More Uninformed Opinion from Kent Clizbe

Good CIA officers check their facts. The former spy Kent Clizbe doesn't even manage to ferret out the fact that the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is not a federal agency. It is a federally-chartered corporation that advises federal agencies.

Kent Clizbe, who boasts of his former career as a case officer for the CIA, has been trying to get the famous climate scientist Dr. Michael Mann in trouble for fraud.

Mr. Clizbe emails professors and offers them a Department of Justice whistleblowers' reward if they will denounce Dr. Mann for fraud.

Kent Clizbe boasted to a student reporter that he used espionage techniques against the famous Dr. Mann, but all he was really doing was encouraging some greedy person to come forward and tell a lie.

The Daily Collegian (1-11-10) reports:

Former CIA agent Kent Clizbe sent letters to 27 Penn State faculty members last week, hoping to find a whistleblower in the "Climategate" controversy involving Penn State meteorology professor Michael Mann."As an intelligence collector targeting foreign or enemy government, we recruit an insider," said Clizbe, who sent the e-mails last week. "I'm attempting to recruit an insider to tell us what's really going on."

DeSmogBlog (1-11-11) has a recent account of Kent Clizbe's campaign against Dr. Mann and copies of letters he sent to Penn State and the University of Virginia.

So far, no scientist has taken the bait, even though Mr. Clizbe claims the scientists could make millions from a federal whistleblowers' program the Justice Department has.

In fact, the Justice Department has no problems with the Nobel-winning scientist; and the CIA often gives climate scientists security clearances so they can help the CIA study how climate change impacts America's national security. The CIA shares its satellite data and other classified sensors with cleared scientists so they can study climate change and global warming. According to the Pew Center, the head of the CIA's Center on Climate Change and National Security is Larry Kobayashi.

Kent Clizbe is now attacking another expert on climate change, Dr. Christopher Field, as well as various federal scientific agencies. It is ironic that Clizbe trashes government agencies for funding Dr. Field's work while seeming to support the missions of the CIA and DOJ, which often depend on the expertise of scientists to improve their work.

Kent Clizbe (2-22-11) states on his blog post:

An initial review of Field's background and snout in the trough seems identical to any number of "climate scientists" (Field's scientific background is Biological Sciences. His PhD research was on Leaf Aging in a California Shrub) sucking off the National Academy of Sciences, NASA, NOAA, and other government teats.

Kent Clizbe seems to be implying that Dr. Field doesn't have the credentials to be a climate scientist, but scientists who study climate change come from many different fields.

Good CIA officers check their facts. The former spy Kent Clizbe doesn't even manage to ferret out the fact that the National Academy of Sciences is not a federal agency. It is a federally-chartered corporation that advises federal agencies. The NAS site notes that it is a non-profit corporation that was signed into being in 1863 by President Lincoln. The scientist Dr. Christopher Field is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

The NAS explains its mission:

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is an honorific society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare.

The NAS was established by an Act of Congress that was signed by President Abraham Lincoln on March 3, 1863, at the height of the Civil War, which calls upon the NAS to "investigate, examine, experiment, and report upon any subject of science or art" whenever called upon to do so by any department of the government. Scientific issues would become more complex in the years following the war, and to expand the expertise available to it in its advisory service to the government, the NAS created the National Research Council under its charter in 1916. To keep pace with the growing roles that science and technology would play in public life, the National Academy of Engineering was established under the NAS charter in 1964, and the Institute of Medicine followed in 1970.

Since 1863, the nation's leaders have turned to these non-profit organizations for advice on the scientific and technological issues that frequently pervade policy decisions. Most of the institution's science policy and technical work is conducted by its operating arm, the National Research Council (NRC), which was created expressly for this purpose and which provides a public service by working outside the framework of government to ensure independent advice on matters of science, technology, and medicine. The NRC enlists committees of the nation's top scientists, engineers, and other experts, all of whom volunteer their time to study specific concerns. The results of their deliberations have inspired some of America's most significant and lasting efforts to improve the health, education, and welfare of the population. The Academy's service to government has become so essential that Congress and the White House have issued legislation and executive orders over the years that reaffirm its unique role.

Agencies of the federal government often go to the NAS for independent opinion from America's great scientists. For example, recently the FBI asked the NAS to evaluate their scientific research on the Anthrax investigation.

The NAS (2-15-11) reports:

February 15, 2011 -- A National Research Council committee asked to examine the scientific approaches used and scientific conclusions reached by the FBI during its investigation of the 2001 anthrax mailings found it is not possible to reach a definitive conclusion about the origins of the anthrax in letters mailed to New York City and Washington, D.C. based solely on the available scientific evidence. The report does not assess the guilt or innocence of anyone connected to the case.
News Release
Full Report
Opening Statement
Video of Briefing
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This statement show the independence of the NAS from the government. The NAS findings may have been a bit disappointing to the FBI, although the FBI does not base its case only on the science. They have other evidence of Bruce Ivins' guilt.