S. Fred Singer, Joke.

Is Fred Singer a liar, or is he just a little confused?

In a lame attempt at defending his activities as a paid shill (as mentioned on the CBC’s “The Denial Machine”), Singer wrote a piece for the right-wing National Post. He proclaimed that he was not, in fact, a big-tobacco-funded floozy:

"Now, I am a very patient fellow, so I carefully explain to Mr. Grandia that I hate tobacco smoke and sit on the board of the anti-smoking American Council on Science and Health. But I don't tolerate the misuse of science, even by anti-smokers. So I gladly assented when, more than a decade ago, the Alexis de Tocqueville Institute asked me to serve as a consultant for a couple of months to review and contribute to a report on misuse of science in environmental policies."

There are a few bits of information Singer forgot to mention. They’re kind of important. According to SourceWatch:

"In 1994 Singer was Chief Reviewer of the report Science, economics, and environmental policy: a critical examination published by the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution (AdTI). This was all part of an attack on EPA regulation on environmental tobacco smoke funded by the Tobacco Institute. At that time, Mr. Singer was a Senior Fellow with AdTI.

"The report's principal reviewer, Dr Fred Singer, was involved with the International Center for a Scientific Ecology, a group that was considered important in Philip Morris' plans to create a group in Europe similar to The Advancement for Sound Science Coalition (TASSC), as discussed by Ong and Glantz. He was also on a tobacco industry list of people who could write op-ed pieces on "junk science," defending the industry's views".

If that’s not paid shillism, I don’t know what is.

Still, big-tobacco but no big-oil? Come on, Fred, you’re letting good dollars escape there.

"Mr. Grandia suggests that I sell my science to special interests. And since he cannot show that I am "in the pay of the oil lobby," tobacco will have to do."

Hang on, hang on! What’s this?

"In a Sept. 24, 1993 sworn affidavit, Dr. Singer admitted to doing climate change research on behalf of oil companies, such as Exxon, Texaco, Arco, Shell and the American Gas Association."

It’s no wonder the world now appreciates the reality of AGW when Fred Singer is the best the denialists can offer.