Sunday, January 16, 2011

Kooky Kent Clizbe Does Not Speak for the CIA

"Ex-CIA operations officer" Kent Clizbe
When it comes to the complicated subject of global warming and climate change, it is hard for ordinary people and even journalists to sort out the scientific authorities from the confidence men. I am smarter than the average bear, but it took me a while.

We have fake "scientific" organizations that attempt to discredit the science of global warming and climate change. They are financed by the fossil-fuel industry.

We even have fake "religious" organizations that try to discredit the science of global warming and climate change. They are appendages of the fake science organizations.

And last and perhaps least, we have "ex-CIA operations officer" Kent Clizbe, who exploits his apocryphal association with the CIA in order to discredit the science of global warming and climate change.
All these confidence men exploit our trust in science, religion, and government analysts because they are trying to trick us; but Kent Clizbe really sucks at it.
The blogger Kent Clizbe, above, claims that he is an "ex-CIA operations officer." Clizbe trades on the average American's patriotism and respect for the CIA in order to attack one of the world's most famous and respected climate scientists, Dr. Michael Mann. See my previous post about blogger Clizbe and an article by DeSmogblog (1-11-11) for further details about Kooky Kent.

Kooky Kent's promoter, blogger John O'Sullivan, has written a mendacious post for a blog called The Canada Free Press (1-13-11) that praises bounty-hunter Clizbe's ludicrous pursuit of Dr. Michael Mann. Clizbe is writing to other scientists and promising them a multi-million-dollar bounty if they will rat-out Dr. Mann for fraud!

One of the editors who runs the Canada Free Press is the malignant denialist Tim Ball (Canadian), so this CFP blog appears to be a foreign mouthpiece for the fossil-fuel industries. See "Nurturing Doubt About Climate Change is Big Business" (Globe and Mail, 8-12-06).

The Canada Free Press blog claims to be pro-American, but in my opinion this blog is really foreign, anti-American propaganda that smears one of the most valuable, famous, and respected American scientists of our time: Nobel Prize winner, physicist, and paleoclimatologist Dr. Michael Mann.

In his post, blogger O'Sullivan, who claims to be a lawyer, manages to overlook the fact that many climate scientists have prestigious university positions, awards, and security clearances. Blogger O'Sullivan manages to overlook the fact that many climate scientists work with the CIA to address the problem of climate change.
In 1996, DCI John Deutch described a CIA program called MEDEA, which stands for "Measurements of Earth Data for Environmental Analysis." [See my previous post.] I guess Kooky Kent Clizbe missed the memo.
Not surprisingly, nothing is mentioned in the DCI's 1996 speech about passing out butterfly nets and capturing Nobel-winning climate scientists; instead, the CIA passed out security clearances to climate scientists so they could study information retrieved from national reconnaissance systems that might be relevant to climate change.
As far as I can determine, blogger O'Sullivan's bounty-hunting sidekick, Kent Clizbe, only has Raybans, a rich fantasy life, a butterfly net, and a blog. Unless Secret Sam techology is wired into his Raybans (a distinct impossibility), Kooky Kent Clizbe lacks access to information from the national reconnissance systems that scientists with security clearances have access to.

I googled Clizbe MEDEA; only a few articles come up, and Clizbe didn’t write them. If Kooky Kent has a former affiliation with the CIA and is an expert on climate, why doesn’t he write anything about the CIA's MEDEA program (NYT 1-4-10)?

Mr. O'Sullivan's blog post at Canada Free Press (1-13-11) repeatedly reminds his unsuspecting readers of Kent Clizbe's supposed CIA background and supposed investigative skills in order to give Clizbe credibility. Even though he claims to be a lawyer, blogger O'Sullivan never tells readers what the CIA really says on its own website about global warming.

Why does blogger-lawyer O'Sullivan promote some loser-blogger who is attacking a Nobel-winning scientist instead of going right to the horse's mouth and reporting what the CIA really says on its official site about climate change and global warming? There is something really deceptive about blogger-lawyer O'Sullivan's strange omission: he seems to be suggesting that our CIA is not on on board with climate change. In fact, all our scientific agencies, the CIA, the Pentagon, and even the Vatican are concerned about the impact of climate change on civilization.

