Calls from the left for the resignation of Dr. Phil Jones from CRU continue to mount, and they are coming from surprising places.
For the second time this week, George Monbiot called for the resignation of Dr. Jones saying:
But there is no helping it; he has to go, and the longer he leaves it, the worse it will get. He has a few days left in which to make an honourable exit.
I don’t know that an honourable exit is possible at all now, given the revelations of FOIA obstruction. Read Monbiot’s column in the Guardian here. But, if Dr. Jones does decide to resign, or the University asks him to do so, I expect this coming Monday will be his last opportunity to do so per Monbiot’s suggestion.
Maybe as on object lesson for himself in all this, Mr. Monbiot can learn to stop calling people he disagrees with “deniers”. The connotations with “holocaust denier” are distasteful and unnecessary.
Ditto for Richard Littlemore of DeSmog Blog, who could also dispense with the term in language he uses if he wants to bridge the gap. He also, by the way, suggested Dr. Jones resignation saying:
I don’t personally know that Jones has to be sacked, but I have to admit that it would be savvy for him to at least offer to step aside before someone in authority makes a move to give him a push.
As 25 year veteran member of the media myself, and still currently employed in radio, I agree with Mr. Monbiot when he says:
The crisis has been exacerbated by the university’s handling of it, which has been a total trainwreck: a textbook example of how not to respond.
I expect more calls for resignation will follow. Plus, we’ll see investigations being launched.
Trainwreck might not be a descriptive enough word.
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In first line should be Phil Jones?
I guess it’s just a merging of Michael mann with Phil Jones, Hey maybe they could both go?
I am concerned that Phil Jones will be the scapegoat when in fact the whole AGW industry is at fault.
Dr. Jones will be blamed and hung out to dry but the AGW machine could keep grinding on.
Now when you lose one of your strongest allies …..
You might be in trouble. Bracelets anyone?
The lawsuits will reach into all corners of the AGW movement before this is over with.
I imagine there are some faithful readers out there who have been away for the last week, have just arrived home, fire up the computer, check their Email, then come here and find the universe was swapped out while they were away.
Moonbat (paraphrased): Throw out the couple of bad apples and get on with Copenhoken.
Our Prime Minister gets it I think. I thank God for this mans clear headed-ness, but he has been put in a real bind because of the Liberals signing of Kyoto.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/harper-digs-in-heels-as-obama-heads-to-copenhagen/article1376880/
Ric Werme (19:48:44) :
“universe was swapped out …”
Best description I have seen – Ric did it in only 4 words!
Despite Monbiot’s calls for Dr Jones to resign, Monbiot continues with terms like “rationalist”, when describing his position, “denier” in describing skeptics. The verbiage he uses tells all. Being a rationalist implies that being a denier is something to look on with contempt, or even pity.
His point of view is skewed as the very ideals of science he espouses are the ones that the deceit, the lack of openness required to replicate results; and the very messy debates that must occur for science to be..well, science, are sorely lacking. The CRUgate emails reveal that very clearly.
I see nothing in his remarks that lead me to believe that anything but a very bitter fight is in his – and our – future.
The Sacrificial Offering.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Deniers all! for your turning the other cheek after we called you names and accused you of all the things we actually did ourselves we humbly offer you Phil Jones as payment.
We give him to you as a symbol of our contrition, now back to business as usual, we have a Climate Conference to prepare graphs for.
This is nothing but misdirection and hoping that a sudden case of conscience can absolve them of guilt as easily as an offset negates their carbon sins. It is a offer to make us all go away.
I do not understand the motive though they have so much political cover on this and a complicit MSM that the only thing I can think of is that they stopped emailing the talking points around since this incident occurred and Monboit and DeSmog have headed off the reservation.
It seems just and proper that Mr. Jones should resign from his post. He has been dishonest, possibly even committed crimes. It won’t look good if he still has his UEA title when sitting at the defendant’s table.
It seems equally just and proper that the respective institutions should investigate the conduct of their respective employees. A full purge is truly needed to cut out this rot.
