On 27 January 2012 The Wall Street Journal ran an opinion piece titled No Need to Panic About Global Warming. WSJ editor stated that this was signed by the 16 scientists listed at the end of the article.
To assess this opinion one needs to look closer at these signatories than just the name and job descriptions they supplied:
Claude Allegre, former director of the Institute for the Study of the Earth, University of Paris and former politician – so beloved by his fellow scientists that 400 in climate-related fields signed a letter objecting to his statements.
J. Scott Armstrong, cofounder of the Journal of Forecasting and the International Journal of Forecasting – apparently has a BA in Applies Science, a BS in industrial engineering and is a Professor of Marketing mostly teaching in university business schools.
Jan Breslow, head of the Laboratory of Biochemical Genetics and Metabolism, Rockefeller University – an MD with degrees in chemistry famous for creating the heart attack mouse which makes him an obvious candidate to comment on climate-related disciplines in which he is not qualified.
Roger Cohen, fellow, American Physical Society – and retired from ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company.
Edward David, member, National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Sciences – as well as former President of Exxon Research and Engineering from 1977 to 1986 and amateur gem hunter.
William Happer, professor of physics, Princeton - Chairman of conservative think tank the George C. Marshall Institute and former U.S. Federal Government on matters of defence and other technical issues.
Michael Kelly, professor of technology, University of Cambridge, U.K. – an engineer teaching in the electrical engineering division with eight publications to his name.
William Kininmonth, former head of climate research at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology – apparently unpublished in peer reviewed science journals on the subject of climate change and a member of the Lavoisier Group which is something of an astroturfing organization.
Richard Lindzen, professor of atmospheric sciences, MI – according to DeSmogBlog Lindzen has published work with the conservative think-tank, the Cato Institute. The Cato Institute has received $125,000 from ExxonMobil since 1998. In his 1995 article, "The Heat Is On," Ross Gelbspan notes that Lindzen charged oil and coal organizations $2,500 per day for his consulting service.
James McGrath, professor of chemistry, Virginia Technical University – on the Board of Directors of ChemFab Inc which had commercial ties to the U.S. Military.
Rodney Nichols, former president and CEO of the New York Academy of Sciences - his industrial consulting included the research laboratory of GTE and Shell Technology Ventures, and is presently a partner in GothamOrient LLC which states that We leverage our deep industry connections, decades of collective in-country experience in Asia, and relationships in the government and financing sectors to most quickly and effectively open markets on behalf of our clients.
Burt Rutan, aerospace engineer, designer of Voyager and SpaceShipOne – into conspiracy theories.
Harrison H. Schmitt, Apollo 17 astronaut and former U.S. senator – a Cold War II warrior whom I always found to be an arrogant and opinionated Ugly American Abroad on the few times I ran into him, so it probably is no surprise to find him on this list.
Nir Shaviv, professor of astrophysics, Hebrew University, Jerusalem – see his blog and decide yourself.
Henk Tennekes, former director, Royal Dutch Meteorological Service – quite a dummy spit when he left the service after an erratic time as director.
Antonio Zichichi, president of the World Federation of Scientists, Geneva – a member of the Pontifiical Academy of Sciences at the Vatican.
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