muso
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For those too lazy or bandwidth challenged to watch the You-Tube video, here is an explanation:
Of all the oily tricks played by the global warming denier industry, The Oregon Petition is one of the oiliest. It was organized by the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine — a 'scientific institute' that nevertheless doesn’t do any real science.
The Petition Project was organized by late Frederick Seitz, who at one time was a real scientist, and a former President of the National Academy of Science. The project started by sending a so-called scientific study — really just a diatribe written by climate change skeptics that was filled with half-truths — asking “scientists” to sign a petition urging the US government not to ratify the Kyoto Accord.
The petition and that accompanying letter were written on a letterhead and in the style of a scientific paper that made it seem like it had been published Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, so it was designed to be deceptive.
After the petition appeared, the NAS issued a press release. “The NAS Council would like to make it clear that this petition has nothing to do with the National Academy of Sciences and that the manuscript was not published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences or in any other peer-reviewed journal.”[14] It also said “The petition does not reflect the conclusions of expert reports of the Academy.”
Nevertheless, 17,000 did sign the petition, and Seitz would have you believe that all 17,000 - or 32,000 in 2009 - are working scientists with PhDs. In fact, virtually none of them are. When you look deeper into the list, it falls apart. The vast majority of signatories have nothing more than a bachelor’s degree. By Seitz’s definition, I’m an advanced scientist. As well, scattering among the number of “scientists” are signatures by Spice Girl Dr. Geri Halliwell, author John Grisham, Hawkeye Pierce and BJ Honeycutt from MASH. (These have since been removed).
Of the original 17,000, almost 10,000 signatures come from engineers, another 3,063 come from physicians and veterinarians. I have no doubt that these professionals are smart people, but it would be difficult to believe they are climate change experts.
But even if we allow their signatures to stand unchallenged, they prove nothing. Even if more than 3,000 doctors and veterinarians signed the petition that would mean that the vast majority of all doctors and engineers didn’t sign the petition.
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