I wasn't commenting on that article in particular. Politicians in general seem to be a bunch of lying windbags who would sell their own family for a dollar. Of course they routinely twist scientific study for personal and professional gains - this is well documented throughout our history.

My problem is that Lyle continually attacks scientific findings using illogical arguments. Oftentimes the source of his counterargument can be traced back to a politician, a fossil-fuel shill, or an Alex Jones-type crackpot who wouldn't know science if it fell out of the sky and hit him in the head. If you want to dispute science, do it like a scientist - with logical arguments, evidence, and transparent methodologies.

And for the love of all that is holy, please quit saying that "the data has been fudged." It has not. It has been updated to incorporate improved technology, rendering the data *more* accurate. Not only that, but I posted a link to the debunking of "Climategate" waaaay back early on during this discussion. Feel free to believe whatever fits your personal narrative.

Lyle essentially posits that climate scientists are engaged in a global conspiracy to twist data (which is all freely available from multiple, independent sources) to show that AGW is happening, and that it is due to man-made influences. Keep in mind, these are scientists from different countries, with different systems of academia in place - yet all the scientists who agree on this point are somehow doing this to keep that grant money rolling in. Again, as I tried to explain to him a long time ago - that isn't even how it works here in the US, much less in other nations.

I find that scenario much less likely than the one where the fossil-fuel industry plants misinformation, buys contrary studies (that are routinely dismissed by credible academic journals, due to a lack of sound scientific technique - Lyle would have you believe that's part of the conspiracy too), and essentially engages in a massive propaganda campaign to protect revenues.

Scientists who make $50-75K a year, get grant money and get to spend almost none on themselves vs. global conglomerate corporations with billions to spend on skewing public perception on this issue.

It seems easy to me where the source of the misinformation is.

Now I have to get back to grading linear algebra exams - oh, sorry, perpetuating the vast left-wing conspiracy to destroy world economies by teaching SCIENCE.