I just started reading Gore's  book, "An Inconvient Truth." Has any one checked his claim that referred scientific journal articles all support the claim that human activity is at least partly responsible for climate change. If this point is true, it would indicate that there is reasonable scientific evidence of climate change for the issue to be taken seriously.

James A. B ryant

>>> Don Mayer <[log in to unmask]> 1/8/2007 8:23:37 AM >>>
Sorry to belabor this, but I think this is important:  thank you, Prof. Schein, wherever you are (affiliation?) for raising a skeptical note about the UCS, which ~does~ advertise itself as "the leading science-based nonprofit working for a healthy environment and a safer world. UCS combines independent scientific research and citizen action to develop innovative, practical solutions and to secure responsible changes in government policy, corporate practices, and consumer choices."

Thus, their credibility on an issue as crucial as global warming is worth a few more minutes of deliberation.

The bios of the people listed as doing the work for UCS on global warming are below. Looks to me like they know more than me, or you, or anyone (or two) who may have followed this discussion.  You are right: we don't know whether the illustrious UCS board does anything at all.  Transparency in funding would be a plus, too. Agreed!  BUT.......

1.    You don't tell us whom we can rely on for objective, non-political facts and findings.  Is your point that no one can be trusted? And where does that lead us?......Or do you trust ExxonMobil rather than the UCS?

2.    The original posting pointed out that ExxonMobil was using its money to inject doubt on the scientific consensus about adverse human-induced changes in the biosphere. UCS is not the first group to point this out.  Attacking the credibility of UCS does not elevate the science or "findings" of the Global Climate Coalition or any other front group that ExxonMobil is funding.  Yes, follow the money, which leads to....

3.    Why would you trust ExxonMobil's science, given their profit motive, and instead attack the UCS?  You practically state that it's just a political operation, but for whom, and for what interest or agenda?   There are some people who think that "environmentalists" are out to "wreck the economy" (for what  misanthropic reasons?). Are you one of them?

I suggested earlier that we take this discussion off the list-serve (you don't see others chiming in, eh?). Again, you can reply to me at [log in to unmask]  Or, you can have the "last word" by hitting reply (something we've all done inadvertently, sometimes more than once).  But, why be inadvertent?  The bios of the UCS global warming folks are below.

Don Mayer

Brenda Ekwurzel

Climate Scientist 
Global Environment Program
Washington, DC
Brenda Ekwurzel works on the national climate program at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). She is leading UCS's climate science education work aimed at strengthening support for strong federal climate legislation and sound U.S. climate policies.

Peter Frumhoff
Director of Science & Policy and Chief Scientist, Climate Campaign 
Executive Program
Cambridge, MA
Peter Frumhoff is Director of Science & Policy and Chief Scientist, Climate Campaign, at UCS. A global change ecologist, he has published and lectured widely on topics that include climate change impacts, climate science and policy, tropical forest conservation and management, and biological diversity.

Amy Luers
California Climate Manager 
Global Environment Program
Berkeley, CA
Amy Luers is an environmental scientist in the Global Environmental Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). She manages UCS's California climate change impacts work.


California Climate Economist 
Global Warming Program
Berkeley, CA
Dr. Christopher Busch is an expert in the economics of global warming and global warming solutions.

Steve Clemmer
Research Director 
Clean Energy Program
Cambridge, MA
As Research Director in the Union of Concerned Scientists' Clean Energy Program, Steven Clemmer is an expert on renewable-energy project implementation at the state and federal levels.

Nancy Cole
Deputy Director 
Global Environment Program
Cambridge, MA
Nancy Cole, Deputy Director of the Union of Concerned Scientists' Global Environment Program and a grassroots-organizing veteran, works with scientists across the country to bring the voice of the scientific community to bear on issues critical to the global environment.

Jeff Deyette
Analyst 
Clean Energy Program
Cambridge, MA
Jeff Deyette is an Energy Analyst with expertise in renewable energy and resource and environmental management.

David Friedman
Research Director 
Clean Vehicles Program
Washington, DC
Mr. Friedman is the author or co-author of more than 20 technical papers and reports on advances in conventional, fuel cell, and hybrid-electric vehicles, with an emphasis on clean and efficient technologies.

Peter Frumhoff
Director of Science & Policy and Chief Scientist, Climate Campaign 
Executive Program
Cambridge, MA
Peter Frumhoff is Director of Science & Policy and Chief Scientist, Climate Campaign, at UCS. A global change ecologist, he has published and lectured widely on topics that include climate change impacts, climate science and policy, tropical forest conservation and management, and biological diversity.

