

  (Source: Smart Power)
Study says skeptics are not well-informed on the topic













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It's all about funding
By corduroygt on 6/28/2010 12:17:13 PM , Rating: 2
Less funding means less research, which means fewer papers. Those who fund AGW research have much to gain from "proving" it, whereas disproving it would not benefit any organization, only the general public would benefit from not having new BS taxes.
Oh well, that's why the 2nd amendment exists...

RE: It's all about funding
By CList on 6/28/2010 2:03:17 PM , Rating: 1
I keep seeing these kinds of arguments here, and I have a very hard time with them as they seem rather lop-sided.

Do you think it's AGW researchers vs. "The little guy"? Increased government regulation vs. "the little guy"?

Come on... if you follow the money it's very obvious that both the money, and public sentiment is on the side of *disproving* global warming.


On the one hand we have some researcher who has $0 to spend on lobbying, working for a university that's also most-likely cash-strapped. If this guy can get a LOT of research funding, let's be generous and say maybe 200K will personally go in his pocket.

On the other side, we have a world full of man-on-the-street types who are incredibly change-averse, I mean I am too - I admit it. We also have huge corporations spending millions JUST on lobbying, not to mention what they pay their top executives. They also pay huge dividends, and so their top shareholders have a vast financial interest in seeing them maximize profits however they can. ...including funding their own studies that would probably pay the researchers involved a more handsome salary than they'd get from their university.

...So honestly how can anyone say that the funding for the research is going to cause bias away from the large corporate interest?

Note that I'm not trying to prove or dispute the global warming argument - I'm trying to dispute the argument that the greed of researchers or government regulatory agencies seeking more funding could possibly out-weight the greed - and means of financing - of the people on the other side of the argument. Honestly, the annual budget of the entire EPA is a tiny fraction of the annual revenue of, e.g. Exxon. -- in fact it's about the same as the annual *profit* of Exxon/Mobil, so really, who has more to gain/loose here.

Which is not to say that this research may not be driven by greed - maybe it is, but if the greed and resources on the other side of the argument is much greater, then why would you use that as your argument to discredit the researchers??

...and given that, who are you more likely to believe?


RE: It's all about funding





RE: It's all about funding
By SPOOFE on 6/28/2010 5:34:58 PM , Rating: 2

The study referenced in the article sure seems to indicate that it is.

