. They positively wallowed in all the money that the so called "experts" said would never run out. But we are at a different stage with the public over this crisis and they mostly accept the propaganda that it was the bankers. This is a clever tactic to deflect attention away from the politicians (along with their politically appointed regulators) who in turn have promised to rescue the banks for their acceptance of all the criticism. For us the problem will not be solved until we can prevent the idiot class from spending our money.

I suspect that a part of it was forensics pointing to him and the confession is a carefully drafted damage limitation device written by his lawyers. Trying to tough it out in the face of the evidence would have been worse.

It's my guess that he didn't act alone and there was connivance with some of the sites prior to publication of the documents, hence the short time between receiving the material and publishing it.

The stupidity was to believe that such a scheme wouldn't unravel very quickly, with the prospect of federal charges and damages for libel. Our very own Beeb would appear to be exposed and they haven't been doing anything to mitigate their exposure.



The cant will probably change to sustainability, or energy security. A few of the names will be changed and every effort will be made to continue with the impositions, taxes, non-jobs and scams.

Yep. Richard Black, the most odious of the BBCs propagandists, is resolutely ignoring the Gleick story.

Politics is at the center of the problem and I do not believe certain actions were taken in error but instead as calculated efforts for financial gain to the detriment of taxpayers & consumers.

In the years to come I sincerely hope that intensive audits, investigations and prosecutions are commonplace.

Gleick has admitted "My judgment was blinded by my frustration". Next he'll be consulting with medical staff and they will claim he is unable to plead in court, due to him being tired and emotional. My comment is that being warmist or socialist is akin to being mentally disturbed, so Gleick is for now the most prominent example of climate lunacy.

Trenberth has been knocked back at the WSJ and who's to judge whether his undying belief that his "missing heat" is hiding in the deep ocean is yet another example of incipient insanity?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... %3Darticle

The science can now be unsettled because the legislation is safe.

A telling factor in the superficiality of the AGW/government message is that their earnest actions and best intentions to saving the planet have never translated into sacrificing government revenue streams. The costs to taxpayers and consumers have been in addition to existing taxes and have been just another 'progressive' measure. Their dealings have never included a demonstration of good faith.