Daniel Kalb
California Policy Coordinator 
Clean Vehicles Program
Berkeley, CA
Dan Kalb, California Policy Coordinator for the Union of Concerned Scientists, is an expert on environmental issues in California.

Alan Nogee
Program Director 
Clean Energy Program
Cambridge, MA
Alan Nogee is a widely respected authority on renewable energy and brings to UCS more than 20 years of experience as an energy analyst and advocate.

Lexi Shultz
Washington Representative 
Executive Program
Washington, DC
Lexi Shultz is an expert on climate change policy.





  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Dave Schein 
  To: [log in to unmask] 
  Sent: Saturday, January 06, 2007 4:39 PM
  Subject: Re: Bunk - Union of Concerned Scientists


   I notice that you did not include the bios of the people actually listed as doing the work for UCS. They do not match the credentials of this board. There is also no information on whether the board below does anything at all. Further, they do not list where their funds come from, which I think is quite important. "Follow the Money" is not a bad adage.  

  As to the credentials of Knobloch, I read his bio carefully and don't think he will match up well with the heads of other scientific organizations. This is not a college, it is a political lobbying group.  David 

   
  -----Original Message-----
  From: [log in to unmask] 
  To: [log in to unmask] 
  Sent: Sat, 6 Jan 2007 10:42 AM
  Subject: Union of Concerned Scientists


  Folks, I'd still like to understand exactly who is a political operative in the UCS.  

