After Rep. Grijalva sent lettersrequesting funding information for seven scientists (or climate confusers) in response to the uncovering of Willie Soon's undisclosed conflicts of interest, Senators Markey, Boxer and Whitehouse are instead targeting a large number of funding groups.
The senators announced yesterday that they sent letters to 100 different fossil fuel companies, trade groups, and NGOs to ask if "they are funding scientific studies designed to confuse the public and avoid taking action to cut carbon pollution, and whether the funded scientists fail to disclose the sources of their funding in scientific publications or in testimony to legislators."
Basically, they're asking if the Soon model of denier-for-hire has been used more widely to influence policy. Obviously it has, as a 2013 study has shown. But this is a direct challenge to these companies and groups to provide transparency and accountability for their indirect lobbying-through-pseudoscience.
The list of groups is substantial, with major groups and companies that are frequently referenced here in the roundup, like ALEC, the American Petroleum Institute, BP, Cato, Chevron, ConocoPhilips, Donors Capital and Trust, Exxon Mobil, Koch Industries and Foundation, Murray, Peabody, Shell, Southern Company, Heartland and Heritage.
We have yet to see anyone float the conspiracy theory that this is all a brilliant marketing scheme for the Merchants of Doubt movie, but it sure could be!
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