RE: George C. Marshall Institute funding paper With due respect, I see no problem with a scientist or private citizen calling for more research, "further exploration" and a clear, unbiased view of the facts in a given situation. Kelly, your scoff that the Institute didn't use any peer-reviewed sources makes little sense to me, given the paper's topic. Seems that the author looked at grant sources over the past few years, grant applicants, and dollar amounts. With respect, I would like to know which "peer-reviewed" sources you would have liked him to use? Aside from the Foundation Center and Guidestar, I don't know of any. The author of this paper is asking very relevant questions, especially since climate change science will form the foundation of every policy we're to make for the foreseeable future: -- Are grant funders looking for specific results from those they award grants to? -- Do the funders ever refuse grants if they don't like the topic or hypothesis or the grant-seeker? (I would have to say YES they do.) -- How are internal and external reviews conducted? These are all fundamental Quality Assurance questions, designed to ensure that the researcher is posing a legitimate hypothesis and will use valid techniques to obtain a truthful result, regardless of outcome. Why is it that those who simply seek more information about climate change (including a look at climate history over the millenia) are labelled as "deniers" and "contrarians"? There is an emotional zeal with which they are publicly denounced, and any scientist with a differing hypothesis is excommunicated and shunned. If science can't be furthered by open, honest, logical debate and respectful DISCUSSION, then we might as well be living on a flat planet in the middle of the universe, carried along on the back of a celestial turtle. Respectfully, Kelly Stettner, Director
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