Willie Soon

Profile image screenshot from YouTube video, Willie Soon at Heartland Institute’s 12th International Conference on Climate Change.

Willie Wei-Hock Soon

Credentials

Background

Willie Wei-Hock Soon is an aerospace engineer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Since 1992, Dr. Soon has been an astronomer at the Mount Wilson Observatory. Soon is also a receiving editor with the journal New Astronomy.4 โ€œNew Astronomy Editorial Board,โ€ Elsevier. Archived August 19, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/pHm3

Willie Soon earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in science from the University of Southern California. In 1991, Soon received his Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California. Since 1992, Dr. Soon has been an astronomer at the Mount Wilson Observatory. Willie Soon is also a receiving editor with the journal New Astronomy.

Soon is a prominent climate change skeptic who has received much of his research funding from the oil and gas industry.

According to David Suzuki:

โ€œU.S. oil and coal companies, including ExxonMobil, the American Petroleum Institute, Koch Industries, and the worldโ€™s largest coal-burning utility, Southern Company, have contributed more than $1 million over the past decade to his research. According to Greenpeace, every grant Dr. Soon has received since 2002 has been from oil or coal interests.โ€5 David Suzuki. โ€œInvestigation hits at climate change denier’s ‘science’,โ€ Canoe.ca, July 13, 2007. Archived September 13, 2011. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/bihip

Fossil Fuel Funding

As part of a March 2018 legal case between the cities of San Francisco and Oakland and fossil fuel companies, Soon was asked to disclose any connections he had to connected parties. He offered the following response (emphasis added):

โ€œI have not received any funding for the climate-sensitivity research led by Christopher Monckton of Brenchley. In the past, I have received scientific research grants from Exxon-Mobil Foundation, Southern Company and the Charles G. Koch Foundation for my work on various topics, including scientific research on the Sun-climate connection.โ€6 โ€œRESPONSES OF THE NINE PROPOSED AMICI CURIAE 23 LISTED BELOW TO THE QUESTIONS ABOUT THEIR 24 PARTICIPATION POSED BY THE COURT ON MARCH 19, 2018,โ€ United States District Court, Northern District of California, San Francisco Division. Filed March 20, 2018. Retrieved from DocumentCloud.

Willie Soon and Sallie Baliunas

Soon co-published a controversial review article titled โ€œProxy climatic and environmental changes of the past 1000 yearsโ€(Climate Research, 2003) with Sallie Baliunas. The article claims that the twentieth century was not the warmest century in the past 1,000 years and that the climate has not changed significantly during this time. Senator James Inhofe used this article as proof that climate change is caused by natural variability, not human activity.7 โ€œSenator Inhofe on Climate Change,โ€ RealClimate, January 10, 2005. Archived June 4, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/HNrSp

After the article was published, three of the editors of Climate Research resigned in protest, including incoming editor-in-chief Hans von Storch. Storch declared the article was seriously flawed because โ€œthe conclusions [were] not supported by the evidence presented in the paper.โ€ In addition to the resignations, twelve of the scientists cited in the paper published a rebuttal stating that Soon and Baliunas had misinterpreted their work.8 โ€œStorm Brews Over Global Warming,โ€ Chronicle of Higher Education, September 5, 2003. Retrieved from www.cfa.harvard.edu. 9 Mann, M.E et al. โ€œOn Past Temperatures and Anomalous late-20th Century Warmthโ€ (PDF), American Geophysical Union, July 7, 2003. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

Willie Soon and The Fraser Institute

Willie Soon has written for the Fraser Institute and was formerly listed on its website as an author. The Fraser Institute received at least $120,000 from ExxonMobil since 1998, according to ExxonSecrets. According to archived data from the Conservative Transparency project, combined with original 990 research, the Fraser Institute has also received over $1.4 million from the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, and at least $225,000 form the Sarah Scaife Foundation.10 โ€œAuthor Details: Willie Soon,โ€ The Fraser Institute. Archived April 11, 2009. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/KwUp1 11 โ€œFraser Institute,โ€ Conservative Transparency. Accessed June 2019. Archived data on file at DeSmog.

Willie Soon and the George C. Marshall Institute

Willie Soon is a former senior scientist at the George C. Marshall Institute, a now-defunct group that was a predecessor for the CO2 Coalition. The Marshall Institute has received at least $865,000 from ExxonMobil since 1998. Since 1985, the institute has also received $4,290,000 from the Scaife Foundations and $620,000 from the Koch-related Foundations since 1985.12 โ€œAbout the Authors,โ€ P. 29 of โ€œLessons & Limits of Climate History: Was the 20th Century Climate Unusual?โ€ (PDF), The George C. Marshall Institute, 2003. Archived October 12, 2012. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

Willie Soon and The Heartland Institute

Willie Soon is listed on the Heartland Institute’s website and is a regular contributor to their conferences.13 โ€œHeartland Experts: Willie Soon,โ€ Archived March 5, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/a6gyA

The Heartland Institute is one of the most notorious climate change denial organizations in the United States, known for its failed 2012 billboard campaign that featured an image of Unabomber Ted Kaczynski and the text โ€œI still believe in Global Warming. Do You?โ€

Soon was also a speaker at the International Conference on Climate Change in 2008 and 2009, a conference organized annually by the Heartland Institute. The sponsors of the conference are heavily funded by Exxon, Scaife, and Koch.14 Kevin Grandia. โ€œResearch on the ‘sponsors’ behind the Heartland’s New York Climate Change Conference,โ€ DeSmog, February 24, 2009.

Willie Soon and Tech Central Station

Willie Soon was an author for Tech Central Station (TCS), a web-based journalism station that promoted climate change denial. Soon’s bio on the website stated, โ€œDr. Willie Soon’s views expressed are not those of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.โ€ According to the 2008 report โ€œSmoke, Mirrors, and Hot Air,โ€ ExxonMobil gave TCS $95,000 in 2003. And, until 2006, TCS’s information was published by the public relations firm DCI Group, a registered lobbying firm for ExxonMobil.15 โ€œTCS Daily: Authors: Willie Soon,โ€ TCS Daily. Archived April 9, 2009. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/nUVLg 16 โ€œSmoke, Mirrors f& Hot Airโ€ (PDF), Union of Concerned Scientists, January 2007. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

Willie Soon and the World Climate Report

Soon was listed as a past โ€œcontributorโ€ to the World Climate Report (WCR). The blog is run by the prominent climate change skeptic Patrick Michaels and is published by his company, New Hope Environmental Services. New Hope has been described as a PR company, and although secretive about its funding sources, it did receive support from an electrical generating company.17 โ€œEditors and Contributors,โ€ World Climate Report. Archived July 3, 2003. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/AJAXW

The Center for Science and Public Policy and the Science and Public Policy Institute

Wilie Soon is connected to the Center for Science and Public Policy, an affiliate of Frontiers of Freedom. Although Willie Soon is not listed on the center’s website, in the Wall Street Journal article โ€œEat More Fish,โ€ which he co-authored with Robert Ferguson, Soon is listed as the center’s โ€œChief Science Researcher.โ€18 Willie Soon and Robert Ferguson. โ€œEat More Fish!โ€ (PDF), The Wall Street Journal, August 16, 2005; Page A12. Retrieved from Heartland.org.

โ€œSmoke, Mirrors, and Hot Airโ€ reports that ExxonMobil has provided Frontiers of Freedom with $857,000 in funding since 1998. And in 2003, ExxonMobil gave Frontiers of Freedom a grant worth $232,000 to launch a new branch of the organization called the Center for Science and Public Policy. The mission of this new branch deals exclusively with the issue of climate change. The Scaife Family Foundations have donated $135,000 to Frontiers of Freedom, and the Koch Family Foundations have donated $50,000.19 โ€œSmoke, Mirrors f& Hot Airโ€ (PDF), Union of Concerned Scientists, January 2007. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

The Science & Public Policy Institute (SPPI) lists Soon as Chief Science Adviser. The SPPI describes itself as a non-profit research and education organization which is committed to the advancement of sound, sensible energy and environmental public policies based on rational science and economics. In its mission statement the SPPI asserts that it is โ€œfree from affilition to any corporation or political party.โ€

The president of the Science & Public Policy Institute, Robert Ferguson, is also the executive director of the Center for Science and Public Policy. The link between the two organizations runs even deeper: both the SPPI and the Center for Science and Public Policy are listed at the same address: 209 Pennsylvania Ave. SE Washington, D.D. 20003.

Stance on Climate Change

โ€œThe evidence in my paper is consistent with the hypothesis that the Sun causes climatic change in the Arctic [โ€ฆ] It invalidates the hypothesis that CO2 is a major cause of observed climate change โ€“ and raises serious questions about the wisdom of imposing cap-and-trade or other policies that would cripple energy production and economic activity, in the name of ‘preventing catastrophic climate change’.โ€20 โ€œItโ€™s the Sun, stupid!โ€, Iceagenow.com. March 5, 2009. Archived August 19, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/Zwg6q

Key Quotes

July 3, 2017

Delivering a lecture on the โ€œClimate Change Hoaxโ€ at Camp Constitutionโ€™s 2017 Summer camp in New Hampshire, Soon declared:

โ€œNo experimental data exist that support the view that the Earthโ€™s climate is anomalous or changing in a dangerous manner. Instead we know that CO2 is the gas of life. โ€ฆ Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is merely a bit player in climate change.โ€21 โ€œThe Climate Change Hoax, with Professor Willie Soon at Camp Constitution 7-3-17,โ€ YouTube video uploaded by user Camp Constitution on July 13, 2017. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

December 8, 2016

Speaking at โ€œAt the Crossroads II,โ€ a conference co-hosted by the Heritage Foundation and the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Willie Soon said:

โ€œI have never said this in public, so Iโ€™ll say it for the first time: that ultimately, that version that published in Climate Research was a hoax. (Speaking of his 2003 paper, after which three editors resigned in protest).22 โ€œPart 4 – At the Crossroads III: Energy and Climate Policy Summit,โ€ YouTube video uploaded by user The Heritage Foundation, December 9, 2016. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

