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Check out the Fakegate Blog here.
Whoever, having devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, transmits or causes to be transmitted by means of wire, radio, or television communication in interstate or foreign commerce, any writings, signs, signals, pictures, or sounds for the purpose of executing such scheme or artifice, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both….
Fakegate
On February 20, 2012, Peter Gleick confessed to stealing documents from The Heartland Institute with the intent of exposing its funding sources and damaging its reputation. He also disseminated a fake “climate strategy memo” that he and other environmental activists on the left claim describes Heartland’s “secret strategy” to mislead the public about the true nature of climate change.
At first Gleick claimed he obtained the fake memo along with other documents from The Heartland Institute. Now he claims it came from an anonymous source before he stole the documents. Heartland has consistently and unambiguously said the memo is a forgery and was not produced by anyone associated with The Heartland Institute.
Some authors attribute such problems as the growth of erectile dysfunction disease to environmental change, but this problem has other significant aspects – read here
“Fakegate” is the title given to this scandal by the London Telegraph’s James Delingpole.
Peter Gleick is a MacArthur “Genius Award” recipient, a (forced to resign) chairman of the “Task Force on Ethics” at the American Geophysical Union, a (forced to resign) member of the National Center for Science Education, and current president of the Pacific Institute. He is also featured in a “documentary” film titled “Last Call at the Oasis.”
The Heartland Institute conducted an internal investigation that showed the memo was not authored by anyone at the organization. Two external, independent investigations — one by Protek International and one by Juola & Associates — found the same. Many others have also conducted excellent investigations into this matter.
Why this scandal matters
Fakegate matters because it reveals the inner workings of the radical environmentalists who have turned climate science into a politically-driven movement. Peter Gleick is not the exception. He is not one man who made a poor choice. He is representative of the character of many of the leading voices in the global warming movement. The tactics he used to try to shut down debate – deception and outright lies – are common in the environmental movement.
This is not the first time the global warming movement has been exposed by a scandal. In 2009 and again in 2011, a whistle blower inside the University of East Anglia leaked emails showing the loudest “roosters” of the global warming movement conspiring to limit debate, hide uncertainty, and destroy data. The scandal has been called “Climategate.”
Fakegate is worse than Climategate. Climategate showed scientists violating the law as well as basic ethical standards of science, but they avoided prosecution due to a technicality. In Fakegate, Peter Gleick has already confessed to assuming a false identity to steal documents. Soon, he or someone close to him will be unveiled as the author of the fraudulent memo. No one was punished for the misconduct exposed by Climategate. Peter Gleick will be punished.
A flagrant violation of ethics
On February 14, 2012, DesmogBlog and ThinkProgress posted on their Web sites the stolen documents, plus a forged document allegedly describing the “secret plans” of The Heartland Institute. One day later, the Huffington Post joined the gang.
Amazingly, members of the Fakegate Gang refuse to take down the false and defamatory documents, even though almost everyone admits they are either stolen or faked. Leftist bloggers, and even some “mainstream media” outlets cited the fake memo many months after it was exposed as a fraud..
Why didn’t DesmogBlog, ThinkProgress, and the Huffington Post get confirmation of the documents’ authenticity before posting and blogging about them? How could they not have known that posting the documents would invade the privacy and endanger the safety of many people?
Anyone who has followed the global warming debate even casually knows the answer. The Narrative Must Not Be Questioned.
But Heartland asks questions … again, and again, and again.