Astroturfing

"Astroturf" is artificial grass. Astroturfing describes "formal PR campaigns that seek the create the impression of being spontaneous, grassroots behavior."

Care2.com, a green networking site, sends out frequent environmental newsletters with a mix of topics. One of them recently had a headline that linked to an article titled "Global warming is not due to human contribution of carbon dioxide." It was so provocative that I followed the link; in fact, it might have been more persuasive had it been more subtle. The link brought the reader to a full-length article at Canadafreepress.com written by Dr Tim Ball, Chairman of the Natural Resources Stewardship Project and a consultant and former climatology professor at the University of Winnipeg. His credentials sound impressive.

What is the Natural Resources Stewardship Project? It is apparently a group that has recently been exposed as being controlled by energy industry lobbyists. A short Wikipedia entry is here.

This would be an example of astroturfing.

Conservative Thinktank Offers Cash to Scientists

The Guardian reports that a conservative thinktank has offered $10,000 each to scientists and economists for disputing climate change.

The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) is funded by oil giant ExxonMobil, whose ex-CEO is the vice chairman of the thinktank's board of trustees. According to the Guardian, the thinktank also has close ties to the Bush administration.

AEI sent letters to the science community offering payments for articles that emphasize the shortcomings of the IPCC report.