Climate skeptic Pat Michaels refuses court request to disclose funding sources

onSep 20, 2007 @ 14:06 PDT

Huge kudos to Kert Davies and Greenpeace for their effort in this latest astounding blow to the climate denial industry.

Court documents (attached at the bottom of this post) have surfaced claiming that longtime climate denier Pat Michaels has withdrawn as an expert witness from a Vermont court case after a request was submitted that he reveal his funding sources.

In the documents, Michaels states that he was dependent for his livelihood on the income he got through his wholly owned firm, New Hope Environmental Services, Inc.

“Many of New Hope’s clients provide funding to New Hope with the understanding that the funding will be confidential,” Michaels and his lawyers said in one document.

Michaels lawyer stated: “Public exposure of the funding will therefore result in the loss of some or all of New Hope’s clients,” Michaels’ lawyers told the Vermont court, “leading either to destruction of the business or a significant curtailment of its operations. Since Dr. Michaels and other research scientists obtain a significant portion of their income from New Hope, the damage to New Hope will seriously diminish their livelihoods.”

Hat tip to the SEJ Tip Sheet and Robert McClure at the Seattle Post Intelligencer.

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.