BP buys up Gulf scientists for legal defense, roiling academic community

[babsbunny]

BP buys up Gulf scientists for legal defense, roiling academic community

Ben Raines, Press-Register

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/07/bp_buys_up_gulf_scientists_for.html

Published: Friday, July 16, 2010, 5:00 AM

For the last few weeks, BP has been offering signing bonuses and lucrative pay to prominent scientists from public universities around the Gulf Coast to aid its defense against spill litigation.

BP PLC attempted to hire the entire marine sciences department at one Alabama university, according to scientists involved in discussions with the company's lawyers. The university declined because of confidentiality restrictions that the company sought on any research.

[tinymontgomery]

1. So is that saying

that scientists are up for sale to the highest bidder?

[truedelphi]

2. Same as it has been for quite a while now.

in the nineteen nineties, when California faced a future of no drinking water, due to the inherent problems of the MTBE gas additive seeping into the water supplies, there were always many "scientists" who were willing to head up the "latest" round of "scientific inquiry" into the safety of MTBE.

Governor Davis, who later on was run out of his governorship by those who were funded by Big Oil money, he did a very decent thing - he appointed a Blue Ribbon Panel headed by the unimpeachable John Froines. Froines could not be bought out by any amount of money, and due to both the Governor and Froines avoiding the buy outs, California was able to make MTBE mostly illegal. (especially in heavily populated areas.)

But it is rare to find such decency and honesty.

[Curmudgeoness]

3. Not a surprise to me. How do we get scientists who claim global warming

is a hoax, or hydraulic fracture drilling is safe? They are human too, and can be bought---at least some of them. Let's hope that there are many who have integrity.