Oil company money welcomed by University of Arizona climate scientist Overpeck, FOI emails

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Climate industry promoters like National Journal's Coral Davenport likely don't mind a University of Arizona climate scientist embracing oil money:

8/26/12, "FOI email: science is only influenced by ‘big oil’ if they do it," WUWT, Anthony Watts

Email obtained via Freedom of Information Act of University of Arizona climate scientist Dr. Jonathan Overpeck being happy about working with "big oil" money on climate issues in 2006 (bold added):

"Fri Feb 10 11:55:39 2006

To: pinar.o.yilmaz@exxonmobil.com
From: Jonathan Overpeck
Subject: nice to hear from you!
Cc:
Bcc: X-Attachments:

Hi Pinar – it was great to hear that you were coming to UA, and that you were interested in meeting with this Overpeck guy. I was just in Alaska and ran into Stan Foo in the airport (first time I’ve seen him since Hamilton days), and ditto for Greg Maynard at GSA. Both are doing very well in the minerals side of things. And now you… wonderful.

Bad news is that I’m on sabbatical (actually, this is nice for me and my family that includes two young boys). Moreover, wife (and UA prof) Julie Cole is enroute to Germany for up to a month (! – yes, my fraternity experience should come in helpful as I single-parent two boys). This means, unfortunately, that I can’t fly down to be on campus for your visit. I’m really sorry about this.

However, maybe there is a way to move things forward anyhow?

In addition to seeing and catching up w/ you, I’m also quite intrigued by what Exxon- Mobil and the University of Arizona could do together on the climate change front. As you’ve probably figured out, we have one of the top universities in this area, and lots of capability, both in understanding climate change at the global scale down to the regional scale, but also in terms of understanding how climate variability and change impacts society, and also how interdisciplinary climate knowledge can be used to support improved decision-making in society. On these two latter fronts, UA is arguably the best in the nation.

Perhaps we should talk on the phone and figure out what would be best for your UA visit. I could then help line up a mtg for you w/ the relevant people (including Joaquin Ruiz, who is very interested in climate-related activities), and I could also try to be on a phone link w/ this meeting. After Julie gets back from Germany in mid-March, I would be happy to fly down to Texas to meet with you and your colleagues face-to-face. I’d certainly like that instead of just hearing your voice on a phone. So, would you like to chat on the phone next week? Monday is looking tough w/ visitors and a big deadline, Tues a bit better, and Wed-Friday pretty much wide open.

Hope to hear from you soon. Thanks for looking me up too!

Best, peck

Jonathan T. Overpeck

Director, Institute for the Study of Planet Earth
Professor, Department of Geosciences
Professor, Department of Atmospheric Sciences
Mail and Fedex Address:
Institute for the Study of Planet Earth
715 N. Park Ave. 2nd Floor
University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721"

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But in 2005 Overpeck wrote an email demonizing oil companies and Republicans. So oil is good if Overpeck and U. of Arizona are cashing in:

Thu Sep 22 00:12:22 2005
To: hegerl@duke.edu
From: Jonathan Overpeck
Subject: Re: Fwd: Inhofe activities
Cc: TomCrowley Bcc:
Re: Fwd: Inhofe activities

Hi guys – Being on sabbatical, I’m missing more of this kind of stuff than usual. Quite interesting, however, so thanks for sending. Looks like I got it too, but I read your email first.

I did buckle under and read Crichton’s book. It’s pretty amazing. The sad thing is that I’ve talked peers (e.g., Mo Raymo – another Brownie like me and Tom) who they are climate savvy scientists, who actually got fooled by his very selective use of science.

If someone had time, it would be useful to post (e.g., on real climate – must already be there, but I haven’t looked) a foot-note, by foot-note rebuttal of his book. Shocked to see it is getting this kind of traction.

Wish Oklahoma was on the Gulf Coast – then these guys might have a more realistic view. Until then, they’ll just do what the oil industry wants them to do, I guess.

best, peck"

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Anthony Watts comments: "The hypocrisy is stunning.Where potential money is involved (translation – grant), Dr. Overpeck doesn’t display any concerns about being associated with ‘big oil’, in correspondence with a person at Exxon-Mobil, and in fact welcomes some sort of collaboration and goes on to sell the university’s stature to the Exxon-Mobil representative. The next time somebody calls you a “shill for big oil”, show them this email.

UPDATE2: Here is the entire original email thread: Overpeck Exxon and Mann (PDF)

UPDATE: To be fair, I sent Dr. Overpeck this email shortly after this story was published:

Dear Dr. Overpeck,

This is just a note to inform you that your FOI obtained correspondence with Exxon-Mobile is on display here:

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/08/26/foi-email-science-is-only-influenced-of-big-oil-if-they-do-it/

• I provide you this notice should you wish to defend yourself against the apparent stunning hypocrisy on display. I will print any response you care to offer.

• Best regards,

Anthony Watts

Editor
WUWT

I immediately got this autoreply back:

Professor Overpeck is on sabbatical out of the country until the beginning of Fall term, August 2013 and will not be in good constant email contact until then. If your message is urgent, please resend with “URGENT” at the beginning of the subject line, but note that there may still be a delay before he can get back to you. If you have an urgent need related to the UA Inst. of the Environment, please contact IE Project Coordinator Lesa Langan Du Berry at lesa@email.arizona.edu

Another sabbatical? Must be nice.

This might be a good time to remind everyone of how they measured temperature (in a parking lot) at an official USHCN climate station at Dr. Overpeck’s University of Arizona Atmospheric Sciences Dept.

How not to measure temperature part 24

The plaque on the fence reads:

You can bet that station wasn’t in a parking lot in 1867, and thus this speaks to the temporal inhomogenity of station siting. That station has been modified and removed from the United States Historical Climatological Network, since we brought it’s shoddy siting to the attention of the world." via Tom Nelson

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8/24/12, "Storm Threatening Tampa Puts GOP Climate Position in Spotlight," National Journal, Coral Davenport

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Ed. note: If Tampa is hit with a hurricane it will be the first in 90 years. The state of Florida hasn't had one for 7 years. The entire US is without a hurricane for the longest stretch of time since record-keeping began.

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4/20/2012, ""Other types of physical measurement (of CO2 levels) are being driven by emissions trading,"...said the Earth System Research Laboratory's John Miller, lead author of the study."...

4/20/12, "CO2 from fossil fuels discerned from natural sources," BBC

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