- Sun Feb 22, 2015 5:19 pm
#54532
Scientist has accepted more than $1.63 million from fossil-fuel sector, while failing to disclose conflict of interest in his work
NEW YORK — For years, politicians who want 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 Dr Soon Wei Hock, known as Willie, a scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics, who claims that variations in the sun’s energy can largely explain recent global warming. He has appeared on conservative news programmes, testified before Congress and in state capitals, and spoken at conferences of those who deny the risks of global warming.
However, newly released documents show the extent to which Dr Soon’swork has been tied to the funding he has received from corporate interests. He has accepted more than US$1.2 million (S$1.63 million) in money from the fossil-fuel sector over the past decade, while failing to disclose that conflict of interest in most of his research papers.
At least 11 papers Dr Soon 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.
The documents show that Dr Soon, in correspondence with his corporate funders, described many of his papers as “deliverables” he had completed in exchange for their money. He used the same term to describe the testimony he had prepared for Congress.
Although Dr Soon did not respond to questions about the documents, he has stated that corporate funding has not influenced his scientific findings. :roll:
NEW YORK — For years, politicians who want 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 Dr Soon Wei Hock, known as Willie, a scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics, who claims that variations in the sun’s energy can largely explain recent global warming. He has appeared on conservative news programmes, testified before Congress and in state capitals, and spoken at conferences of those who deny the risks of global warming.
However, newly released documents show the extent to which Dr Soon’swork has been tied to the funding he has received from corporate interests. He has accepted more than US$1.2 million (S$1.63 million) in money from the fossil-fuel sector over the past decade, while failing to disclose that conflict of interest in most of his research papers.
At least 11 papers Dr Soon 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.
The documents show that Dr Soon, in correspondence with his corporate funders, described many of his papers as “deliverables” he had completed in exchange for their money. He used the same term to describe the testimony he had prepared for Congress.
Although Dr Soon did not respond to questions about the documents, he has stated that corporate funding has not influenced his scientific findings. :roll:
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