Gone fishing

摘要

Perhaps it was to be expected. Just days after documents surfaced that raised conflict-of-interest questions about the funding sources of noted climate sceptic Willie Soon, a member in the US House of Representatives entered the fray. On 24 February, Raul Grijalva, the leading Democrat on the House Committee on Natural Resources, released letters that he had sent to seven universities demanding information on the funding sources of seven other scientists whose views he does not appreciate. Grijalva was right when he wrote in the letters that conflicts of interest "should be clear to stakeholders", but his investigation sends all the wrong messages.