"For years, politicians wanting to block legislation on climate change have bolstered their arguments by pointing to the work of a handful of scientists who claim that greenhouse gases pose little risk to humanity.
One of the names they invoke most often is Wei-Hock Soon, known as Willie, a scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who claims that variations in the sun’s energy can largely explain recent global warming. He has often appeared on conservative news programs, testified before Congress and in state capitals, and starred at conferences of people who deny the risks of global warming.
But newly released documents show the extent to which Dr. Soon’s work has been tied to funding he received from corporate interests.
He has accepted more than $1.2 million in money from the fossil-fuel industry over the last decade while failing to disclose that conflict of interest in most of his scientific papers. At least 11 papers he has published since 2008 omitted such a disclosure, and in at least eight of those cases, he appears to have violated ethical guidelines of the journals that published his work."
Justin Gillis and John Schwartz report for the New York Times February 21, 2015.
SEE ALSO:
"Willie Soon Harvard Smithsonian Documents Reveal Southern Company Scandal" (Climate Investigations Center)
"Climate Change Skeptic Accused of Violating Disclosure Rules" (Boston Globe: Jan, 26, 2015)
"Researcher Helps Sow Climate-Change Doubt" (Boston Globe: Nov. 5, 2013)
"Documents Reveal Fossil Fuel Fingerprints on Contrarian Climate Research" (InsideClimate News)
"Work of Prominent Climate Change Denier Was Funded By Energy Industry" (Guardian)
"Climate Sceptic Willie Soon Received $1M From Oil Companies, Papers Show" (Guardian: June 28, 2011)
Documents: "Funding That Climate Researcher Failed to Disclose" (New York Times)
"Climate Skeptic’s Fossil Fuel Funding Puts Spotlight on Journal Conflict Policies" (Science Insider/Science magazine)
"Koch & Exxon-Funded Willie Soon Challenged By Students at Climate Denial Event" (DeSmogBlog)
"CASE STUDY: Dr. Willie Soon, a Career Fueled by Big Oil and Coal" (Greenpeace: Feb. 2013)
"Senator Edward Markey To Investigate Energy Companies" (Boston Globe)
"Contrarian Scientist Who Says Sun is Responsible for Global Warming is Accused of Taking Corporate Cash for Science" (Discover)
"NYT Smears Scientist Willie Soon for Telling the Truth About ‘Global Warming’" (Breitbart)
"Guess Who’s Been Secretly Funding a Famous Climate Change–Denying Scientist?" (TakePart)
"Soon and Baliunas Controversy" (Wikipedia)
"At Last, Proof of a Climate Scientist Getting Rich Peddling Science." (Daily Climate)
