Top climate change denier took $1.2 million from corporate energy giants
One of the leading scientists who claims global warming is not a serious threat accepted $1.2 million from huge fossil fuel interests over the past decade, according to documents obtained by Greenpeace.
The documents reveal that Wei-Hock Soon, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, accepted money from organizations including Exxon Mobil and the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, but often failed to report the funding as potential conflicts of interest in his scholarly papers. In eight cases, according to The New York Times, Soon "appears to have violated ethical guidelines of the journals that published his work."
Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) — the new head of the Senate's environment committee, who claims global warming is a hoax — has often cited Soon's work to support his belief.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.
-
North Carolina Supreme Court risks undermining its legitimacy
Under the radar A contentious legal battle over whether to seat one of its own members threatens not only the future of the court's ideological balance, but its role in the public sphere
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Sudoku hard: January 14, 2025
The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
Crossword: January 14, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
Death toll rises in LA fires as wind lull allows progress
Speed Read At least 24 people have died and 100,000 people are under mandatory evacuation orders
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Biden cancels Italy trip as raging LA fires spread
Speed Read The majority of the fires remain 0% contained
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Fast-spreading Los Angeles wildfires spark panic
Speed Read About 30,000 people were under an evacuation order as the inferno spread
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Hundreds feared dead in French Mayotte cyclone
Speed Read Cyclone Chido slammed into Mayotte, a French territory in the Indian Ocean
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Thirteen missing after Red Sea tourist boat sinks
Speed Read The vessel sank near the Egyptian coastal town of Marsa Alam
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Global plastics summit starts as COP29 ends
Speed Read Negotiators gathering in South Korea seek an end to the world's plastic pollution crisis, though Trump's election may muddle the deal
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Biden visits Amazon, says climate legacy irreversible
Speed Read Nobody can reverse America's 'clean energy revolution,' said the president, despite the incoming Trump administration's promises to dismantle climate policies
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
At least 95 dead in Spain flash floods
Speed Read Torrential rainfall caused the country's worst flooding since 1996
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published