[fburnaby]

When we're talking about how much money is involved with this research, and claiming it as an incentive for climate scientists to lie, we realize that this is money that's being spent on research right? Do we? There is no incentive for them to do anything other than get published, and this by no means requires any lying or forging of data.

Please tell me we understand this fact. Nobody (that is, no scientists) is pocketing money and running here, they're spending this money on research gear and on hiring analysts and grad students and the like. Given this, how is the amount invested relevant at all?

[anamax]

> (that is, no scientists) is pocketing money and running here

Are they getting paid? (If not, who is paying their living expenses?)

Is it "money" only if it goes for hookers and booze?

> There is no incentive for them to do anything other than get published, and this by no means requires any lying or forging of data.

Scientists are people.

Refereed journals only publish what the referees believe and what they find interesting. (There were the equivalent of refereed journals for ether, phrenology, eugenics, etc. and I suspect that there are still refereed journals for astrology.)

Getting published may not require "lying or forging", but they can help in certain circumstances. So can being sloppy in the "correct way".