As a skeptic of AGW, I and many of my peers are often subjected to scrutiny and accusations of being in the employ of “big oil”. It’s a standard line used by warmists, almost as effective at denigration as playing the race card in an argument that has nothing to do with race.
“Oh, don’t pay any attention to him, he (insert one) /works for/is paid by/is supporting/is a shill for/ big oil” is how it usually goes when warmists want to shut down a conversation.
On Twitter this weekend, a bit of sparring by Andrew Neil of the Spectator and the BBC led to one simple question by Dana Nuccitelli:
Yes, I was kind of curious also. Thanks for bringing up the question. But just as soon as the question started getting asked, we have this followup from Dana:
Stop fishing? That’s funny. Why wouldn’t he want his co-workers to know he’s got this plum gig over at the Guardian, that bastion of all things green, where he writes about the evils (and silver linings) of carbon emissions?
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2013/jun/11/climate-change-carbon-emissions-iea-silver-lining
His bio at the Guardian is rather sparse, listing him only as an “environmental scientist and risk assessor”: http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/dana-nuccitelli
Since that bio is a bit slim, how about this one from his Linked in page:
Source: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/dana-nuccitelli/7/a44/661
And who is Tetra Tech?
Source: http://www.tetratech.com/markets/oil-a-gas.html
It reads:
“We support oil and gas exploration and production, gathering pipelines, transmission pipelines, compressor/pumping stations, processing facilities, refineries, storage facilities (above ground and below ground), and rail, truck, and marine terminal import and export facilities.”
This revelation about Dana working for a company that supports “big oil” in the form of oil and gas exploration and production may very well revoke Dana’s “green card”.
And ironically, Tetra Tech is big in mining too, for those that want to talk trash about Steve McIntyre’s work in the mining industry.
Welcome to the Streisand effect, Dana.
As a follow up to this primer, you can read Andrew Neil’s essay on the issue here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-23405202
Addendum: If Dana wants to argue that the reason he works for this company that supports oil and gas exploration and production, is that he believes that such things can be done in an “environmentally friendly” way while managing the risk, so that we can continue to use oil and gas in the face of the risks he talks about, I would certainly be OK with that. – Anthony
UPDATE: his response? Fingers in ears: la la la la la!
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‘Plausible deniability’ owed to being a halfwit; were he to actually posses any competency he would shrink away under the cover of dark for the works he’s penned …
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That doesn’t make you a hypocrite. If you excoriated them for their beliefs and then went to synagogue/mosque/church with them, that might make you one. Yours is a business relationship (presumably), and not a spiritual one. The latter would make you a hypocrite.
This is where it really counts; what does the board (board of directors), the company president (on down) think of his activities. Maybe he has an archangel (high up) in the company overlooking, protecting him?
Then there is the perspective of the shareholders. Certainly at first glance his activities look to place him at odds with, and diametrically opposed to the goals of the company, but then, maybe he interfaces with the US EPA (pure speculation on my part now) hence his usefulness as a ‘Gang Green’ member.
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‘The Guardian’ itself, which, on its own could not survive in the news market as it has so few readers, gets hefty donations from – BAE Systems: the big weapons manufacturer! (according to research by ‘Private Eye’)
Clipe
July 22, 2013 at 3:49 pm
Margaret Hardman says:
July 22, 2013 at 3:12 pm
Andrew Neill has always been a figure of fun in the UK. Google Andrew Neill Brillo.
I did just that. Do you have a problem with Scots?
Nope, just with idiots.
In general every green warmist scumbag either takes a pay check or parasites from big oil and big business.
All teeth and no bite Nutjob has found a way to combine the two.
Andrew Neil’s reply was awesome!! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-23405202
Could be. Big Oil knows AGW is a) nonsense & b) unworkable. So it rides the gravy train as far as it will go, secure in the knowledge that the Invisible Hand and other inexorable economic forces will leave fossil fuels securely dominant at the end of it all.
Here is the real reason for the climate change BS. Anytime a new economy industrializes, they pollute and it takes time and money to clean up emissions. The big plan is to de-industrialize the US and move it to China as they have been. Problem is, in places like China and India, they can barely breath. So what they want is to tax the Americans to clean up the air in China.
Why don’t they need industry here in the US? Because they are planning to exploit the oil and gas in the US. I worked in the oil industry in the 70’s and 80’s. They were very open about their plan to use up the rest of the worlds oil and then sell ours for a lot.
We drilled well after well, hit oil and then plugged it. There is more oil in places like North Dakota and Colorado than in the middle east. There is enough oil under Dove Island to power the US for 200 years. We can get 300 MPG any time we want. THERE IS NO OIL SHORTAGE PERIOD!
The US exports our sweet crude and imports middle eastern oil so we can claim we have a strategic interest in the middle east to protect Israel. It is all a ruse.
Dana, I would call you a hypocrite only if you have criticised others for being funded by Big Oil. Have you?
The Green Knight Rises