Search engine seen on AIR

[cornermouse]

http://www.archive.org/index.php

He used it and "junk science" to uncover Milloy and his little rat's nest.

[bananas]

1. What's AIR? nt

[cornermouse]

2. AIR - America's Investigative Reports

Excellent, informative, and investigative PBS show.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/air/
or
http://www.thirteen.org/air/
(next week is a good place for the democratic congress to begin their congressional investigations)
or
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/air/episodes_111.html

Paul Thacker was not hired to do investigative reporting, but rather general news reporting for ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, a peer-reviewed scientific journal serving environmental scientists worldwide. But then, he says, he came across junkscience.com, a Web site claiming to be dedicated to "All the junk that's fit to debunk." The site challenges scientific findings on hotbed issues such as global warming. Thacker looked into the background of "the Junkman" -- site publisher Steven J. Milloy -- and discovered ties to both the oil and tobacco industries. A further search, this time through the archives of tobacco-related lawsuits, revealed that Milloy was on the Philip Morris payroll as a science consultant at the same he was discrediting studies on the dangers of second-hand smoke in his role as a columnist for foxnews.com.

After publishing his findings on Milloy, Thacker investigated cases in which seemingly grassroots organizations promoted industry arguments on environmental issues. In an article called "Hidden Ties", he wrote about a group called Project Protect, which appeared to be made up simply of concerned Oregon citizens. Project Protect advocated legislation promoting the cutting of trees to prevent forest fires -- a position also promoted by the timber industry. As Thacker discovered through IRS documents, however, Project Protect was really a $2.9 million media campaign. He wrote, "this 'grassroots' organization has clear ties to timber corporations -- an industry likely to benefit financially from legislative reforms."

Thacker's investigative reporting, he says, didn't please some of the people he worked for, and he soon found his career on the line. He says a board member of the American Chemical Society (ACS), which publishes ES&T, objected to a story he wrote about the Weinberg Group, an international scientific and regulatory consulting firm which specializes in, among other things, "product defense." Thacker's story examined a proposal made by The Weinberg Group to chemical giant DuPont. The document outlined a detailed product-defense strategy regarding PFOA, a chemical DuPont uses in the production of Teflon. The letter arrived as DuPont was facing pressure from the EPA and a civil-action lawsuit by West Virginia residents who claimed to suffer serious health effects from exposure to PFOA. Thacker says the ACS board member suggested he was focused on "muckraking rather than reporting news." He further claims that he was told to stop his investigative reporting.

He didn't. Several months later, Thacker unearthed evidence that the White House had tried to prevent scientists from speaking out about the link between climate change and the increasing strength of hurricanes. He says ES&T refused to allow him to follow the story, so he found a home for it at salon.com. Then, he says, he was fired from ES&T. In a written statement, an ACS representative told AIR, "...it is not the policy of the American Chemical Society to comment on conditions of individual's employment or departure."

[bananas]

3. Oh, I was thinking Annals of Improbable Research

They do the Ignoble Awards.
http://www.improbable.com/about