I am not yet convinced that there has been a serious (note modifier) scandal of science here. Tho I leave open the possibility that once the data portions of the leak have been analyzed that I may eventually come to that conclusion.
I am convinced, and have been since day one, that there has indeed been a serious scandal of *scientists* here, centered around Dr. Jones.
Dr. Jones must go as head of CRU. He can remain as a professor, researcher, teacher, and person who attempts to publish his findings. He must not remain as someone with high administrative and coordinating power. He has clearly shown he is not worthy of it.
Dr. Jones says “My colleagues and I accept that some of the published emails do not read well.” That’s mighty big of you, Phil. Mighty big. Except YOU were in a position of leadership. If you had lead by example in a different direction those emails likely would have “read well”, or at least better, not only yours but your colleagues and underlings. That’s what leadership does –it sets a tone, a culture, that the rest of ones peers and underlings then tend to follow. If those emails “don’t read well”, then Phil Jones, director of one of the, oh, 3-5?, most important climate research institutions in the world, has nowhere to look for the reason why but in the mirror.
Anthony, I absolutely applaud your coverage of this. Nobel prize material.
Instead of resignation, the CRU shouold be called upon to go back to the baseline data, reconstruct their predictions (if they can), and make it available and transparent to all.
This is a far harder path for them then their resignation. It is also professionally correct.
John Ryer, PE, CPG, CCM
PS. Thank you for the earlier Akasofu article, he is a friend from Fairbanks. By the way, we all voted for global warming. 🙂
Ric Werme (19:48:44) :
“I imagine there are some faithful readers out there who have been away for the last week, have just arrived home, fire up the computer, check their Email, then come here and find the universe was swapped out while they were away.”
OT: During last year’s financial crisis, there was one week during which the market dropped a heart-stopping number of points–over 15% maybe–and then recovered to its starting level by Friday. One joke that circulated at the time postulated a trader returning from a one-week vacation, looking at his screen, and saying, “Seems not much happened while I was gone.”
“Dr. Jones will be blamed and hung out to dry but the AGW machine could keep grinding on.”
Don’t worry about Jones. If he gets the boot he’ll make all the money he could ever want on the extreme-left lecture circuit.
Given the recent evidence of the great political minds that exist within the CRU, it is interesting to see their dismal response. Perhaps it’s simply a case of them not really thinking they’ve done anything wrong.
We may be “deniers” today, but someday everyone will boast of having been in the “resistance”.
Title SNAFU why is there a f at the end of Climategate ?
The University of East Anglia has released a statement concerning the email controversy:
http://www.uea.ac.uk/mac/comm/media/press/2009/nov/homepagenews/CRU
What is it that we deny again? We have a few hundred years of suspect measurement data, and few million years of even more suspect proxy data, on a 5.4 Billion year-old planet. We don’t understand how the sun works, we don’t understand how the clouds work, we barely understand how the oceans work and volcanic activity is a complete wild card. Our understanding of Earth’s climate system is rudimentary at best. Our predictive capacity as it pertains to the trajectory and future state of Earth’s climate system borders on nil. Individuals claiming that there is a scientific consensus that humans can accurately predict the trajectory and future state of Earth’s climate system are either charlatans or deluding themselves.
Ric Werme (19:48:44)
classic !
Sorry that last link was bad. They took it down!
“Dr. Jones says “My colleagues and I accept that some of the published emails do not read well.” That’s mighty big of you, Phil. Mighty big.”
LOL!
chuck (20:13:44) :
“We may be “deniers” today, but someday everyone will boast of having been in the “resistance”.”
Right on!
Monbiot’s calls for Phil Jone’s head reminds me very much of the Despair.com poster regarding disloyalty: “There comes a time when every team must learn to make individual sacrifices!” http://www.despair.com/disloyalty.html
This is very reminiscent of the internet bubble … “there’s nothing wrong with the new business 2.0! The industry is as stable as a rock and internet businesses will continue to double and triple stock prices regardless of income! This is the new market and we don’t have to worry about downturns any longer.”
Deny …deny … deny! Like a bad smell, it will go away.
Not so much!!!!!!!