โ€œI want to remind you what climate actually is. What kind of expertise [you need to study it]. If you want to study climate just because of carbon dioxide, Iโ€™m sorry, itโ€™s still not enough to study only the atmosphere. Youโ€™ve got to know all of this bunch of stuff. This is part of the reason why the struggle for answer is so hard. We may never know the answer, but then weโ€™ve got to keep trying and follow the scientific method, please.โ€23 โ€œPart 4 – At the Crossroads III: Energy and Climate Policy Summit,โ€ YouTube video uploaded by user The Heritage Foundation, December 9, 2016. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

โ€œEven [Michael] Mann and [Peter] Gleik have published in PNAS and they clearly have conflicts of interest in terms of the subject, in terms of the stuff that they are receiving money for doing what their work is.โ€24 โ€œPart 4 – At the Crossroads III: Energy and Climate Policy Summit,โ€ YouTube video uploaded by user The Heritage Foundation, December 9, 2016. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

โ€œIn 2004, David Legates and I realized thereโ€™s something seriously wrong with Michael Mannโ€™s Work, another aspect of it, which is the instrumental temperature record, how he smoothed the data. [โ€ฆ] The sweetest thing about this climate gate is that there is proof that Michael Mann did that.โ€25 โ€œPart 4 – At the Crossroads III: Energy and Climate Policy Summit,โ€ YouTube video uploaded by user The Heritage Foundation, December 9, 2016. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

โ€œMy basic conclusion is very simple. That you have this dark cloud of censorship and intimidation [that] has really inundated the climate science for a long time now. And climate science as we know it has been dangerously corrupted by scientism, all these bullies of censorship including the scientists, the scientific institution, even the funding agencyโ€”continue to hijack science with their own gain. So they must be stopped. I hope we can stop of course. Hopefully, with a political win, which is shown that depends on politics, that we can do something about this.โ€26 โ€œPart 4 – At the Crossroads III: Energy and Climate Policy Summit,โ€ YouTube video uploaded by user The Heritage Foundation, December 9, 2016. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

May 2016

โ€œIn the realm of climate scientism, the rule seems to be: If the facts donโ€™t support your argument, talk louder, twist the facts, and insult your opponents. Thatโ€™s certainly what self-styled global warming โ€œexpertsโ€ like Al Gore and Bill Nye are doing. Rather than debating scientists who donโ€™t accept false claims that humans are causing dangerous climate change, they just proclaim more loudly [โ€ฆ]โ€27 Willie Soon. โ€œBill Nye the Scientism Guy,โ€ Townhall.com, May 27, 2016. Archived August 20, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/XmKMX

โ€œHowever, even burning all the economically available fossil fuels would not likely even double current atmospheric CO2 levels โ€“ to just 0.08% carbon dioxide, compared to 21% oxygen, 78% nitrogen, 0.9% argon and 0.1% for all other gases except water vapor. And doubling CO2would get us away from the near-famine levels for plants that have prevailed for the past tens of millions of years.28 Willie Soon. โ€œBill Nye the Scientism Guy,โ€ Townhall.com, May 27, 2016. Archived August 20, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/XmKMX

Carbon dioxide is absolutely essential for plant growth โ€“ and for all life on Earth. Volumes of research clearly demonstrate that crop, garden, forest, grassland and ocean plants want more CO2, not less. The increased greening of our Earth over the past 30 years testifies to the desperate need of plants for this most fundamental fertilizer. The more CO2 they get, the better and faster they grow.โ€29 Willie Soon. โ€œBill Nye the Scientism Guy,โ€ Townhall.com, May 27, 2016. Archived August 20, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/XmKMX

June 2014

Willie Soon is one of three โ€œGlobal Warming Skepticsโ€ to be recognized and given an award at the Heartland Institute‘s Ninth International Conference on Climate Change for โ€œspeaking truth to power, whistleblowing, and the defense of science.โ€ Referencing the recognition and award, Soon states:

โ€œScience and its practice are no longer free and willing today but instead are constantly terrorized by research funding gravy trains and group thinking. This is why science needs defending and it takes courage to cleanse science from those cancerous elements and to bring her forward in its rightful place again. I am humbled and honored by this recognition.โ€30 Joseph Bast. โ€œThree Global Warming Skeptics Win Awards,โ€ Watts Up With That, June 19, 2014. August 19, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/jryD8

April 2013

โ€œSince 2004. have not received a single penny from the government. [โ€ฆ] Since 2004, I’m unable and thenโ€ฆfirst unable then I decided to not take even the money anymore, because it’s just very bad for me. My own personal viewpointโ€“to take money from government to do such work. So I’ve been trying to get funding from whoever, you know, foundationโ€“anybody wants to give me money. Coal, anythingโ€“I don’t care. Really, I don’t. I don’t, because I know that I’m not being influenced by money.โ€31 Interview with Simon Schuster, State News, Michigan State University, April 7, 2013.

โ€œI don’t like to claim that I am an expert on anything, but I have enough knowledge about climate science and climate system to be able to write scientific papers and go to meetings and talk about monsoon systems and talk about any other things that you want to discuss about climate science issues. I’m as qualified as anybody that you know on this planet on this topic.โ€32 โ€œClimate change denier Willie Soon questioned over Koch, Exxon funding at CFACT Campus eventโ€ (YouTube video), uploaded by PolluterWatch, April 8, 2013.

February 2013

โ€œThere is no experimental data that exists that supports the view that the Earthโ€™s climate is changing in any dangerous way.33 Nikki Wentling. โ€œLegislature considering delays in renewable energy standards,โ€ Lawrence Journal World, February 5, 2013. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/OnLCh

2008

โ€œFor polar bearsโ€ฆ you do want to watch out for ice. Too much ice is really bad for polar bears. [โ€ฆ] I would suggest that the current [ice] condition today is nowhere optimal for the polar bear, which means it can grow a little bit warmer.โ€34 โ€œWillie Soon: ‘Too Much Ice Is Really Bad for Polar Bears’,โ€ InsideClimate News, February 24, 2015. Archived August 20, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/KzQ3n

July, 2003

โ€œI am here today to testify that the climate of the 20th century is neither unusual nor the most extreme. Around 1,000 years ago, the temperature over many parts of the world was warm. A widespread cooling then set in for several centuries, followed by a recovery to 20th century warming.โ€35 โ€œClimate History and the Science Underlying Fate, Transport, and Health Effects of Mercury Emissions,โ€ Summary (PDF) of Hearing Before the Committee on Environment and Public Works, July 29, 2003. Page 6.

Key Deeds

September 24, 2020

Soon appeared in Marc Moranoโ€™s 2020 film Climate Hustle 2: Rise of the Climate Monarchy, produced by the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT).

During a discussion concerning whether the RICO (Racketeering Influence and Corrupt Organisations Act), initially intended to combat organised crime, could be used against climate skeptics, Soon stated:

โ€œYes, if the RICO law apply I think it should apply to them rather than us.โ€36 Climate Hustle 2: Rise of the Climate Monarchy. CFACT/ CDR Communications, Inc., 2020

October 2019

Soon signed the โ€œRealist Catholic Climate Declaration,โ€ drafted by Heartland Institute policy analyst William Briggs, which stated, โ€œthe earthโ€™s climate has always changed, is changing now, and will never cease changing. The extent to which man is responsible for climate change is not known, only surmised. There is no earthly force capable of stopping climate change,โ€ and that, โ€œthe salvation of souls is of more pressing concern than the air temperature. Pray to God and pray for your neighbor, not to the planet.โ€37 โ€The Declaration,โ€ Realist Catholic Climate Declaration, Archived October 29, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.is/O2m5D 38 โ€William Briggs,โ€The Heartland Institute, Archived October 26, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/bDHXU

The declaration was endorsed by Anthony Wattsโ€™ blog Watts Up With That, in a post by Charles Rotter, which stated, โ€œplease share this as widely as possible. With the concept of ‘eco-sins’ being bruited, and the return of paganism, this declaration is timely and important.โ€39 Charles Rotter,โ€œRealist Catholic Climate Change Declaration,โ€ Watts Up with That, October 13, 2019. Archived October 23, 2020. Archive. URL: https://archive.vn/aieXw

According to a post at William Briggsโ€™s website: โ€œThis statement is to be in contradistinction to the hyperbolic and inaccurate ‘U.S. Catholic Climate Declaration’,โ€ Briggs wrote of the draft. โ€œThe goal is to have something short, sweet, certain, and Catholic.โ€40 โ€œDraft Realist Catholic Climate Declaration: Please Share!โ€ William M. Briggs, October 7, 2019. Archived October 8, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/yveCN

September 23, 2019

Soon appeared at a Heartland Institute panel discussion in New York City also featuring Patrick Michaels and David Legates, and moderated by John Stossel. The event was live-streamed to coincide with the UNโ€™s Climate Summit and was announced with the tag line: โ€œIt’s time for both sides to make the case: What is happening to our climate and what can we do about it?โ€41 โ€œClimate Challenge: Bright Lights, Big City โ€ฆ Bigger Debate,โ€ Heartland Institute, September 13, 2019. Archived September 13, 2019. Archive.is URL: http://archive.is/M7XlQ. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

During the discussion, Soon said:

โ€œIโ€™m unable to find out what the carbon dioxide is doing to the atmosphere. It is increasing, but itโ€™s not causing any warming.โ€42 โ€œClimate Challenge: Bright Lights, Big City โ€ฆ Bigger Debate,โ€ Heartland Institute, September 13, 2019. Archived September 13, 2019. Archive.is URL: http://archive.is/M7XlQ. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

