From a University of East Anglia Press Release
Professor Phil Jones has today announced that he will stand aside as Director of the Climatic Research Unit until the completion of an independent Review resulting from allegations following the hacking and publication of emails from the Unit.
Professor Jones said: “What is most important is that CRU continues its world leading research with as little interruption and diversion as possible. After a good deal of consideration I have decided that the best way to achieve this is by stepping aside from the Director’s role during the course of the independent review and am grateful to the University for agreeing to this. The Review process will have my full support.”
Vice-Chancellor Professor Edward Acton said: “I have accepted Professor Jones’s offer to stand aside during this period. It is an important step to ensure that CRU can continue to operate normally and the independent review can conduct its work into the allegations.
“We will announce details of the Independent Review, including its terms of reference, timescale and the chair, within days. I am delighted that Professor Peter Liss, FRS, CBE, will become acting director.”
An AP story is here
h/t to Jeff Id of The Air Vent
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Darn, and just after Phil announced they had recreated the data (humor):
http://co2realist.com/2009/11/30/climatic-research-unit-lost-data-recreated/
(Yes, I did have fun writing this last night!
No one should expect that an internal review will find wrongdoing in their own institution. The investigation is only an exercise in optics to shut down the criticism. It will be a travesty and will disgust a lot of people but Jones and the rest of the fibbers and fabricators will be exonerated. The investigators are part of the same culture that produced these scientists and AGW has given them international standing in the climate debate, along with lavish funding. Too much to lose for them not to circle the wagons to protect their own. They’ll shake off the criticism and keep going on the same track. A low level scientist may be thrown off the bus if the public clamor grows too loud but expect the status quo to otherwise continue unchanged.
Jack Thompson — Steps aside not steps down; presumably on full pay. What about his acolytes? What about Dr Mann?
Mann lacks the requisite class.
Liss is a warmist, involved in the ocean acidification scam
Liss
Not somebody the realists are likely to trust.
Chris Monockton should be part of the independent review team.
Leon Brozyna — Any real change in the science will take months, if not years, before it becomes visible.
So? The upshot here is that climate science will all become more public and less secretive. Aircraft carriers don’t turn on a dime, either, but they can still change direction.
I truly believe he is just stepping down until the heat is off. Meanwhile, he will spend some time out of sight with the millions he has to live off of. The short attention span of our society will cause many to soon forget about Phil Jones — out-of-sight, out-of-mind. The “independent” investigation will take a long time, and by the time it does come out, our attention will have moved on. Then Phil Jones can re-emerge, albeit more discretely and wiser as to to ways he can continue his malfeasance without getting exposed again. He can spend all that free time to come up with plans. He won’t need to work, so he will have lots of time to plan.
That is just a theory. But I seriously doubt Phil Jones is stepping down because it is the right thing to do.
Greenwash.
A time for Humility:
My back gets up when journalist and enviros accuse someone like me of being ignorant or evil because I believe it very difficult to prove that water and CO2 conspire through positive feedback to destroy humanity.
However, I also find much of what I read on other sites (not necessarily this one) unpalatable when people argue that man has not rose CO2 or all Climate Scientist are frauds.
I believe climate scientist can sustain themselves by cutting away the cancerous cells without killing the body. Scientists can take what they have learned about ocean cycles and use it to manage fish stocks. Hurricane researchers can hone their craft and save lives. Can we finally ask scientific questions about drought in Senegal without invoking AGW? Can we talk about deforestation on Kilimanjaro and the effect on local rainfall and get our paper published without paying homage to the AGW? Can we work toward real conservation and efficiency without big banks and international bureaucracies reaping gains on the backs of the poor?
Climate Scientist and other and people who really care about the planet and it’s people need a palatable place to go where they can talk about real issues like energy efficiency, respect for mother Nature, and decorum among people who disagree.
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
…Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it
Thanks to Anthony for not speaking down to commoners like myself and believing that if given information I could be involved in science and make reasonable decisions.
Phil Jones represents what’s wrong with science, Watts should be what’s right.
So this guy is a hard core ocean chemistry guy…NOT an AGW leader. That may be a good sign.
This is a very sensible decision.
We know powerful people are shielding him off, so this is a major step forward.
It’s a warning for all the other frauds. They will pay.
In the mean time I am scratching my head when I heard this:
What to think about this message:
http://www.iceagenow.com/Disastrous_snow_and_cold_in_Mexico.htm
Bob Ramar – You say Mann and Hansen share a head? Only one head? Or do you mean both, or one or the other?
The question is ‘what next’? The old way doesn’t work. Letting individuals lock up data and fiddle with it, then promote their findings as blessed by a ‘peer review’ of their acolytes, is wrong.
We need a public repository of source data, wherein each proposed adjustment and each analysis drawn from the data can quickly be correlated back through every adjustment back to its source, where every dependency is visible without waiting ten years for some insider to have a fortuitous attack of conscience.
I love watching Domino effects! I have my pop corn right here!
This will be a whitewash. They should have the terms of reference set for them.
“What is most important is that CRU continues its world misleading research with as little interruption and diversion as possible”.
But, but, but – the interim head is an organic chemist! What are the dear folks at RealClimate.org going to say?
Congratulations from me at least, Dr. Liss deserves a fair amount of early respect for being willing to take the job.
However, I’ll be among those holding his feet to the fire.
Brazil’s new Charlie Brown take -a- way from Copenhagen.
The longer the “review” the more opportunity to involve the MSM’s “investigations” into AGW. How could the CRU emails possibly become a “settled” issue in the MSM? – by settling Jones, et al as credible and just. Rue that day. Let scrutinized science roar while it can and don’t give the “Reviewers” an opportunity to approve AGW Climategate.
While this sounds like good news at the surface, how do we know that he won’t be sitting in his same old office day after day, doing the same things day after day – just not being “officially” the Director anymore ???
If possible, he should be pressed to to stay off the grounds, stay out of the network, and not communicate with anyone involved in the CRU or the investigation unless summoned for information.
Otherwise, it’s just a smoklescreen, or “a rose by any other name……….”
How in the name of common sense can any politician even think about voting on massive re-engineering of society and wealth when the people who created this theory are now being investigated?
When exactly did we pass through the looking glass?
There will be a continuing search for the truth and more details will emerge.
It’s much worse than they think it is, this is not going to go away.
Cheers
Paul
So Penn State will investigate Penn State professor Michael Mann, and UEA will investigate UEA-CRU director Phil Jones.
In related news the Obama administration will investigate president Obama, police have announced that all murder investigations will be turned over to criminal gangs, and black pots will investigate black kettles.
Invariant (11:56:30) : “By all means, this is good news, but let us show that we also have a warm and human side here at WUWT – we all do mistakes!”
This was no mistake. If the emails are accurate, Jones did much of this deliberately–note that some of these actions were apparently discussed in advance. Having said, that, I’d also like to state that under these circumstances, it would be grossly unfair for this guy to go down by himself. All of the Scheme Team involved in data fabrication, statistical fudging, and suppression of dissent should be fired, sued, castigated, jailed for conspiracy where appropriate, banned from publication, and held up as bad examples for generations to come.
“Professor Jones said: “What is most important is that CRU continues its world leading research with as little interruption and diversion as possible.”
I couldn’t make it past there.
Anything good further down?…
JimB
As the release states Jones is “stepping aside” – not down. Down has yet to be achieved.
CRU was leading the world, alright…right off the freakin’ CLIFF, and the other agencies were collecting checks and echoing/supporting each others research like a good group of lemmings.
I’ll raise a glass of good port to Anthony and Steve tonight.
JimB