  Kevin Knobloch is listed as president.  If he is not "a scientist" but rather has a degree from the Kennedy School of Government, what inferences can we make about the reliability of the UCS judgments about global warming?  If there is a "business person" who is president of a university, is the university therefore invariably "captured" by the corporate mentality?   (Prof. Schein, you can reply to me at [log in to unmask] I suspect our colleagues don't need or want to read this dialogue.  I did look at the roster of folks on the UCS board - see below - and some of their qualifications do look impressive, and they do not seem to fit your label of 'political operative.') 
  UCS Board Members
  Kurt Gottfried (Chair) is emeritus professor of physics at Cornell University. A co-founder of UCS, he has served on the senior staff of the European Center for Nuclear Research in Geneva, is a former chair of the Division of Particles and Fields of the American Physical Society, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Council on Foreign Relations. He has published widely on theoretical sciences and national security issues, authoring Quantum Mechanics and Concepts of Particle Physics, and The Fallacy of Star Wars and Crisis Stability and Nuclear War.
  Peter A. Bradford (Vice-Chair) advises and teaches on utility regulation and energy policy in the United States and overseas. A former member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and former chair of the New York and Maine utility commissions, he has advised many states on utility restructuring issues. He has taught energy law and policy at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and the Vermont Law School.  He served on a panel advising the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on how best to replace the remaining Chernobyl nuclear plants. He was also part of an expert panel advising the Austrian Institute for Risk Reduction on issues associated with the opening of the Mochovche nuclear power plant in Slovakia. He is the author of Fragile Structures: A Story of Oil Refineries, National Security and the Coast of Maine.
  Thomas Eisner is Schurman Professor of Chemical Ecology at Cornell University and director of the Cornell Institute for Research in Chemical Ecology. A leading biologist who received the National Medal of Science in 1994, he is an active conservationist, both nationally and internationally. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society. He recently served as chair of the Endangered Species Coalition and was formerly a member of the National Audubon Society's board and the Nature Conservancy's scientific council. He is the author of For Love of Insects and is a well-known nature photographer.
  James A. Fay (board member emeritus) is professor emeritus of mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A UCS board member since 1978, Dr. Fay is former chair of the Massachusetts Port Authority, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Physical Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He has published extensively on the environmental effects of energy technologies, including Energy and the Environment.
  Richard L. Garwin is a National Medal of Science laureate and Fellow Emeritus at IBM. He has done a wide range of research in fundamental and applied physics. He was involved with the development of the first thermonuclear weapons and the first photo-intelligence satellites and is a leading expert on many arms control matters. He has served on the President's Scientific Advisory Committee, the Defense Science Board, and the 1998 Rumsfeld Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States. He also was Philip D. Reed Senior Fellow for Science and Technology at the Council of Foreign Relations. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. His most recent book (with Georges Charpak) is Megawatts and Megatons: The Future of Nuclear Power and Nuclear Weapons.
  Andrew Gunther (representative of the National Advisory Board) is executive director of the Center for Ecosystem Management and Restoration and a founding partner of Applied Marine Sciences, Inc. He has published research in the field of ecotoxicology and has extensive experience in applying science to the development of air, water, and endangered species policy. Dr. Gunther also served as the assistant chief scientist for the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Restoration Program from 1994 to 2002.
  Geoffrey M. Heal is Paul Garrett Professor of Public Policy and Corporate Responsibility and professor of finance and economics at the Graduate School of Business at Columbia University, where he was previously Senior Vice Dean. Dr. Heal has taught at Yale, Stanford, and Princeton, as well as at Cambridge, Sussex, and Essex Universities in the UK. He was managing editor of the Review of Economic Studies, a Fellow of the Econometric Society, and member of the Pew Oceans Commission. He has chaired the National Academy's committee on Valuing Ecosystem Services, and is currently a member of the Environmental Protection Agency's Science Advisory Board. He has published 13 books and 150 articles on economic theory and environmental economics. His latest books, Valuing the Future and Nature and the Marketplace, provide an economic framework for thinking about sustainability. Professor Heal also conducts research on national security issues.
  James S. Hoyte (Treasurer) is the Assistant to the President and lecturer in the Environmental Sciences and Public Policy Program at Harvard University. He is also a member of the University Committee on Environment and co-program director of the Working Group on Environmental Justice at Harvard. Mr. Hoyte is a lawyer who has served as Secretary of Environmental Affairs for Massachusetts and as Chair of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority.
  Anne R. Kapuscinski is Professor of Fisheries and Conservation Biology and Director of the Institute for Social, Economic and Ecological Sustainability at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Kapuscinski currently serves on a variety of national and international committees. Nationally, she is a member of the Food Biotechnology Subcommittee of the Food and Drug Administration and the National Academy of Science's Committee on the Biological Confinement of Genetically Engineered Organisms. Internationally, Dr. Kapuscinski is the sole biosafety advisor on the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel of the UNEP's Global Environmental Facility; she was also recently appointed to a CGIAR study panel on the biosafety of gene technology. Dr. Kapuscinski is the recipient of a Pew Marine Conservation Fellowship and the Department of Agriculture's Honor Award for Environmental Protection.
  James J. McCarthy is Alexander Agassiz Professor of Biological Oceanography and from 1982 until 2002 he was the Director of Harvard University's Museum of Comparative Zoology.  Dr. McCarthy has served and serves on many national and international planning committees, advisory panels, and commissions relating to oceanography, polar science, and the study of climate and global change.  From 1986 to 1993, he chaired the international committee that establishes research priorities and oversees implementation of the International Geosphere*Biosphere Program.  He served as co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Working Group II, which had responsibilities for assessing impacts of and vulnerabilities to global climate change for the Third IPCC Assessment.
  Mario J. Molina is Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine, and has served on the US President's Committee of Advisors in Science and Technology, the Secretary of Energy's Advisory Board, the National Research Council Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology, and on the boards of the US-Mexico Foundation of Science. In 1995, Dr. Molina and two colleagues received the Nobel Prize in chemistry for their prediction of the role of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in producing the ozone hole over Antarctica.
  Stuart L. Pimm is Doris Duke Chair of Conservation Ecology at Duke University. Dr. Pimm's work focuses on conservation biology and the protection of biodiversity. He is a Pew scholar and is the author of The World According to Pimm: A Scientist Audits the Earth and The Balance of Nature? Ecological Issues in the Conservation of Species and Communities. Much of his research concerns the protection of endangered species in the Florida Everglades and global patterns of extinction.
  Adele Simmons is a senior associate at the Center for International Studies at the University of Chicago and vice chair of Chicago Metropolis 2020. She is a senior advisor to the World Economic Forum. Previously, Dr. Simmons was president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Earlier, she was a professor and dean at Princeton University and Tufts University and president of Hampshire College. She was appointed by President George H.W. Bush to his Commission on Environmental Quality and served on the Commission on Global Governance between 1992 and 1995.
  Nancy Stephens is an actress and political activist. A California gubernatorial appointee to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy Advisory Board, Ms. Stephens also serves on the executive board of the Earth Communications Office, the advisory board of Liberty Hill, and the board of Americans for a Safe Future. She is a longtime member of the Environmental Leadership Forum of the California League of Conservation Voters.
  Thomas H. Stone is chairman and chief executive officer of Stone Capital Group, Inc., a family-owned investment company. He devotes significant time to not-for-profit organizations that work with high-risk youth, as well as those working on global environmental problems. Mr. Stone serves on the boards of the Ravinia Festival Association, the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, the MERIT Music Program, Concertante di Chicago, and the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra.
  Ellyn R. Weiss is an artist and a retired partner in the law firm of Foley, Hoag & Eliot. General counsel to UCS from 1977 to 1988, Ms. Weiss served as assistant attorney general for environmental protection for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and was a partner in Harmon & Weiss, a public-interest law firm. From 1994 to 1995, she served as special counsel and director of the Secretary of Energy's Human Radiation Experiments Initiative and as deputy assistant secretary of the Office of Environment, Safety, and Health within the US Department of Energy.