โ€œMy message to all of them is that please don’t cry. I mean, I’ll hold your hand and sing lullabies to you. By 2030 I’ll still be here. Please don’t panic. There’s no such thing as climate catastrophe, these people are talking nonsense. It’s unbelievable that we have to answer all this kind of craziness.โ€43 โ€œClimate Challenge: Bright Lights, Big City โ€ฆ Bigger Debate,โ€ Heartland Institute, September 13, 2019. Archived September 13, 2019. Archive.is URL: http://archive.is/M7XlQ. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

โ€œCarbon dioxide is the greatest gift on planet earth. Put it this way, if we can release more of it, we should have a whole lot more of it, as simple as that. Because according to the satellite data, I mean, we’ve been greening the planet, in a very, very nice way, in a sense, because the planet is a lot greener, the plants are using much more efficient in terms of water, require a lot less use of water. So a drought region becoming green, even in desert, a desert area. These are overall benefits, overall positive effects on the plants, as far as we can tell [โ€ฆ] the impact on the temperature, we are unable to find it. I tell you that I’ve been studying this topic very carefully, only wanting to find a result on the impact of carbon dioxide on temperature, let’s say. I really cannot find [it] after 30 years.โ€44 โ€œClimate Challenge: Bright Lights, Big City โ€ฆ Bigger Debate,โ€ Heartland Institute, September 13, 2019. Archived September 13, 2019. Archive.is URL: http://archive.is/M7XlQ. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

December 14, 2018

The Heartland Institute released a report written by Willie Soon and Patrick Moore among others criticizing Greenpeace, claiming the group promotes โ€œsocialist and anti-capitalist ideals.โ€ According to the authors, โ€œGreenpeace are not actually helping to protect the environment, or exposing real problems.โ€45 โ€œAnalysis of Greenpeaceโ€™s business model & philosophyโ€ (PDF), Heartland Institute, December 2018. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

August 5 – 11, 2018

Soon gave a presentation at Camp Constitution, a group targeting children with the stated mission โ€œto enhance understanding of our Judeo-Christian moral heritage, our American heritage of courage and ingenuity, including the genius of our United States Constitution, and the application of free enterprise, which together gave our nation an unprecedented history of growth and prosperity, making us the envy of the world.โ€46 โ€œCamp Constitution Mission Statement,โ€ Camp Constitution. Archived November 9, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/ItQSx

According to the camp schedule, Soon presented on โ€œthe Global Warming/Climate Change Hoaxโ€ as well as on โ€œAre the Sea Levels Rising?โ€47 โ€œCamp Constitution โ€“ 2018 โ€“ Daily General Scheduleโ€ (PDF), Campconstitution.net. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. 48 โ€œCamp Constitution Mission Statement,โ€ Camp Constitution. Archived November 9, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/ItQSx

Among those listed at the camp’s โ€œSpeakers Bureauโ€ is Tom DeWeese, founder of the American Policy Center and a promoter of the Agenda 21 conspiracy that contends the United Nations are aiming to establish a totalitarian world government.49 โ€œCamp Constitution Speakers Bureau,โ€ Camp Constitution. Archived November 9, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/etaWO 50 โ€œAbout Tom DeWeese,โ€ Southern Poverty Law Center. Accessed November 9, 2018. 51 โ€œAgenda 21: The UN, Sustainability and Right-Wing Conspiracy Theory,โ€ Southern Poverty Law Center, March 31, 2014.

Lord Christopher Monckton was also a speaker at the camp.

March 2018

Soon was one of several prominent climate change deniers who offered โ€œfriend of the courtโ€ briefs as part of a case in which San Francisco and Oakland are suing fossil fuel companies over the costs their cities face due to climate change.52 John H. Cushman Jr. โ€œClimate Contrarians Try to Slip Their Views into U.S. Courtโ€™s Science Tutorial,โ€ InsideClimate News, March 20, 2018. Archived March 20, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/9SVL6

InsideClimateNews noted that the judge requested that the groups each file a statement declaring who paid for their research, whether they received support from anyone โ€œon either side of the climate debate,โ€ and whether any of them were โ€œaffiliated in any way (directly or indirectly)โ€ with parties to the litigation.53 John H. Cushman Jr. โ€œClimate Contrarians Try to Slip Their Views into U.S. Courtโ€™s Science Tutorial,โ€ InsideClimate News, March 20, 2018. Archived March 20, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/9SVL6

Soon offered the following response (emphasis added):

โ€œI have not received any funding for the climate-sensitivity research led by Christopher Monckton of Brenchley. In the past, I have received scientific research grants from Exxon-Mobil Foundation, Southern Company and the Charles G. Koch Foundation for my work on various topics, including scientific research on the Sun-climate connection.โ€ (Emphasis added).54 โ€œRESPONSES OF THE NINE PROPOSED AMICI CURIAE 23 LISTED BELOW TO THE QUESTIONS ABOUT THEIR 24 PARTICIPATION POSED BY THE COURT ON MARCH 19, 2018,โ€ United States District Court, Northern District of California, San Francisco Division. Filed March 20, 2018. Retrieved from DocumentCloud.

E&E News reported that David Legates, who had worked with Soon on some of his studies, โ€œnotified the court that his views have cost him federal research grants but did not mention that some of the studies he conducted with Soon received funding from fossil fuel companies, including Exxon Mobil.โ€55 Scott Waldman. โ€œJudge in climate case made skeptics disclose their donors,โ€ E&E News, March 22, 2018.

As of March 19, U.S. District Judge William Alsup said he had received two of the briefs. One group included Soon, Christopher Monckton, David Legates, William M. Briggs, and Michael Limburg among others submitted by the Heartland Institute’s Peter J. Ferrara. The other group included Richard Lindzen, Will Happer, and Steven Koonin. Koonin has advocated for a โ€œred team, blue teamโ€ approach to debating climate science.56 John H. Cushman Jr. โ€œClimate Contrarians Try to Slip Their Views into U.S. Courtโ€™s Science Tutorial,โ€ InsideClimate News, March 20, 2018. Archived March 20, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/9SVL6

Authors also included David Legates, who has received funding by various industry groups such as the American Petroleum Institute, Charles G. Koch Caritable Foundation, Southern Company, and ExxonmobilWilliam M. Briggs, a statistician; Michael Limburg, vice president of the European Institute for Climate and Energy (EIKE) that has co-hosted climate change denial events with the Heartland Institute; Dietrich Jeschke from the University of Applied Sciences in Flensburg, Germany; and James Morrison, whose only listing is as an undergraduate in Environmental Scienes at the University of West Anglia. โ€œItโ€™s unusual to list an undergraduate student as a scientific expert, particularly in a brief related specifically to a tutorial on the scientific evidence underpinning a case,โ€ Climate Liability News noted.57 Amy Westervelt. โ€œClimate Denial Arguments Make Their Way to Federal Judgeโ€™s Science Tutorial,โ€ Climate Liability News, March 20, 2018. Archived March 20, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/je7pf

ICN described the caseโ€”which included a โ€œclimate tutorialโ€โ€”as an โ€œan unusual arrangement, seemingly borrowed from patent litigation, where judges commonly hear initial testimony from both sides on pertinent scientific details,โ€ would take place in a mock classroom and included a set of basic preliminary questions about climate to start the discussion.58 John H. Cushman Jr. โ€œ8 Answers to the Judgeโ€™s Climate Change Questions in Cities vs. Fossil Fuels Case,โ€ InsideClimate News, March 20, 2018. Archived March 20, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/9BYaQ 59 โ€œSOME QUESTIONS FOR THE TUTORIALโ€ (PDF), United States District Court, March 6, 2018.

Lindzen’s group summarized their message as follows:60 John H. Cushman Jr. โ€œClimate Contrarians Try to Slip Their Views into U.S. Courtโ€™s Science Tutorial,โ€ InsideClimate News, March 20, 2018. Archived March 20, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/9SVL6

โ€œTo summarize this overview, the historical and geological record suggests recent changes in the climate over the past century are within the bounds of natural variability. Human influences on the climate (largely the accumulation of CO2 from fossil fuel combustion) are a physically small (1%) effect on a complex, chaotic, multicomponent and multiscale system. Unfortunately, the data and our understanding are insufficient to usefully quantify the climate’s response to human influences. However, even as human influences have quadrupled since 1950, severe weather phenomena and sea level rise show no significant trends attributable to them. Projections of future climate and weather events rely on models demonstrably unfit for the purpose. As a result, rising levels of CO2 do not obviously pose an immediate, let alone imminent, threat to the earth’s climate.โ€

Monckton and Soon’s group had their brief submitted by a Heartland Institute lawyer:61 John H. Cushman Jr. โ€œClimate Contrarians Try to Slip Their Views into U.S. Courtโ€™s Science Tutorial,โ€ InsideClimate News, March 20, 2018. Archived March 20, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/9SVL6

โ€œThere is no agreement among climatologists as to the relative contributions of Man and Natureโ€ to observed planetary warming, they claimed. As for the consensus view, it โ€œsays nothing about whether anthropogenic global warming was, is or will be catastrophic.โ€

โ€œAnd why, he asked, did they wait so long to present their documents, limiting the time for others to respond to them?โ€ ICN added.62 John H. Cushman Jr. โ€œClimate Contrarians Try to Slip Their Views into U.S. Courtโ€™s Science Tutorial,โ€ InsideClimate News, March 20, 2018. Archived March 20, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/9SVL6

The case is one of several in which cities have filed lawsuits against fossil fuel companies regarding knowledge about climate change, and damages related to to their products due to the addition of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.63 David Hasemyer. โ€œClimate Legal Paradox: Judges Issue Dueling Rulings for Cities Suing Fossil Fuel Companies,โ€ InsideClimate News, March 20, 2018. Archived March 20, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/6WXtQ

February 4, 2018

In January 2018, more than 200 scientists endorsed an open letter calling on the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) to remove climate change denier Rebekah Mercer from its board and to โ€œend ties to anti-science propagandists and funders of climate science misinformation.โ€ The New York Times reported that those among the AMNH letter calling for Mercer to step down were Michael E. Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, and Katharine Hayhoe, director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University.64 Robin Pogrebin and Somini Sengupta. โ€œA Science Denier at the Natural History Museum? Scientists Rebel,โ€ The New York Times, January 25, 2018. Archived February 13, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/tAIv4

Soon was among a group of climate change deniers who responded with their own open letter, calling for the AMNH โ€œnot to cave in to this pressure.โ€ The letter was signed by numerous individuals with ties to groups funded by the Mercer Family Foundation such as Will Happer of the CO2 CoalitionRichard Lindzen, a fellow at the Cato InstituteCraig Idso, the chairman of the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change. There are a number of signatories affiliated with the Heartland Institute, which has received over $5.78 million from the Mercer Family Foundation since 2008.65 Graham Readfearn. โ€œClimate Science Deniers Defend New Yorkโ€™s American Museum of Natural History From Calls to Drop Trustee Rebekah Mercer,โ€ DeSmog, February 6, 2018.