Perhaps blogger O'Sullivan is a member of that very rare breed: a gullible, terminally-ignorant lawyer. Or perhaps this not-very-sincere legal-beagle gets paid by the fossil fuel interests to trick his unsuspecting readers and to trash the highly-respected Dr. Mann. [In Virginia, Attorney General Cuccinelli gets money from the fossil fuel interests, and he persecutes Dr. Mann, too. Cuccinelli's own father worked for the American Gas Association (the gas lobby) and one of his businesses gave Cuccinelli's campaign 96,000 dollars. The elder Cuccinelli also has "European clients," but I don't know who they are because Cuccinelli is not transparent about his daddy's clients.]

What does the CIA, as opposed to bloggers Clizbe and O'Sullivan, really say about climate change and global warming on its official website?

In 1996, the Director of Central Intelligence John Deutch gave a speech (7-25-96) about the cooperation of the CIA and scientists with security clearances on a CIA program called MEDEA (Measurements of Earth Data for Environmental Analysis). This speech describes the CIA's cooperation with climate scientists. Dr. John Deutch, a chemist, has a distinguished career as a public servant and a scientist. He is currently a professor at MIT.

More recently, the CIA (9-25-09) announced that it was launching a unit called The Center on Climate Change and National Security.
The current Director of the CIA's Center on Climate Change and National Security is Larry Kobayashi. On 1-13-11, the very day that the ridiculous article about Kent Clizbe appeared in the Canada Free Press, the CIA's Larry Kobayashi gave a briefing to the Pew Project on National Security, Energy & Climate in Washington D.C.
Recently, the CIA expert was also interviewed for an article titled "Our Man in the Greenhouse: Why the CIA is Spying on a Changing Climate."
Here is how the Pew Project on National Security, Energy & Climate described the CIA's Center on Climate Change:

CIA Opens Center on Climate Change and National Security

September 25, 2009

The Central Intelligence Agency is launching The Center on Climate Change and National Security as the focal point for its work on the subject. The Center is a small unit led by senior specialists from the Directorate of Intelligence and the Directorate of Science and Technology.

Its charter is not the science of climate change, but the national security impact of phenomena such as desertification, rising sea levels, population shifts, and heightened competition for natural resources. The Center will provide support to American policymakers as they negotiate, implement, and verify international agreements on environmental issues. That is something the CIA has done for years. “Decision makers need information and analysis on the effects climate change can have on security. The CIA is well positioned to deliver that intelligence,” said Director Leon Panetta.

The Center will assume responsibility for coordinating with Intelligence Community partners on the review and declassification of imagery and other data that could be of use to scientists in their own climate-related research. This effort draws on imagery and other information that is collected in any event, assisting the US scientific community without a large commitment of resources.

The new Center does more than bring together in a single place expertise on an important national security topic—the effect environmental factors can have on political, economic, and social stability overseas. It will also be aggressive in outreach to academics and think tanks working the issue. The goal is a powerful asset recognized throughout our government, and beyond, for its knowledge and insight.

3 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

Apocryphal associations? Better do your research. Clizbe has a long history with our intelligence community as a employee, a contractor, and a liaison. He was a foreign case operator during the recovery of hostages during a clandestine op in the Philippines. Fact - and that is all I'm aware of. He may be a lot of things but questioning his skillset or credibility just makes you look uneducated and bias.

7:38 AM  
Blogger Mike said...

That's not the only thing making this blog uneducated and biased. So much time was spent building a case on the logical fallacy of appealing to authority--the very thing for which they skewer Clizbe.

Also, chase fewer rabbits and actually reach a point on the ones you do chase next time.

6:14 AM  
Anonymous Buck said...

"famous and respected climate scientist?"

This is all you had to say end everyone should know you are an apologist for a proven liar.

He manipulated data to get the results he wanted.

Why anyone would stick up for Mann is beyond me...

10:53 AM  

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