The journal Computational Statistics and Data Analysis has pulled a report by Edward Wegman that condemned scientific support for global warming. Its analysis was an outgrowth of a 2006 congressional report, “Wegman Report,” that suggested climate scientists colluded in their studies and questioned whether global warming was real. The federally-funded “independent” study has been the scientific foundation for those denying climate change is happening.
The congressional report was requested by Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, the congressman who apologized to BP’s Tony Hayward last summer. Barton is part of the Tea Party Caucus. Wegman works at George Mason University that has received millions ($29 million) from the Koch Brothers, who have funded dozens of think tanks regularly debunk global warming.
After presenting the report to Congress, George Mason University statistician Edward Wegman published it in the journal Computational Statistics and Data Analysis.
Dan Vergano at USA Today reports the journal is now pulling it –five years later:
The journal publisher’s legal team “has decided to retract the study,” said CSDA journal editor Stanley Azen of the University of Southern California, following complaints of plagiarism. A November review by three plagiarism experts of the 2006 congressional report for USA TODAY also concluded that portions contained text from Wikipedia and textbooks.
Kate Sheppard at Mother Jones reports:
evidence has emerged that staffers for Rep. “Smokey” Joe Barton (R-Texas) worked closely with the “independent” statistician they asked to review the famed hockey stick graph that shows temperatures over the past millennium. The report sided with critics of the graph and accused climate scientists of uncritically reinforcing each other’s work …