The letter reads:66 mnh18-feb4-petitionletter (PDF – Untitled). Retrieved from Watts Up With That.

โ€œThe Earth has supported abundant life many times in the geological past when there were much higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It is quite likely that future generations will benefit from the enrichment of Earthโ€™s atmosphere with more carbon dioxide.

โ€œMake no mistake, the agitators are not defending science from quackery โ€” quite the contrary!โ€

July 25, 2017

Wilie Soon was listed as a contributor to Climate Change: The Facts 2017, released by the Institute for Public Affairs (IPA) and edited by Jennifer Marohasy. While investigating the authors, DeSmog noted that one of the IPA’s listed โ€œleading expertsโ€ involved in the book is New Zealandโ€™s Ken Ring, who in addition to being a described โ€œlong range weather forecasterโ€ has written โ€œtwo, possibly three, books about catsโ€ including Pawmistry: How to Read Your Catโ€™s Paws in 1998.67 โ€œDonate to Climate Change: The Facts 2017,โ€ Institute of Public Affairs. Archived October 31, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/KpLZh 68 Graham Readfearn. โ€œAustralian Climate Denial Think Tank Picks Cat Author and Moonman Ken Ring as Climate Expert,โ€ DeSmog, April 9, 2017.

The book’s editor, Jennifer Marohasy, wrote in the IPA press release:69 โ€œNEW BOOK – CLIMATE CHANGE: THE FACTS 2017โ€ (PDF), Institute of Public Affairs, July 25, 2017.

โ€œHowever, our understanding of how the climate operates is incomplete and it is critically important to challenge the view that the planet is facing a global warming catastrophe.โ€

According to the book’s description:70 โ€œRegister your interest now and be the first to hear about the publication of Climate Change: The Facts 2017,โ€ Institute of Public Affairs. Archived April 10, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/kvAFK

โ€œClimate Change: The Facts 2017 brings together contributions on the latest climate science from some of the worldโ€™s leading experts in the field including John Abbot, Sallie Baliunas, Paul Driessen, Tony Heller, Craig Idso, Clive James, Pat Michaels, Jo Nova, Ian Plimer, Tom Quirk, Peter Ridd, Ken Ring, Nicola Scafetta, Willie Soon, Roy Spencer, and Anthony Watts.

There are also essays by Matt Ridley, and Bjรธrn Lomborg on the economics of climate change, and by Simon Breheny on how the freedom to discuss climate change science is under threat.โ€

Prior versions of the book featured contributions from a range of prominent climate change deniers, and describes mainstream climate change research as โ€œpseudo-science.โ€71 โ€œClimate Change: The facts 2014,โ€ Catallaxyfiles.com. Archived October 31, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/Trs4Y

April/May 2017

Soon is listed as a co-author of a paper in the Hydrological Sciences Journal on the โ€œRe-calibration of Arctic sea ice extent datasets using Arctic surface air temperature records.โ€ Other authors listed were Ronan Connoly and Michael Connolly, with acknowledgement to Professor Genrikh Alekseev of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute for sea ice estimates. The accepted paper was published online on April 29, 2017 and fuly published online May 22, 2017.72 Ronan Connolly, Michael Connolly & Willie Soon (2017). โ€œRe-calibration of Arctic sea ice extent datasets using Arctic surface air temperature recordsโ€ (PDF), Hydrological Sciences Journal, DOI: 10.1080/02626667.2017.1324974

The paper concluded that โ€œcurrent climate models are still quite poor at modelling past sea ice trendsโ€ after including a graph showing a decline in sea ice starting at the beginning of the โ€œsatellite eraโ€ in 1979.73 Ronan Connolly, Michael Connolly & Willie Soon (2017). โ€œRe-calibration of Arctic sea ice extent datasets using Arctic surface air temperature recordsโ€ (PDF), Hydrological Sciences Journal, DOI: 10.1080/02626667.2017.1324974

While the study by Soon and the other authors noted that they โ€œagree with previous studies that have noted a general decrease in Arctic sea ice extent (for all four seasons) since the start of the satellite era (1979),โ€ they suggest that it followed a general increase in prior sea ice.74 Ronan Connolly, Michael Connolly & Willie Soon (2017). โ€œRe-calibration of Arctic sea ice extent datasets using Arctic surface air temperature recordsโ€ (PDF), Hydrological Sciences Journal, DOI: 10.1080/02626667.2017.1324974

The Heartland Institute was quick to republish the paper, putting the initially submitted manuscript online as early as April 30, 2017, pointing to it as proof that โ€œThe recent decline in Arctic sea ice is not unique.โ€75 Willie Soon. โ€œRE-CALIBRATION OF ARCTIC SEA ICE EXTENT DATASETS USING ARCTIC SURFACE AIR TEMPERATURE RECORDs,โ€ Heartland Institute, April 30, 2017. Archived May 27, 2017. View full PDF paper here. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/alxBc

In the disclosure statement section of the paper, it notes that โ€œNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.โ€76 Ronan Connolly, Michael Connolly & Willie Soon (2017). โ€œRe-calibration of Arctic sea ice extent datasets using Arctic surface air temperature recordsโ€ (PDF), Hydrological Sciences Journal, DOI: 10.1080/02626667.2017.1324974

March 23, 2017

Soon was a member of the โ€œClimate Scienceโ€ panel at the Heartland Institute‘s 12th International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC12). He also introduced Lunch Keynotes by Patrick Michaels and Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas).77 โ€œWILLIE SOON,โ€ Climateconferences.heartland.org. Archived April 5, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/m8SZr

Panel 1B) Climate Science

February 23, 2017

Willie Soon was a signatory of a petition (PDF) organized by Richard Lindzen of the Cato Institute urging President Donald Trump to pull the United States out of the United Nations international convention on climate change (UNFCCC).78 โ€œPETITIONโ€ (PDF), February 23, 2017. Richard Lindzen. PDF Archived at DeSmog.

โ€œIn just a few weeks, more than 300 eminent scientists and other qualified individuals from around the world have signed the petition below,โ€ Lindzen wrote in the letter.79 โ€œPETITIONโ€ (PDF), February 23, 2017. Richard Lindzen. PDF Archived at DeSmog.

DeSmog investigated the list, and found that only a small handful of the signatories could be considered โ€œeven remotely โ€˜qualifiedโ€™ or โ€˜eminentโ€™ โ€” but not in the field of climate science.โ€ The list included individuals โ€œinterested in climate,โ€ and one signatory who only identified as an โ€œemailer who wished to sign the petitionโ€ while some signers provided no affiliation or address whatsoever.80 Graham Readfearn. โ€œClimate Science Denier Richard Lindzen’s List of 300 โ€œScientistsโ€ Sent to Trump Is the Usual Parade of Non-Experts,โ€ DeSmog, February 27, 2017.

January 5, 2017

Willie Soon was a signatory to a Cornwall Alliance open letter supporting Scott Pruitt for EPA Administrator under the Trump administration.81 โ€œOpen Letter Supporting Scott Pruitt for EPA Administrator,โ€ Cornwall Alliance, January 5, 2017. Archived January 19, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/xMash

โ€œMr. Pruitt has also demonstrated understanding of and open-mindedness toward scientific insights crucial to the formulation and implementation of environmental regulation. He is prepared to hear all sides in debates over the risks and benefits of various activities that come under the purview of the EPA,โ€ reads the letter.

On January 12, 2017, Senate Democrats raised conflict of interest concerns regarding Scott Prutt’s fossil fuel ties. Pruitt had spent years working to combat the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan.82 Ben Jervey. โ€œMapping EPA Nominee Scott Pruitt’s Many Fossil Fuel Ties,โ€ DeSmog, January 13, 2017.

In an open letter to the Office of Government Ethics, members of the Senate’s environmental panel commented:

โ€œDuring his tenure as Attorney General of Oklahoma, Mr. Pruitt has blurred the distinction between official and political actions, often at the behest of corporations he will regulate if confirmed to lead EPA,โ€ the letter said. โ€œPublic reporting based on documents produced by Freedom of Information Act requests illustrate how Mr. Pruitt and members of his staff have worked closely with fossil fuel lobbyists to craft his office’s official positions.โ€

Pruitt was further grilled on his fossil fuel ties at his confirmation hearing on January 18.83 Ben Jervey and Steve Horn. โ€œEPA Nominee Scott Pruitt Gets Grilled on Fossil Fuel Ties at Confirmation Hearing,โ€ DeSmog, January 18, 2017.

