Global Warming And Earthly Lies

Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute and a prominent climate change expert, admitted Monday that he lied. Gleick pretended to be someone else in order to obtain documents from the Heartland Institute, which has challenged mainstream scientific consensus on the role of man in global warming.

Last week, Gleick was the chairman of the American Geophysical Union’s Task Force on Scientific Ethics. Now he isn’t. As New York Times blogger Andrew C. Revkin weighed in, “Gleick has admitted to an act that leaves his reputation in ruins and threatens to undercut the cause he spent so much time pursuing.”

Bravo to Gleick for admitting that he lied “in a serious lapse” of his own and “professional judgment and ethics.” At least he had the integrity to own up to his mistake.

But Gleick doesn’t look all that noble when you look at his excuse. In a statement released on The Huffington Post, Gleick said he lied because he wants “a rational public debate.” That’s sort of like Newt Gingrich saying that his extramarital affairs were partially driven by how passionately he felt about this country.

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