Source: [1]
Willie Wei-Hock Soon is a physicist 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. [2]
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:
"U.S. oil and coal companies, including ExxonMobil, the American Petroleum Institute, Koch Industries, and the world’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." [3]
"The evidence in my paper is consistent with the hypothesis that the Sun causes climatic change in the Arctic . . . It invalidates the hypothesis that CO2 is a major cause of observed climate change – 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'." [4]
"I 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." [5]
"There is no experimental data that exists that supports the view that the Earth’s climate is changing in any dangerous way." [19]
"I 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." [20]
March - April, 2013
Collegians for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT Campus) is bringing "Harvard Astrophysicist" 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: [21]
"You 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?"
View his response below:
Video highlights:
May 21 - 23, 2012
Willie Soon was a speaker at the Heartland Institute's 7th International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC7).
DeSmogBlog 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 30 - July 1, 2011
Soon was a speaker at the Heartland Institute's Sixth International Conference on Climate Change. [6]
May, 2010
Soon was a speaker (PDF) at the Heartland Institute's 2010 International Conference on Climate Change. [7]
March 8-10, 2009
Speaker at the Heartland Institute's International Conference on Climate Change (2009). [8], [9]
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 "Endangering the Polar Bear: How Environmentalists Kill." [8]
March 2-4, 2008
Speaker at the Heartland Institute's International Conference on Climate Change (2008). [8]
March, 2007
Willie Soon co-authored a "viewpoint" 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. [5]
January 31, 2003
Soon co-published a controversial review article titled "Proxy climatic and environmental changes of the past 1000 years" (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.
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 "the conclusions [were] not supported by the evidence presented in the paper." In addition to the resignations, thirteen of the scientists cited in the paper published rebuttals stating that Soon and Baliunas had misinterpreted their work.
According to the Union of Concerned Scientists' 2007 report, "Smoke, Mirrors, and Hot Air," the National Research Council recently published research concluding that the "global mean surface temperature was higher during the last few decades of the 20th century than during any comparable period in the preceding four centuries."
According to Google Scholar, Willie Soon has published some articles on the connection between solar activity and climate change. [18]
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
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:L
"Research Staff Listing: Willie Soon," Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Accessed November 17, 2011.
"New Astronomy Editorial Board," Elsevier. Accessed February, 2012.
David Suzuki. "Investigation hits at climate change denier's 'science'," Canoe.ca, July 13, 2007.
"It’s the Sun, stupid!", Iceagenow.com. March 5, 2009.
"Climate History and the Science Underlying Fate, Transport, and Health Effects of Mercury Emissions," Summary (PDF) of Hearing Before the Committee on Environment and Public Works, July 29, 2003. Page 6.
"Willie Soon" ICCC6 website, courtesy of the Heartland Institute.
"4th International Conference on Climate Change" (PDF), The Heartland Institute. Retrieved February 17, 2012, from the homepage of Laurence I. Gould, hosted on the University of Hartford's web server.
"Willie Soon," SourceWatch Profile.
"2009 International Conference on Climate Change," The Heartland Institute, February 1, 2009. Republished by Instituto Liberdade.
"Scientific Advisors," The Greening Earth Society. Archived February 20, 1999.
"Author Details: Willie Soon," The Fraser Institute. Archived April 11, 2009.
"Personnel," The Science and Public Policy Institute. Accessed November 17, 2011.
"About the Authors," P. 29 of "Lessons & Limits of Climate History: Was the 20th Century Climate Unusual?" (PDF), The George C. Marshall Institute, 2003.
"Heartland Experts: Willie Soon," Accessed November 17, 2011.
"TCS Daily: Authors: Willie Soon," TCS Daily. Archived April 9, 2009.
"Editors and Contributors," World Climate Report. Archived July 3, 2003.
"CASE STUDY: Dr. Willie Soon, a Career Fueled by Big Oil and Coal," Greenpeace.
Google Scholar search of articles for keyword "Climate," written by "Willie Soon," completed November 17, 2011.
Nikki Wentling. "Legislature considering delays in renewable energy standards," Lawrence Journal World, February 5, 2013.
"Climate change denier Willie Soon questioned over Koch, Exxon funding at CFACT Campus event" (YouTube video), uploaded by PolluterWatch, April 8, 2013.
"Exxon- and Koch-funded scientist Willie Soon confronted at University of Wisconsin over discredited climate research," Polluterwatch, April 8, 2013.
"Articles by Willie Soon," TCS Daily.
Willie Soon and Paul Driessen. "The myth of killer mercury," The Wall Street Journal (opinion), May 25, 2011.
"How Soon is now?" RealClimate.org, July 7, 2011.
John Vidal. "Climate sceptic Willie Soon received $1m from oil companies, papers show," The Guardian, June 28, 2011.
Democracy is utterly dependent upon an electorate that is accurately informed. In promoting climate change denial (and often denying their responsibility for doing so) industry has done more than endanger the environment. It has undermined democracy.
There is a vast difference between putting forth a point of view, honestly held, and intentionally sowing the seeds of confusion. Free speech does not include the right to deceive. Deception is not a point of view. And the right to disagree does not include a right to intentionally subvert the public awareness.
This post is the second of a two part series. Read the first installment, Unreported Emissions From Natural Gas Blow Up BC's Climate Action Plan.
Methane leaks from British Columbia's natural gas industry are likely at least 7 times greater than official numbers increasing the entire provinces' carbon footprint by nearly 25%. That's like putting 3 million more vehicles on BC's roads.
As...
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