Complaint to Ofcom Regarding “The Great Global Warming Swindle”

Oregon Institute of Science
and Medicine or OISM
www.oism.org

According to its website, OISM is a “small research institute founded in 1980 to conduct basic and applied research in subjects immediately applicable to improvements in human life” (http://tinyurl.com/24e4aq). It is located on a remote farm in Oregon, with only one paid employee: founder Arthur Robinson (http://tinyurl.com/2tkdws).

In 1998 OISM organized a mass mailing of tens of thousands of US scientists [Lahsen 2005 (http://tinyurl.com/ytavvm)]. This included a letter from Frederick Seitz, a former president of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), and a petition form criticising the science of global warming and opposing the Kyoto Protocol. These were accompanied by a paper, unpublished but formatted in the style of the respected journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, with authors Arthur Robinson, his son Zachary, and Sallie Baliunas and Willie Soon (see Appendix C.12, page 138) of the George C. Marshall Institute. This paper was heavily criticized for its misleading appearance and content [Science (http://tinyurl.com/2s2rho)], as well for as the fact that none of its authors had previously published any research on climatology (http://tinyurl.com/ypdtbd). The NAS took the unprecedented step of issuing a statement disassociating itself from the project of its former president (http://tinyurl.com/38nqdj).

The associated petition, despite being frequently cited by global warming critics as showing that thousands of scientists disagree with the consensus on global warming, contains very few people with relevant expertise; and its vetting was so lax that it included fictional signatories such as Star Wars characters and a member of the Spice Girls [Lahsen 2005 (http://tinyurl.com/ytavvm)].

In its IRS Form 990 for 1999, OISM reported revenues totalling $355,224, most of in the form of contributions from unspecified sources. As president, Arthur Robinson received $16,691 in salary and benefits. OISM listed $945,427 in total assets, $735,888 of which was in the form of land, buildings and equipment. (See the Center for Media and Democracy: http://tinyurl.com/yom8cv.)

See also Professor Bolin’s discussion of the OISM in Appendix G: page 165.