Some notable signatories of the Cornwall Alliance letter, as of January 5, 2017, included:

December 8, 2016

Willie Soon was a speaker at the โ€œAt the Crossroads III Energy and Climate Summit,โ€ an event co-hosted by the Heritage Foundation and the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF). The event was billed as โ€œthe premier energy-and-climate policy event in America,โ€ and attracted a range of prominent climate change deniers as well as a range of names connected to Donald Trump and his transition team. Video and choice quotes below.84 โ€œAt the Crossroads III: Energy and Climate Policy Summit,โ€ Heritage Foundation, December 8, 2016. Archived December 22, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/AKaKq

โ€œIโ€™ve been living under the dark cloud of censorship and intimidation as soon as I started my post-doc career at the Center for Astrophysics in 1992.โ€œ [60:17]

Speaking of Greenpeace: โ€œBut, as my mom taught me as a young kid, that you forgive all the bad people but then you never forget.โ€ [60:26]

Speaking of his 2003 paper: โ€œActually, I didnโ€™t really want to write this paper. But as a professional scientist, the phenomenon that happened in between, letโ€™s say, 2001 to 2003 is highly strange. When you tried to publish a paper at those times, if you donโ€™t cite those famous papers like the famous hockey stick paper properly, and you will actually be taken to task, rather seriously actually, or else your paper will be rejected. This is the kind of coercion that should not be allowed in open science. But unfortunately they prevailed, so I decided I had to do something about it and so I wrote a paper.โ€[64:24]

โ€œI have never said this in public, so Iโ€™ll say it for the first time: that ultimately, that version that published in Climate Research was a hoax. [โ€ฆ] It is really as if I give a damn about having another paper in publication.โ€ [68:32]

โ€œIโ€™m sick and tired of this system of collusion and coercions.โ€ [69:13]

โ€œAnd then, you know the real reason why they need some kind of attack on me? It was mainly because guys like thisโ€”ok, shall be nameless, you read it yourself [points to slide with images of David Halpern, NASA and Mark Eakin NOAA]โ€”Who at that time was actually working for NOAA and NASA and was funding some of those guys like Michael Mann and all that on paleoclimate study was saying, look man, we need some kind of cogent reply, some kind of serious critical discussion so they could pass on to somebody in OSTP. OSTP, as I hope most of you know, right, Office of Science and Technology of the President. And to say that โ€˜oh, weโ€™ve got to have something going, letโ€™s go and attack this Willie Soon.โ€™ Really?โ€ [69:18]

Soon describes the โ€œwall of shameโ€ as โ€œTom Wigley, Phil Jones, so on and so forth. And then, the most important name I want you to remember is Ellen Mosley-Thompson.โ€ Soon’s presentation slide features Wigley, Jones, Hulme, Briffa, Hansen, Santer, Tenberth, Karl, Bradley, MacCracken, Ellen Mosley-Thompson (editor of Eos), and Pachauri, who he calls the โ€œchoo choo train guy.โ€ [70:00]

Speaking on Mannโ€™s rebuttal to his paper: โ€œIt doesnโ€™t matter. You see? They still published that with the result in there, because you know Michael Mann was able to presuade all of them, โ€˜just give me your signature.โ€™ Ok. This is how science works right. Because Wilie Soon is so bad that no matter what the cause is, even a giant bad result you should publish.โ€ [71:18]

โ€œSteve McinTyre of Canada [โ€ฆ] actually was able to find out you know, the AR5, which is one of those United Nations reports, was published in 2013, actually was able to confirm that we are kind of right, right? But then of course you must not let anybody know about this. Donโ€™t ever cite Soon and Balliunas or Soon and Legates at all.โ€ [72:44]

โ€œI want to remind you what climate actually is. What kind of expertise [you need to study it]. If you want to study climate just because of carbon dioxide, Iโ€™m sorry, itโ€™s still not enough to study only the atmosphere. Youโ€™ve got to know all of this bunch of stuff. This is part of the reason why the struggle for answer is so hard. We may never know the answer, but then weโ€™ve got to keep trying and follow the scientific method, please.โ€ [74:28]

โ€œSince 2004, I just consciously do not want to get any more funding from the federal government so I stopped replying to NASA, NSF, and all those things. I quit. Put it that way. I rather seek all my funding from private sources, private donation, then by 2012, this particular reality sink in. In the sense I could no longer work on anything on sun and climate together, but I can work on the sun only. Ok. And this is the reality that sinks in. I fully accept that, but I want to tell you, if you want to study anything about climate, if you donโ€™t study sun-climate, I donโ€™t know, what am I supposed to study right?โ€ [75:15]

โ€œI want to talk about this big bully in the National Academy of Science. In 2015, who are writing a small little note, correcting something that we think is not right. It doesnโ€™t matter the contentโ€”if you want to know, of course, ask me and David Legates, and Willis Eschenbach, one of the volunteers actually. He had no proper science title, but heโ€™s a good scientist. So we work on this stuff and guess what happened? We claim, as you know, this is a free time work, of course this only take like only less than a day. So we wrote this letter, it got published. Then you have this editor-in-chief appear, NAS. Sending me some kind of warning. That, you know, but you didnโ€™t tell the truth. You didnโ€™t declare. Let me blow this up [magnifies slide]. Trying to put a yellow star on my jacket. Heโ€™s trying to say, you know, weโ€™re going to put this note in by saying you have not disclosed your conflict of interest. That you were funded by funding from Southern Company, for example. Things like that, okay.โ€[76:00]

โ€œI have never actually been able to have the opportunity to publicly thank my lawyer, which is Gordon Todd [โ€ฆ] so this guy work for free for me, of course, obviouslyโ€”I have no money, please. Thereโ€™s no legal defense fund. So on and so forth. But then they fire back by saying โ€˜please donโ€™t do that.โ€™ Because I have told them that this is a short time work, itโ€™s just a letter, it was not funded by anything, it is a volunteer work. Call it a service to science, because I care about science. โ€ [77:27]

โ€œEven [Michael] Mann and [Peter] Gleik have published in PNAS and they clearly have conflicts of interest in terms of the subject, in terms of the stuff that they are receiving money for doing what their work is. [โ€ฆ] Peter Gleik is another guy that is such a disgraceful, disgraceful guy. โ€ [78:22]

โ€œIn 2004, David Legates and I releazed thereโ€™s something seriously wrong with Michael Mannโ€™s Work, another aspect of it, which is the instrumental temperature record, how he smoothed the data. [โ€ฆ] The sweetest thing about this climate gate is that there is proof that Michael Mann did that [โ€ฆ] and we caught him with his pants down.โ€ [80:07]

โ€œMy basic conclusion is very simple. That you have this dark cloud of censorship and intimidation [that] has really inundated the climate science for a long time now. And climate science as we know it has been dangerously corrupted by scientism, all these bullies of censorship including the scientists, the scientific institution, even the funding agencyโ€”continue to hijack science with their own gain. So they must be stopped. I hope we can stop of course. Hopefully, with a political win, which is shown that depends on politics, that we can do something about this.โ€[82:12]

Doug Domenech, director of the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s โ€œFueling Freedomโ€ project, wrote about the proceedings at The Hill. Domenech outlined the common climate change denial message shared among the speakers: โ€œIs climate change real? Yes, it has happened in the past and will happen in the future. Is man making an impact on the climate? Perhaps but in very small ways. But the overarching consensus remains the climate change we are experiencing is by no means catastrophic.โ€85 Doug Domenech. โ€œClimate change: Speaking truth to power,โ€ The Hill, December 13, 2016. Archived December 21, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/zAEH5

Speakers included:

December 3, 2016

Willie Soon is listed as a speaker at Freedom Force International’s โ€œ3rd Congressโ€ event titled โ€œGlobal-Warming; an Inconvenient Lie.โ€ Freedom Force describes the event as โ€œa gathering of the worldโ€™s top experts on this subject who will put an end, once-and-for-all, to the myth of anthropogenic (man-caused) global-warming.โ€86 โ€œThe 3rd Congress of Freedom Force,โ€ Freedom Force International. Archived December 2, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/xuWxA

Soon’s speech is titled โ€œMan vs. Sun; Put Your Money on the Sun.โ€ The complete speaker list is below:87 โ€œThe 3rd Congress of Freedom Force,โ€ Freedom Force International. Archived December 2, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/xuWxA

  • Lord Christopher Monckton โ€“ Global Warming Is A Monstrous Hoax
  • William Happer โ€“ The Real Inconvenient Truth; More CO2 Benefits the Earth
  • Tim Ball โ€“ Global Warming Is the Biggest Deception in History
  • G. Edward Griffin โ€“ Why Do They Deceive?
  • Holly Swanson โ€“ They Call It Education; Global Warming and Political Indoctrination
  • Dan Happel โ€“ They Call It Green; Global Warming and Agenda-21
  • Patrick Wood โ€“ They Call it Science; Global Warming and Technocracy
  • Alex Newman โ€“ They Call It News; Global Warming and Propaganda
  • Debbie Bacigalupi โ€“ They Call It Smart Growth: Global Warming and The Depopulation of Rural America
  • Elaine Willman โ€“ Native Americans โ€“ Pawns in the Agenda-21 game
  • Jim Lee โ€“ Geoengineering, Weather Modification, and the Weaponization of Nature
  • Michael Shaw โ€“ Agenda-21; Bringing the Soviet System to America
  • Willie Soon โ€“ Man vs. Sun; Put Your Money on the Sun
  • Istvan Marko โ€“ CO2 Is Not Pollution. It is Our Friend.

August 2016

Willie Soon is listed as a โ€œFounding Memberโ€ of group named Climate Exit (Clexit) led by climate change denier Christopher Monckton. According to Clexit’s founding statement (PDF), โ€œThe world must abandon this suicidal Global Warming crusade. Man does not and cannot control the climate.โ€88 โ€œThe Clexit Committee comprisesโ€ (PDF), Clexit.net. Archived.pdf on file at Desmog. 89 โ€œAfter Brexit, Clexitโ€ (PDF), Clexit.net. Archived .pdf on file at Desmog.

