Dr. Doug Leahey: Do any of the Friends of Science not lead back to oil and gas?

onJun 9, 2006 @ 15:47 PDT

As the DeSmogBlog team continues it’s research into the Alberta-based super skeptic society, the Friends of Science, it is becoming more and more surprising the links to oil and gas interests and the Harper Tories.

We’re not even really trying, we type their name into Google and a barrage of questionable links, from legitmate sources pop up.

The latest is the President of the Friends of Science, Dr. Doug Leahey, who, according to the Bercha Group, an Alberta Oil and Gas Consulting firm, is as an independent consultant to the oil and gas industry. Now if Dr. Leahey wants to work for oil and gas companies, the more power to him. We here at the DeSmogBlog, aren’t about bashing big oil (unless it’s warranted) and all about uncovering the PR trickery behind the climate change debate.

However, as we continue to uncover more and more evidence, the picture of the Friends of Science becomes more and more hazy.

Here what we know so far about those behind the Friends of Science:

Dr. Tim Ball – nothing, but will shortly.
Prof. Barry Cooper – member of Harper’s infamous “Calgary School”
Dr. Sallie Baliunas – US skeptic and American Petroleum Institute funded scientist
Morten Paulsen – PR practitioner and longtime Tory
Dr. Madhav Khandekar – expert advisor and contributor to oil backed spin machine Envirotruth
Charlie Simpson – former oil and gas employee

Now don’t get me wrong, we don’t have any outright proof of anything yet, this is just an update on where we are at.

And there is more to come, so keeps those tips and rumours coming in everyone and we will keep plugging away until we have the whole story behind the Friends of Science.

By Kevin Grandia

Kevin is a contributor and strategic adviser to DeSmog. He runs the digital marketing agency Spake Media House. Named a “Green Hero” by Rolling Stone Magazine and one of the “Top 50 Tweeters” on climate change and environment issues, Kevin has appeared in major news media outlets around the world for his work on digital campaigning. Kevin has been involved in the public policy arena in both the United States and Canada for more than a decade. For five years he was the managing editor of DeSmogBlog.com. In this role, Kevin’s research into the “climate denial industry” and the right-wing think tank networks was featured in news media articles around the world. He is most well known for his ground-breaking research into David and Charles Koch’s massive financial investments in the Republican and tea party networks. Kevin is the first person to be designated a “Certified Expert” on the political and community organizing platform NationBuilder. Prior to DeSmog, Kevin worked in various political and government roles. He was Senior Advisor to the Minister of State for Multiculturalism and a Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Asia Pacific, Foreign Affairs for the Government of Canada. Kevin also worked in various roles in the British Columbia provincial government in the Office of the Premier and the Ministry of Health. In 2008 Kevin co-founded a groundbreaking new online election tool called Vote for Environment which was later nominated for a World Summit Award in recognition of the world’s best e-Content and innovative ICT applications. Kevin moved to Washington, DC in 2010 where he worked for two years as the Director of Online Strategy for Greenpeace USA and has since returned to his hometown of Vancouver, Canada.

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