U.S. computer scientist and technology expert Dr. John Mashey will be in Prince George on April 4 from 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. in room 7 - 158 (Agora) at UNBC. to give a public lecture on the lobbying tactics of the climate anti-science campaign.
Although more than 97 per cent of practicing climate scientists support the fact that global warming is happening and is caused by humans, the public often mistakenly believes that scientists are seriously divided on this issue. Anti-science measures have included Internet-propagated disinformation, personal attacks, threats of violence and hate mail, resulting in such manufactured non-events as Climategate.
In 2009, Canadian blogger Deep Climate found plagiarism in a key anti-science document, the 2006 Wegman Report for US Congress. This inspired Mashey, himself a frequent contributor on Vancouver-based DeSmogBlog, to restudy it and find many more problems. His resulting 250-page report led to articles in USA Today. Much of the Wegman Report's key disinformation originated in Canada and was then promoted by American think tanks and politicians. Fittingly, exposure of the truth also started in Canada and has since progressed with close cooperation between Canadian and American researchers.
Mashey's talk will examine the organization and activities of anti-science funders, think tanks, and spokespeople over the last 20 years, including recent developments and initiatives to counter their efforts.
