The Fall of the State Climatologist Who Wasn't

Our local paper reported the sad, sad news that famed anti-global warming enthusiast and industry hack Patrick Michaels "quietly left his position over the summer" as the Virginia state climatologist. (With apologies for formatting -- the Sb folks haven't yet invented the mock font yet, so you can't tell the "sad, sad" was actually composed in that secret mock font.)

It isn't clear if the newspaper itself was using the mock font and I just couldn't tell, since of course Michaels was never actually Virginia's "state climatologist" so there was no such position from which to step down.

But here we are.

One notable section in the story:

In July, Michaels withdrew as an expert witness for the auto industry in a high-profile case in Vermont federal court rather than disclose his funding sources. He said he was hired by the Automobile Manufacturers Association, and that his donors had information they wanted to remain confidential.

Which is great, because Michaels left with this comment:

"I feel I can speak more freely," he said.

Scienceblog readers say they want more science humor. Well, Michael's gives us comedy gold right there. Such constrains the freedom of academia had so long put on him. (Dammit, still no mock font available.)

Alas.

(So check out Tim's section at Deltoid for a slew of Michaels-related posts.)