Desmog reports on how the group grew in the wake of the UK’s decision to leave the EU. A key member of Clexit’s โ€œ60 well-informed science, business and economic leadersโ€ is Hugh Morgan, a former board member of the Reserve Bank of Australia and former CEO of Western Mining Corporation with close ties to Australia’s Liberal party.90 Graham Readfearn. โ€œAfter Brexit, Climate Science Denialists Form New Group to Call for a Clexit,โ€ Desmog, August 3, 2016. 91 โ€œHugh Morgan AO,โ€ Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Archived February 22, 2002. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/1ObOB

According to Clexit’s founding statement:

โ€œIf the Paris climate accord is ratified, or enforced locally by compliant governments, it will strangle the leading economies of the world with pointless carbon taxes and costly climate and energy policies, all with no sound basis in evidence or science [โ€ฆ]โ€92 โ€œAfter Brexit, Clexitโ€ (PDF), Clexit.net. Archived .pdf on file at Desmog.

July 8โ€“10, 2016

Willie Soon was a speaker at 34th Annual Meeting of Doctors for Disaster Preparedness, co-sponsored by Access to Energy, the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine, and Physicians for Civil Defense.93 โ€œDDP 34th Annual Meeting โ€“ July 2016,โ€ Doctors for Disaster Preparedness. Archived July 22, 2016. Backup archive url: http://archive.is/oRn3j

Willie Soon’s talk was titled on โ€œBeethovenโ€™s Ice Cream, Tolstoyโ€™s Fire, Happerโ€™s Picosecond Pedestalโ€”and Climateโ€ (video below):

DDP listed the following speakers at their event:94 โ€œDDP 34th Annual Meeting โ€“ July 2016,โ€ Doctors for Disaster Preparedness. Archived July 22, 2016. Backup archive url: http://archive.is/oRn3j

June 13, 2016

Willie Soon was among individuals listed as creditors in Peabody Energy’s 2016 bankruptcy filings, reports the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD/PRWatch).95 Nick Surgey. โ€œPeabody Coal Bankruptcy Reveals Climate Denial Network Funding,โ€ PRWatch, June 13, 2016. Archived June 20, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/DR5pv

While the available bankruptcy documents do not list the scale or dates of funding, they outline Peabody Energy’s financial ties to a large network of groups promoting climate change denial.96 โ€œIn re: Peabody Energy Corporation, et al. Debtors,โ€ United States Bankruptcy Court Eastern District of Missouri Eastern Division, Case 16-42529, May 27, 2016. Retrieved from DocumentCloud. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/QGKCb

Prominent individuals appearing in the documents include climate deniers Richard Lindzen, Roy Spencer and Richard Berman. The long list of organizations also includes groups such as Americans for Prosperity, American Legislative Exchange Council, CFACT, Institute for Energy Research, State Policy Network, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and dozens more.97 Farron Cousins. โ€œCourt Documents Show Coal Giant Peabody Energy Funded Dozens Of Climate Denial Groups,โ€ DeSmog, June 13, 2016.

The Guardian also analysed and reported on the Peabody bankruptcy findings:98 Suzanne Goldenberg and Helena Bengtsson. โ€œBiggest US coal company funded dozens of groups questioning climate change,โ€ The Guardian, June 13, 2016. Archived June 20, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/Oibzy

โ€œThese groups collectively are the heart and soul of climate denial,โ€ said Kert Davies, founder of the Climate Investigation Center, who has spent 20 years tracking funding for climate denial. โ€œItโ€™s the broadest list I have seen of one company funding so many nodes in the denial machine.โ€

The companyโ€™s filings reveal funding for a range of organisations which have fought Barack Obamaโ€™s plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions, and denied the very existence of climate change. [โ€ฆ]

Among Peabodyโ€™s beneficiaries, the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change has insisted โ€“ wrongly โ€“ that carbon emissions are not a threat but โ€œthe elixir of lifeโ€ while the American Legislative Exchange Council is trying to overturn Environmental Protection Agency rules cutting emissions from power plants. Meanwhile, Americans for Prosperity campaigns against carbon pricing. The Oklahoma chapter was on the list. [โ€ฆ]

โ€œThe breadth of the groups with financial ties to Peabody is extraordinary. Thinktanks, litigation groups, climate scientists, political organisations, dozens of organisations blocking action on climate all receiving funding from the coal industry,โ€ said Nick Surgey, director of research for the Center for Media and Democracy.

โ€œWe expected to see some denial money, but it looks like Peabody is the treasury for a very substantial part of the climate denial movement.โ€

Notable organizations also listed as creditors in the bankruptcy documents include:

April 5, 2016

Despite a new transparency policy by the Smithsonian Institution, Willie Soon obtained $65,000 in โ€œdark moneyโ€ to fund an undisclosed research project, reports InsideClimate News. Soon obtained the grant form Donors Trust (DT).99 โ€œSmithsonian Gives Nod to More ‘Dark Money’ Funding for Willie Soon,โ€ InsideClimate News, April 5, 2016. Archived August 19, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/CHxiU

The Smithsonian’s new policy requires researchers to disclose the sources of their funding. Smithsonian officials said the Donors Trust disclosure was sufficient to satisfy its new policy.100 โ€œSmithsonian Gives Nod to More ‘Dark Money’ Funding for Willie Soon,โ€ InsideClimate News, April 5, 2016. Archived August 19, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/CHxiU

โ€œIt is as transparent as we can be,โ€ said John Gibbons, the Smithsonian spokesman. โ€œWhat we ask is: ‘Is the money coming from a legal entity?’โ€ he said. โ€œThat’s as far as we can look into it.โ€101 โ€œSmithsonian Gives Nod to More ‘Dark Money’ Funding for Willie Soon,โ€ InsideClimate News, April 5, 2016. Archived August 19, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/CHxiU

December 7, 2015

Willie Soon appeared at the United Nationโ€™s Conference on Climate Change, COP21, in Paris, France with the Heartland Institute, the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), and the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) to โ€œhold a โ€˜counter-conferenceโ€™ โ€ฆ called the Day of Examining the Data.โ€102 โ€œPARIS COP-21: Day of Examining the Data with The Heartland Institute, CFACT, and CEI,โ€ Heartland Institute, December 7, 2015. Other notable climate science deniers that were in attendance at the โ€œcounter-conference,โ€ included: Robert Carter, S. Fred Singer, Christopher Essex, James Taylor, Patrick Moore, Wolfgang Mรผller, James Inhofe, and Christopher Monckton.103 โ€œBringing Climate Realism to Paris at COP-21,โ€ Heartland Institute, December 7, 2015. Archived February 10, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/NIkCy

Watch Willie Soon’s โ€œcounter-conferenceโ€ presentation with the Heartland Institute, below (Willie Soon’s presentation begins at 2:01:35):

June 11-12, 2015

Willie Soon was a speaker on Panel 1: โ€œClimate Science,โ€ at the Heartland Instituteโ€™s Tenth International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC10) in Washington, D.C., with Patrick Michaels and David Legates.104 โ€œSpeakers,โ€ Heartland Institute. Archived June 30, 2015. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/lpiqu

View Willie Soonโ€™s Panel 1 presentation at the Heartland Instituteโ€™s ICCC10, below:105 โ€œPanel 1: Climate Science with Willie Soon, Ph.D., David Legates, Ph.D., and Patrick Michaels, Ph.D.,โ€ Heartland Institute, June 11, 2015. Archived July 16, 2015.

June 2015

Willie Soon weighted in on Pope Francis’s encyclical on the environment in an article at Breitbart titled โ€œGas of Life: Pope Encyclical on Climate Change Ignores Science on Carbon Dioxide.โ€

According to Soon, โ€œAny attempt to stop the use of available fossil fuels for life and all human activities will cause far more harm and lead to more deaths than the theological belief in future catastrophic disasters endorsed by the encyclical.โ€

โ€[โ€ฆ] The worldโ€™s weather and climate will not be adversely affected by the prudent and appropriate use of fossil fuels to enhancing everyoneโ€™s lives. The release of the carbon dioxide gas to the atmosphere is a necessary result of life on Earth โ€“ carbon dioxide is a gas of life. Additional carbon dioxide in the air will enhance all forms of biological activity and life overall. The relative greening of the Earth for the past several decades is one positive example.โ€106 Dr. Wei-Hock Soon. โ€œGas of Life: Pope Encyclical on Climate Change Ignores Science on Carbon Dioxide.โ€ Breitbart. June 19, 2015. Archived July 3, 2015. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/XYShy

March 2015

Willie Soon is one of several climate change skeptics cc’d on an email from S. Fred Singer in hopes of countering the documentary film โ€œMerchants of Doubt,โ€ which exposes the network of climate change skeptics and deniers trying to delay legislative action on climate change.

The October, 2014 email was leaked to journalists before the documentary was released. โ€œCan I sue for damages?โ€ Singer asked in the email. โ€œCan we get an injunction against the documentary?โ€

InsideClimate News reports in their article โ€œLeaked Email Reveals Who’s Who List of Climate Denialists,โ€ how โ€œMany of those copied on the email thread, such as Singer and communications specialist Steven Milloy, have financial ties to the tobacco, chemical, and oil and gas industries and have worked to defend them since the 1990s.โ€107 Katherine Bagley. โ€œLeaked Email Reveals Who’s Who List of Climate Denialists,โ€ InsideClimate News. March 12, 2015. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/CVOi5

InsideClimate News also documented all those who were cc’d on the email, including the following skeptics and groups:

DeSmog covered the emails here: โ€œMerchants of Doubt Film Debuts, Textbook Denial Attack Campaign Led By Fred Singer Ensuesโ€ and DeSmog also archived a full copy of the Singer email thread (PDF).

March 2, 2015

Willie Soon released a statement via the Heartland Instituteโ€™s website following a complaint from the Climate Investigations Center that Soon โ€œfailed to disclose financial conflicts of interest in a newly released paper,โ€ which he co-wrote with Christopher Monckton, David R. Legates, and William M. Briggs.108 โ€œClimate change skeptic accused of violating disclosure rules,โ€ The Boston Globe, January 26, 2015. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/1liME 109 Willie Soon. โ€œStatement by Dr. Willie Soon,โ€ Heartland Institute, March 2, 2015.

