Jul 20, 2026 05:10 PM
(This post was last modified: Jul 20, 2026 05:21 PM by C C.)
A climate coup at the National Academies of Science
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/a-climate-co..._permalink
EXCERPTS: Public confidence in scientific institutions has declined as they’ve become more political. A textbook case is the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, which on Thursday released a report that explicitly seeks to aid the tort and regulatory raid on fossil-fuel companies.
[...] That’s not the report’s only oversight. The Academies notes that Michael Burger, the executive director of Columbia Law School’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, assisted with the report and cites one of his papers. Yet the report omits that Mr. Burger is a counsel at the law firm Sher Edling, which has led the litigation raid on fossil-fuel producers.
[...] Mr. Burger’s fingerprints are all over last week’s report, which was partly funded by the U.S. government. [...] The Academies undermines its credibility when it makes itself a tool of legal advocacy and a political agenda... (MORE - details)
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Inside the campaign to discredit a key climate science report
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/11...e-00897237
EXCERPTS: Oil industry allies are quietly targeting a field of climate research that could cost fossil fuel companies billions of dollars. In the crosshairs is a forthcoming report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that will examine research into the ways corporate climate pollution is intensifying natural disasters.
[...] The scientific strides stand to send shock waves through the energy sector. The studies are sporadically being used to help build climate liability cases against oil and gas companies. But lawyers, scientists and insurers expect them to increasingly appear in court filings.
[...] The National Academies defended the work of the panel, which is made up of academics and federal scientists who have been working on the analysis for more than two years. "We are following our normal, rigorous processes, including peer review, to independently conduct our study on attribution of extreme events, and will release it publicly when that process is complete," spokesperson William Kearney said in an email. (MORE - details)
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COUNTERPOINT (2020): Science has always been political
(2024) John Horgan defends the politics of Scientific American
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/a-climate-co..._permalink
EXCERPTS: Public confidence in scientific institutions has declined as they’ve become more political. A textbook case is the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, which on Thursday released a report that explicitly seeks to aid the tort and regulatory raid on fossil-fuel companies.
[...] That’s not the report’s only oversight. The Academies notes that Michael Burger, the executive director of Columbia Law School’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, assisted with the report and cites one of his papers. Yet the report omits that Mr. Burger is a counsel at the law firm Sher Edling, which has led the litigation raid on fossil-fuel producers.
[...] Mr. Burger’s fingerprints are all over last week’s report, which was partly funded by the U.S. government. [...] The Academies undermines its credibility when it makes itself a tool of legal advocacy and a political agenda... (MORE - details)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Inside the campaign to discredit a key climate science report
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/11...e-00897237
EXCERPTS: Oil industry allies are quietly targeting a field of climate research that could cost fossil fuel companies billions of dollars. In the crosshairs is a forthcoming report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that will examine research into the ways corporate climate pollution is intensifying natural disasters.
[...] The scientific strides stand to send shock waves through the energy sector. The studies are sporadically being used to help build climate liability cases against oil and gas companies. But lawyers, scientists and insurers expect them to increasingly appear in court filings.
[...] The National Academies defended the work of the panel, which is made up of academics and federal scientists who have been working on the analysis for more than two years. "We are following our normal, rigorous processes, including peer review, to independently conduct our study on attribution of extreme events, and will release it publicly when that process is complete," spokesperson William Kearney said in an email. (MORE - details)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
COUNTERPOINT (2020): Science has always been political
(2024) John Horgan defends the politics of Scientific American