Another questionable friend of the Friends of Science

onJun 22, 2006 @ 16:40 PDT

In our continuous quest to debunk the debunkers, the DeSmogBlog has uncovered another questionable connection between an oil company funded front group and the Alberta-based Friends of Science.

Thanks to a helpful tip from one of our fans, and a little of our own digging, we have found that one of the signatories to a recent Friends of Science letter to PM Harper is Australian climate change “skeptic” Dr. Bob Carter. Dr. Carter is connected to the energy sector funded think tank, the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA).

Under the guidance of Dr. Carter, the Australian-based IPA has been running a long-time disinformation campaign in an attempt to discredit the science behind climate change. With the backing of companies like the Western Mining Corp., Mosanto, Caltex, Esso Australia and Woodside Petroleum, the IPA has put out numerous reports that have every appearance of being authoritative in the area of climate change science, but are just another slick PR front group bringing into question the science backing man-made global warming.

Keep those tips rolling in everyone!

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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