In his official statement, Soon wrote that he has โ€œbeen the target of attacks in the press by various radical environmental and politically motivated groupsโ€ and that the โ€œeffort should be seen for what it is: a shameless attempt to silence my scientific research and writings, and to make an example out of me as a warning to any other researcher who may dare question in the slightest their fervently held orthodoxy of anthropogenic global warming.โ€110 Willie Soon. โ€œStatement by Dr. Willie Soon,โ€ Heartland Institute, March 2, 2015.

Soon states that he has โ€œnever been motivated by financial gain to write any scientific paper, nor [has he] ever hidden grants or any other alleged conflict of interest.โ€ A DeSmog report, using data compiled by the Climate Investigations Center, found that Soon has โ€œsolicited more than $1.5 million since 2001 from fossil fuel companies and conservative foundations.โ€111 โ€œWas Climate Science Denialist Willie Soon Funded To Do Science Or Was It Just PR Cash From The Fossil Fuel Industry?,โ€ DeSmog, March 1, 2015.

February 2015

As reported at InsideClimate News, emails and related documents regarding Willie Soon’s funding were obtained by Greenpeace through a Freedom of Information Act Request. Communications show that Soon had called a number of his research papers โ€œdelieverablesโ€ and had received funding in return from fossil fuel companies.112 David Hasemyer. โ€œDocuments Reveal Fossil Fuel Fingerprints on Contrarian Climate Research,โ€ InsideClimate News, February 21, 2015. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/5TTsv

InsideClimate News details โ€œ11 times Willie Soon failed to Disclose Fossil Fuel Fundingโ€, with the primary contributor being Southern Company, which generates power for nine states (largely from coal). The studies in question are summarized below, as reported on at Inside Climate News:113 Lisa Song. โ€œA Guide To Willie Soon’s Climate Research Funded by Fossil Fuel Companies,โ€ InsideClimate News, February 23, 2015. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/YOHqz

TopicJournalDateAdditional Funders
Response to a critique of a 2007 paper co-authored by soon on polar bears and climate changeEcological Complexity1July, 2008Southern Company
Modeling changes in rainfall patterns from monsoonsJournal of Climate1Sept. 2008Southern Company
Review of government reports on polar bear populationsInterfaces1Sept. – Oct. 2008Southern Company
How changes in sun’s intensity explain the Artic’s changing climatePhysical Geography1March, 2009Southern Company
Cycles of 20 active starsAstronomy & Astrophysics1May, 2009Southern Company
Validity of the United Nations’ climate change studiesInternational Journal of Forecasting1Oct.-Dec 2009Southern Company
How policymakers should consider potential climate change regulationsEcological Law Currents22010Southern Company
Surface air temperatures in China during the 20th centuryJournal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics2,3,4Aug. 2011Southern Company
India’s summer monsoons and solar activityJournal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 2,3,4Aug. 2011Southern Company
Air temperatures and Solar ActivityJournal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics4Feb. 2013Southern Company
How India’s summer monsoons are affected by the sunNew Astronomy4,5Feb. 2015Southern Company
  1. Deliverable Listed in Soon’s Jan 2009 report for Southern Company
  2. Deliverable Listed in Soon’s May 2011 report for Southern Company
  3. Deliverable Listed in Soon’s Jan 2012 report for Donors Trust, Inc.
  4. Deliverable Listed in Soon’s Nov 2012 report for Southern Company
  5. Soon’s 2012 report to Southern Company said study had been submitted to Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics

The documents were made public by Greenpeace on February 21. Greenpeace suggests that Soon โ€œmay have violated several scientific journalsโ€™ ethical guidelines by failing to disclose these conflicts of interest.โ€114 โ€œNew documents reveal Koch, Exxon, Southern Company influence behind climate change denier scientist Dr. Willie Soon called his research and congressional testimony ‘deliverables’ to corporate funders, may have violated IRS rules and scientific journalsโ€™ ethical guidelines,โ€ Greenpeace (Media Release), February 23, 2015. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/Lac4S

As of April, 2015, after supplying Soon with nearly $470,000 for research, Southern Company decided it will no longer fund Soon’s work.115 David Hasemyer. โ€œUtility Giant Cuts Ties With Willie Soon,โ€ InsideClimate News, April 7, 2015. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/wDh9z

In an interview with InsideClimate News, Stephen Smith, executive director of Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said a Southern Company executive told him the company did not want to be associated with Soon’s research any longer:

โ€œThey claim they do not want to influence the [climate change] science,โ€ Smith said. โ€œWhat I was hearing is that they should not be seen as having a corporate policy on this kind of thing.โ€116 David Hasemyer. โ€œUtility Giant Cuts Ties With Willie Soon,โ€ InsideClimate News, April 7, 2015. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/wDh9z

January 26, 2015

Willie Soon failed to disclose financial conflicts of interest in a newly released paper, according to a complaint from a climate watchdog group the Climate Investigations Center as reported by The Boston Globe in their January 26, 2015 article, โ€œClimate change skeptic accused of violating disclosure rules.โ€117 โ€œClimate change skeptic accused of violating disclosure rules,โ€ The Boston Globe, January 26, 2015. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/1liME Soon, โ€œwho has relied on grants from fossil-fuel energy interests,โ€ co-wrote the paper with Christopher Monckton, David R. Legates, and William M. Briggs.118 โ€œClimate change skeptic accused of violating disclosure rules,โ€ The Boston Globe, January 26, 2015. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/1liME

The end of the paper, under the โ€œConflict of interestโ€ header, stated โ€œThe authors declare that they have no conflict.โ€119 โ€œClimate change skeptic accused of violating disclosure rules,โ€ The Boston Globe, January 26, 2015. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/1liME Kert Davies, the executive director of the Climate Investigations Center, disagreed, saying โ€œSoonโ€™s long track record of accepting energy-industry related grants indicates otherwise and might constitute a violation of Science Bulletinโ€™s disclosure policy.โ€120 โ€œClimate change skeptic accused of violating disclosure rules,โ€ The Boston Globe, January 26, 2015. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/1liME Science Bulletin, the Chinese Journal that published the study, โ€œimposes a strict conflict of interest policy on authors, obligating contributors to disclose any received funding, financial interests, honors, or speaking engagements that might affect their work.โ€121 โ€œClimate change skeptic accused of violating disclosure rules,โ€ The Boston Globe, January 26, 2015. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/1liME

December 2014

Willie Soon is a contributor to the book Climate Change: The Facts published by the Institute of Public Affairs and featuring โ€œ22 essays on the science, politics and economics of the climate change debate.โ€ The Institute of Public Affairs, while not revealing most of its funders, is known to have received funding from mining magnate Gina Rinehart and at least one major tobacco company.122 โ€œInstitute of Public Affairs,โ€ SourceWatch. Accessed May 27, 2015. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/WWdgR

The book includes essays and articles from a range of climate change skeptics, with contributors including the following:

November 5, 2014

The Heartland Institute‘s โ€œenvironmental science and policy expertsโ€ published comments following the release of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) โ€œSynthesis Report,โ€ completing the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report (AR5).123 โ€œHeartland Institute Experts Comment on Latest United Nations Climate Report,โ€ Heartland Institute, November 5, 2014. Archived November 11, 2014. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/CBLqi

Willie Soon asked in his comment if the โ€œUnited Nations IPCC people [were] really serious about alarming the world, yet again, that we will all die if we do not stop emitting CO2 immediately,โ€ and wrote the IPCC is โ€œnot entitled to their own facts, no matter how many times they continue to cry wolf about our common future โ€ฆ Our wonderful planet is not IPCC’s private casino parlor.โ€124 โ€œHeartland Institute Experts Comment on Latest United Nations Climate Report,โ€ Heartland Institute, November 5, 2014. Archived November 11, 2014. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/CBLqi

September 18, 2014

Willie Soon and Christopher Monckton co-author an opinion piece in The Washington Times titled, โ€œBoycotting the U.N. climate summit; Awareness grows that faulty science would keep millions in the dark.โ€

Soon and Monckton state Narendra Modi, India’s Prime Minister, โ€œis right to have no more to do with such murderous nonsense. It is time to put an end to climate summits,โ€ also noting the President of China and the Chancellor of Germany โ€œlikewise intend to skip the eventโ€:125 Willie Soon and Christopher Monckton. โ€œBoycotting the U.N. climate summit; Awareness grows that faulty science would keep millions in the dark,โ€ The Washington Times, September 18, 2014. Archived September 23, 2014. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/PqqCY

โ€œThe spiritual yet down-to-earth Mr. Modi knows that 300 million Indians still have no electricity. His priority is to turn on the lights all over India. In Bihar, four homes in five are still lit by kerosene โ€ฆ The worldโ€™s governing elites, however, no longer care about poverty. Climate change is their new focus.โ€126 Willie Soon and Christopher Monckton. โ€œBoycotting the U.N. climate summit; Awareness grows that faulty science would keep millions in the dark,โ€ The Washington Times, September 18, 2014. Archived September 23, 2014. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/PqqCY

July 7โ€“9, 2014

Willie Soon was a speaker at the Heartland Instituteโ€™s Ninth International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC9) in Las Vegas, Nevada.127 โ€œReturn of Climate Denial-a-Palooza: Heartland Institute Hitches Anti-Science Wagon to Vegas FreedomFest,โ€ DeSmog, July 7, 2014. Archived July 14, 2014. Soon participated in two panels, Panel 4, โ€œNIPCC VS IPCC: Physical Scienceโ€ with Craig Idso and S. Fred Singer, and Panel 7, โ€œSolar Science and Climate.โ€œ with Jay H. Lehr and Sebastian Lรผning.128 Heartland Institue. โ€œInternational Conference on Climate Change, Schedule.โ€ Archived November 22, 2017. Videos of both can be viewed below. DeSmog has done in-depth research on the other speakers and sponsors from Heartland’s ICCC9, which can be found here.

