Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming

by Naomi Oreskes

They would work together to convince the public that there was “no sound scientific basis for the charges,” and that the recent reports were simply “sensational accusations” made by publicity-seeking scientists hoping to attract more funds for their research.26

The industry had realized that you could create the impression of controversy simply by asking questions, even if you actually knew the answers and they didn’t help your case.41 And so the industry began to transmogrify emerging scientific consensus into raging scientific “debate.”

Balance was interpreted, it seems, as giving equal weight to both sides, rather than giving accurate weight to both sides.

“The very lack of evidence is thus treated as evidence; the absence of smoke proves that the fire is very carefully hidden.”18 Such arguments are effectively impossible to refute, as Lewis noted. “A belief in invisible cats cannot be logically disproved,” although it does “tell us a good deal about those who hold it.”19

Meanwhile the Reagan administration, having gotten some but perhaps not all of what they wanted from Bill Nierenberg, commissioned yet another report. This one was led by Columbia University geochemist Laurence Kulp, who was well-known for his conservative religious views; colleagues at Columbia referred to him as a “theochemist” for his efforts to reconcile geological evidence with Christian belief.”

From 1988 to 1995, Singer insisted that the ozone research community was misleading the public about even the existence of ozone depletion, let alone its origins. He argued in his 1989 National Review article that researchers were doing this to line their own pockets, and those of their graduate students, by scaring public officials who could fund their research.94 Of course, similar charges might be levelled at Singer. While we don’t have access to SEPP’s tax returns for the 1990s, in 2007 it netted $226,443, and had accumulated assets of $1.69 million.