  (sorry, Prof. Schein)
    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: Dave Schein 
    To: [log in to unmask] 
    Sent: Friday, January 05, 2007 10:54 PM
    Subject: Re: Reply on Source Information


    The head of the UCS is listed on their web site. I went to it when I saw the initial post. I wanted to see who was funding and running this deal. A little research, you see. His name links to his bio. It is clear who he is from his bio. I also scanned the site looking for Ph.D. scientists. While my search was quick, I did not see anyone that was that impressive. I also note that their funding sources were not disclosed. 

    I would like persons promoting a theory or citing a source to meet the same standards as if the material was being submitted as a journal article to ALSB or the SIM Division of AOM. Just as I do not consider UCS a very strong source, I also would not allow my students to use a Mother Jones article as a primary source in a research paper. I do not let them use newspapers, magazines or blogs as source material. We obviously have different standards. 

    Again, I am not interested in promoting the oil company agenda. I still do not understand how the Feds could allow EXXON and Mobil to merge. And, people wonder why gasoline is so expensive! 

    Good night, David  
     
    -----Original Message-----
    From: [log in to unmask] 
    To: [log in to unmask] 
    Sent: Fri, 5 Jan 2007 4:39 PM
    Subject: Re: Not for Class


    It seems fair to question the science in UCS, or wherever, but also fair to note the "smoke" (and mirrors) that ExxonMobil has conjured to cast doubt on reputable scientific studies.  

    "Corporate free speech," anyone?  Has Exxon been shouting "No fire" in a crowded and warming world theatre?  Hmmm.....

    Those who are interested will find this Mother Jones site (Some Like it Hot) useful:

    http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2005/05/some_like_it_hot.html 

    Prof Schien -- It would be helpful to know what a "political operative" is, and why the UCS has put a political operative at its head.  There's nothing wrong with skepticism, but, details, please, before I unknowingly trust what sounds like an objective, scientific source.  [And in closing, I must  note that one of Exxon's favorites  - the "Global Climate Coalition" -  sounds like it is solidly in favor of protecting against global climate disruption, but is NOT.]
      ----- Original Message ----- 
      From: Dave Schein 
      To: [log in to unmask] 
      Sent: Friday, January 05, 2007 3:59 PM
      Subject: Re: Not for Class


      I am looking for the "science" in the UCS. I think it is important to hold those who want to promote the myth of global warming to the same standard as the so-called "contrarians." I am no apologist for the oil industry, but I note the UCS is headed by a political operative and not a scientist. A recent report on weather conditions noted that accurate weather records only date from 1880. So, we are drawing conclusions based on 126 years of records vs. the history of the earth. What makes more sense? 

      DAVID D. SCHEIN, MBA, JD, Ph.D.

       
      -----Original Message-----
      From: [log in to unmask] 
      To: [log in to unmask] 
      Sent: Fri, 5 Jan 2007 9:18 AM
      Subject: for class?


      ...And Cigarettes Don't Cause Cancer 
      A new report accuses ExxonMobil of using big tobacco's tactics to manufacture uncertainity about global climate change.

      Remember how big tobacco kept arguing for years that smoking had no link to lung cancer? The Union of Concerned Scientists is out with a report detailing how ExxonMobil is doing the same thing with claims that global climate change isn't happening. From the UCS website:

      "Smoke, Mirrors & Hot Air: How ExxonMobil Uses Big Tobacco's Tactics to "Manufacture Uncertainty" on Climate Change details how the oil company, like the tobacco industry in previous decades, has


        a.. raised doubts about even the most indisputable scientific evidence 
        b.. funded an array of front organizations to create the appearance of a broad platform for a tight-knit group of vocal climate change contrarians who misrepresent peer-reviewed scientific findings 
        c.. attempted to portray its opposition to action as a positive quest for "sound science" rather than business self-interest 
        d.. used its access to the Bush administration to block federal policies and shape government communications on global warming"
      But should that camel be smoking around the gas pumps?
      posted by Terry "Tex" Turner at Thursday, January 04, 2007 0 comments links to this post    

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