Labcoats For Hire

We see it all too often and don't even know it. Science begins to reveal to us what it is that harms our species and our environment and the anti-science forces, secretly funded by massive corporate enterpises, step up their disinformation campaigns into high gear. Really all you need these days to discredit legitimate scientific research is a group with a fancy name, preferably with the words "science" and "coalition" in the title, and a boatload of money from those making a fortune off of whatever is creating the problem that science is trying to remedy. For instance, you might remember The Advancement For Sound Science Coalition, also known as The Advancement For Sound Science Center (We have facilities now so look how legitimate we are!) This organization sure does sound like they serve a very legitimate purpose, wouldn't you agree? Well if that purpose is accepting millions of dollars from Philip Morris and working feverishly to discredit the science demonstrating links between exposure to cigarette smoke and the development of cancer and lung diseases then you would be correct.

The latest sciency sounding pseudo-organization to make news is the New Zealand Climate Science Coalition. Well New Zealand sounds like an exotic place and anyone involved with a climate science coalition certainly must be all about accurate research data for the well being and protection of such a lovely and precious land? Pay no attention to the fact that they are funded by Exxon-Mobil or that they have been endlessly trying to contradict for years the findings of legitimate climate researchers who are creating a warming and increasingly unstable climate model based on said data. The NZCSC is just as concerned over these climate models as the rest of science, but for very different reasons. If they had their way it would all go away and life would continue without another word ever being said about melting ice shelves or rising sea levels or average global temperature increases.

Did I forget to mention that this so-called New Zealand Climate Science Coalition hasn't a single climate scientist included within the ranks of it's membership? However the climate change skeptics and professional nay-sayers are quick to quote this "scientific entity" upon which to base their endless propoganda, half-truths and outright lies. Believing anything these "sciency" coalitions tell you would be the quivalent of having open heart surgery in a hospital staffed not with experienced professional doctors and surgeons but instead in a warehouse full of talented and fully funded marketing and public relations professionals who do one hell of a job convincing the public that the actual hospital is one giant conspiracy intent on milking every last healthcare dollar it can from what will be your cold, dead hand.