Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Pat Michaels Cashes In.....

There has been much recent comment on a letter from Stanley R. Lewandowski Jr, the General Manager of the Intermountain Rural Electric Association. Lewandowski discloses that the utility has provided $100,000 to Pat Michaels and asks for more donations to the worthy cause. It is not clear if the money is going directly to Michaels or is being passed through a think tank he is associated with (I am being careful here, I would bet a beer or two that Michaels might own part of the organization, which opens yet another can of ethical worms)

New Hope Environmental Services is an advocacy science consulting firm that produces cutting-edge research and informed commentary on the nature of climate, including patterns of climate change, U.S. and international environmental policy, seasonal and long-range forecasting targeted to user needs, and the relation between the earth's atmosphere and biology. The company also consults on legal matters related to weather and climate.
There have been a number of comments about the ethics of the thing, but all appear to miss a very important point. Michaels is the Virginia State Climatologist. If he is accepting money to advocate on issues which are intimately related to his state/university position he is without question in the deep state employee ethics doo doo. This certainly should be looked at by the appropriate office at UVa

You might also ask Tim Kane why he continues to employ Michaels as State Climatologist.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Some seem to have made a career out of global warming denial.

Parent: "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Child: "A global warming denier".

Parent: Excellent choice. I was a little worried you were going to say teacher -- and they don't make any money.