Willis Eschenbach is one of the
sleazier climate disinformers who tells lies quite freely at WUWT (and is a
shameless misogynist). Most of the time he pretends to be a "scientist" who is "just wondering" about something or other. He
seems to think he was the first to discover the mechanisms of thunderstorms, for example, which is pretty weird. I mean this has probably been part of Meteorology 101 going way back before Willis was a twinkle in his father's eye.
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Sleazy pseudo-scientist - Willis Eschenbach
Credit: unknown |
Other times (and
often at the same time) he loses his cool and lashes out and all and sundry. That's when he brazenly outs himself as a committed liar. Willis has a very short fuse.
Today he ventured
beyond the pale, even for a creep like him. He was complaining about
an article in Scientific American:
The 9 Best Reactions to the House Science Committee’s Breitbart Tweet. He effectively said he no longer reads SciAm much
because it isn't anti-science.
But that's not what I want to write about. That's the norm at the fake science blog, WUWT.
Disgusting untrue defamation
What I was much more disgusted with were the lies he told about the renowned scientist
Peter Gleick. Willis told several big whoppers. He
falsely claimed that Peter Gleick "was forced to quit his job in disgrace". Which is an outright lie.
This is what he was referring to - a transition, four years after the incident with the Heartland Institute and completely unrelated. Willis might as well claim that Obama is resigning from the Presidency because he failed the American people.
Then Willis claimed that Dr Gleick "
never did say one word of contrition for his actions". Another huge lie. Here is part of
what Peter Gleick wrote after he
helped expose the extent
Heartland Institute's funding of science disinformation. It includes his apology:
I will not comment on the substance or implications of the materials; others have and are doing so. I only note that the scientific understanding of the reality and risks of climate change is strong, compelling, and increasingly disturbing, and a rational public debate is desperately needed. My judgment was blinded by my frustration with the ongoing efforts — often anonymous, well-funded, and coordinated — to attack climate science and scientists and prevent this debate, and by the lack of transparency of the organizations involved. Nevertheless I deeply regret my own actions in this case. I offer my personal apologies to all those affected.
Peter Gleick
Why is it that despicable people like Willis Eschenbach tell such outrageous lies about scientists? Is it because they think it makes them look big and important?
Anthony Watts, who is known (by those who've heard of him) for promoting lies and disinformation, explained why he didn't like a press release (archived here). The article was about a talk at the AAAS annual meeting held in Boston last week. The talk was by Dominique Brossard from University of Wisconsin, Madison. She was one of three speakers on a panel discussing: "Fake News and Social Media: Impacts on Science Communication and Education". The other speakers were Julie Coiro, University of Rhode Island and Dan Kahan, Yale Law School. The panel was moderated by Seth Borenstein of Associated Press, who is also listed as organiser.
