"American Climate Skeptic Soon Funded By Oil, Coal Firms"

"Willie Soon, a U.S. climate change skeptic who has also discounted the health risks of mercury emissions from coal, has received more than $1 million in funding in recent years from large energy companies and an oil industry group, according to Greenpeace.

Soon, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, has also gotten funding from scientific sources including NASA and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. But starting early in the last decade, Soon began receiving more funding from the energy companies, Greenpeace reported.

Last year, the foundation of Charles Koch, chairman and CEO of privately held Koch Industries, gave Soon $65,000 to study how variations in the Sun are related to climate change."

Timothy Gardner reports for Reuters June 29, 2011.

SEE ALSO:

"Did ExxonMobil Break Its Promise To Stop Funding Climate Change Deniers?" (Mother Jones)

"Science for Hire" (Mother Jones)

"Climate Sceptic Willie Soon Received $1M From Oil Companies, Papers Show" (Guardian)

"Reclaiming Skepticism: Scientists Fight Back Against Climate Change Deniers" (Slate)

"U.S. Politicians’ Campaign of Terror Against Climate Scientists" (Grist)

"How Politicians Intimidate Global Warming Scientists" (Washington Post)

"Climate Denier Steve King: ‘Unprecedented’ Flood Of Missouri River ‘Couldn’t Have Been Anticipated’" (Think Progress)

Source: Reuters, 06/29/2011