Natural Resources Stewardship Project executive director Tom Harris has been out taking advantage of small-town reporters again , going so far as to convince the Cornwall Standard Freeholde that he is a “scientist.”

He is nothing of the kind. He’s a PR guy who’s running a front group for an energy industry lobby firm. It’s not clear how the reporter came to the erroneous conclusion, but if Harris had an ounce of integrity, he would phone the paper and demand a correction.

The “real” scientist in the story was Carleton University Professor Tim Patterson (inset), who seems equally willing to say things that are entirely fictional. Again, there are no direct quotes around the stupidest of his comments, so we can’t say for sure how the defenceless reporter came to write the story. But here’s a mix of quotes and paraphrasing that also demands a retraction:

Patterson said much of the up-to-date research indicates that “changes in the brightness of the sun” are almost certainly the primary cause of the warming trend since the end of the “Little Ice Age” in the late 19th century. Human emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the gas of concern in most plans to curb climate change, appear to have little effect on global climate, he said. (my emphasis)

If Patterson can produce any of this “up-to-date research,” I invite him to do so. The guy wanders around with a solar forcing graph that is almost 30 years out of date because actual up-to-date research shows that he either has sunspots in his eyes or he is misleading the public on purpose.

So, c’mon you guys. Phone the Standard Freeholder and set the record straight, or admit that you’re making stuff up on behalf of your energy industry clients.