November 5, 2013

Willie Soon gave a Powerpoint presentation at a scholarly conference in Houston, Texas, on behalf of the Harvard Smithsonian Center, continuing to sow the seeds of doubt on man-made climate change. Soon, having collected over $1.2 million over the last dozen years in research funding from ExxonMobil, Southern Company, and the American Petroleum Institute, states that, โ€œNo amount of money can influence what I have to say and write, especially on my scientific quest to understand how climate works, all by itself.โ€129 โ€œResearcher helps sow climate-change doubt,โ€ The Boston Globe, November 5, 2013. Archived August 19, 2016.

September 23, 2013

Willie Soon asked about his fossil fuel funded research at a Heritage Foundation event130 โ€œBoston Globe Exposes Climate Denier Willie Soon,โ€ Greenpeace, November 5, 2013.:

September 18, 2013

Dr. Soon appeared with Joseph Bast, of the Heartland Institute, on the Fox News Channel’s โ€œSpecial Report with Bret Baierโ€ to discuss Heartland’s release of Climate Change Resonsidered II: Physical Science.131 โ€œJoe Bast, Willie Soon talking ‘Climate Change Reconsidered’ on Fox News,โ€ The Heartland Institute, September 19, 2013. Archived August 19, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/gw0g7

Marchโ€“April, 2013

Collegians for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT Campus) is bringing โ€œHarvard Astrophysicistโ€ Willie Soon to college campuses throughout the Midwest US. While many publications have suggested otherwise, Willie Soon is not actually employed by Harvard University, but rather the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (separate from the Harvard campus and not officially affiliated with the university).

On April 2, during his lecture in Madison, Soon became defensive after receiving the following question regarding his funding by fossil fuel interests:132 โ€œExxon- and Koch-funded scientist Willie Soon confronted at University of Wisconsin over discredited climate research,โ€ Polluterwatch, April 8, 2013. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/eefAF

โ€œYou have received over one million dollars in funds from coal and oil interests. The last grant you received from a funder with no ties to the energy industry was in 2002. That’s over a decade ago. So Dr. Soon, why should we trust someone without credentials in climate science whose work is only funded by coal and oil interests?โ€

View his response below:

Video highlights:

  • 00:41-1:43 โ€” โ€œI have received funding from [the] Federal Government, but I stopped receiving. I have [not received a] penny of money from the government since 2004 or so. And I have been receiving money from whoever that wants to give me money. [โ€ฆ] I have received money from ExxonMobil, but ExxonMobil will no longer give me any money for a long time. American Petroleum Institute, anything you wish for, from Southern Company, from all these companies. [โ€ฆ] If they choose to fund me, I’m happy to receive it.โ€
  • 01:48-02:18 โ€” โ€œI don’t like to claim that I am an expert on anything, but I have enough knowledge about climate science and climate system to be able to write scientific papers and go to meetings and talk about monsoon systems and talk about any other things that you want to discuss about climate science issues. I’m as qualified as anybody that you know on this planet on this topic.โ€
  • 02:24-02:33 โ€” โ€œI do not want to take any more questions of this kind, unless you have a science question.โ€
  • 02:31.5-02:57 โ€” โ€œThe answer could be answered yourself if you had a bit of intelligence. I was trying to conspire to bring down IPCC, right, yes? Is that what you’re trying to imply? So be it. Let it be known that I do not like IPCC, because IPCC does not stand for science, it is corrupting science. period.โ€
  • 5:14 โ€” โ€œI really want to thank her, because she’s receiving the electricity used for her house, she’s driving cars, she’s doing all of these things because you are funding me. It’s not an oil or coal company. They are a company that provides a service to humanityโ€“to people who want to use electricity.โ€

May 21โ€“23, 2012

Willie Soon was a speaker at the Heartland Institute‘s 7th International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC7) in Chicago, Illinois. His Speech, titled โ€œAlmighty CO2, Giant Boa Snake and the Sunโ€ can be viewed below.133 Soon, Willy. โ€œAlmighty CO2, Giant Boa Snake and The Sun,โ€ Youtube.com July 22, 2014.

DeSmog researched the co-sponsors behind Heartland’s ICCC7 and found that they had collectively received over $67 million from ExxonMobil, the Koch Brothers and the conservative Scaife family foundations.

June 30โ€“July 1, 2011

Willie Soon was a speaker at the Heartland Institute‘s Sixth International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC6) in Washington, D.C.134 Heartland Institute. โ€œThe Sixth International Conference on Climate Change, Program.โ€ (PDF) Archived November 22, 2017. His speech, titled โ€œA Circum-Global View on Sun-Climate Connectionโ€ can be viewed below.135 Soon, Willy. โ€œA Circum-Global View on Sun-Climate Connection,โ€ Youtube.com July 26, 2013.DeSmog conducted in-depth research on the sponsors for the event.

May 17, 2010

Willie Soon was a speaker at the Heartland Institute‘s 4th International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC4) in Chicago, Illinois.136 Heartland Institute. โ€œ4th International Conference on Climate Change,โ€ (PDF) Archived November 22, 2017. His speech, titled โ€œThe Sun, The Moon And The CO2 Monsterโ€ can be viewed below.137 Soon, Willy. โ€œThe Sun, The Moon and the Milky Way Monster,โ€ Youtube.com July 26, 2013.

June 2009

Willie Soon was a speaker (PDF) at the Heartland Institute‘s 3rd International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC3).138 โ€œ4th International Conference on Climate Changeโ€ (PDF), The Heartland Institute. Retrieved February 17, 2012, from the homepage of Laurence I. Gould, hosted on the University of Hartford’s web server. His speech, titled โ€œGlobal Warming 101: Why CO2 Is Not A Climate Driverโ€ can be viewed below.139 Soon, Willy. โ€œโ€Global Warming 101: Why CO2 Is Not A Climate Driver,โ€ Youtube.com July 2, 2013.

March 8-10, 2009

Soon was a speaker at the Heartland Institute‘s 2nd International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC2) in New York.140 โ€œWillie Soon,โ€ SourceWatch Profile. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/oRmQP 141 โ€œ2009 International Conference on Climate Change,โ€ The Heartland Institute, February 1, 2009. Republished by Instituto Liberdade. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/AVBHL His speech, titled โ€œDisconnects in Sun-Climate Studies: Removing Politics From the Scienceโ€ can be viewed below.142 Soon, Willy. โ€œDisconnects in Sun-Climate Studies: Removing Politics From The Science,โ€ Youtube.com July 5, 2013.

July 13, 2008

Spoke at the 26th Annual Meeting of Doctors for Disaster Preparedness, a conference in Tucson Arizona co-sponsored by Access to Energy, Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine and Physicians for Civil Defense.

His speech was titled โ€œEndangering the Polar Bear: How Environmentalists Kill.โ€143 โ€œWillie Soon,โ€ SourceWatch Profile. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/oRmQP

March 2โ€“4, 2008

Willie Soon was a speaker at the Heartland Institute‘s 1st International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC1) in New York City.144 โ€œWillie Soon,โ€ SourceWatch Profile. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/oRmQP His speech, titled โ€œAn Overview of Global Warming Scienceโ€ can be viewed below.145 Soon, Willy. โ€œAn Overview of Global Warming Science,โ€ Youtube.com.

March 2007

Willie Soon co-authored a โ€œviewpointโ€ article published in the journal Ecological Complexity (Vol. 4, Issue 3, pp. 73-84) announcing that global warming was not threatening polar bear populations. Other authors included climate change skeptics Sallie Baliunas, David Legates and Tim Ball.

July 29, 2003

Testified (PDF) before the U.S. Committee on Environment and Public Works on the subject of climate change.146 โ€œClimate History and the Science Underlying Fate, Transport, and Health Effects of Mercury Emissions,โ€ Summary (PDF) of Hearing Before the Committee on Environment and Public Works, July 29, 2003. Page 6.

January 31, 2003

Soon co-published a controversial review article titled โ€œProxy climatic and environmental changes of the past 1000 yearsโ€ (Climate Research, 2003) with Sallie Baliunas. The article claims that the twentieth century was not the warmest century in the past 1,000 years and that the climate has not changed significantly during this time.

After the article was published, three of the editors of Climate Research resigned in protest, including incoming editor-in-chief Hans von Storch. Storch declared the article was seriously flawed because โ€œthe conclusions [were] not supported by the evidence presented in the paper.โ€ In addition to the resignations, thirteen of the scientists cited in the paper published rebuttals stating that Soon and Baliunas had misinterpreted their work.147 โ€œStorm Brews Over Global Warming,โ€ Chronicle of Higher Education, September 5, 2003. Retrieved from www.cfa.harvard.edu.

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists’ 2007 report, โ€œSmoke, Mirrors, and Hot Air,โ€ the National Research Council recently published research concluding that the โ€œglobal mean surface temperature was higher during the last few decades of the 20th century than during any comparable period in the preceding four centuries.โ€148 โ€œSmoke, Mirrors f& Hot Airโ€ (PDF), Union of Concerned Scientists, January 2007. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

Affiliations

Publications

According to Google Scholar, Willie Soon has published some articles on the connection between solar activity and climate change.159 Google Scholar search of articles for keyword โ€œClimate,โ€ written by โ€œWillie Soon,โ€ completed November 17, 2011.

Many of these articles were not published in peer-reviewed journals, but were rather published by organizations skeptical of climate change such as the Fraser Institute (here and here), The George C. Marshall Institute (here and here), and in the skeptical science journal Energy & Environment (here).

Key Publications

Books

  • Willie Soon, Sallie L. Baliunas, Arthur B. Robinson, Zachary W. Robinson. Global Warming: A Guide to the Science. Fraser Institute, November 30, 2002.
  • Willie Soon and Steven H Yaskell. The Maunder Minimum and the Variable Sun-Earth Connection. World Scientific Publishing Company, 2004.

Other Publications

There is a list of Soon’s Publications at the Marshall Institute, and SourceWatch also maintains a list of Soon’s presentations and publications. Some samples are listed below:

Other Resources

Resources

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