Update: Scientist leading effort to prosecute climate skeptics under RICO ‘paid himself & his wife $1.5 million from govt climate grants for part-time work’

Climate Depot Special Report

The letter by global warming scientists calling on President Obama to look into prosecuting climate skeptics has prompted international outcry. See: Debate no more! Jailed for scientific dissent?! Twenty climate scientists, including Top UN scientist, call for RICO investigation of climate skeptics in letter to Obama (Also see: Mike Shellenberger takes down the ‘The Exxon Climate Denial Myth’ – Exxon in ‘many cases advocated for climate policy!)

The uproar over the to effort to enact racketeering charges against those who disagree with the view of dangerous man-made global warming has just added a new twist.

Dr. Roger Pielke Jr., professor of environmental studies at the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research at the University of Colorado at Boulder, has revealed the leader of the RICO 20 is a prime example of a climate profiteer.

George Mason University Professor of Climate Dynamics Jagadish Shukla, is identified by Pielke Jr. as the man who spearheaded the letter demanding RICO investigation by the Obama Administration. Shukla was also a Lead Author with the UN IPCC in 2007. In 2010, there was speculation that Shukla might become the next Chair of the UN IPCC. See: ‘WILL JAGADISH SHUKLA BECOME A NEW CHAIRMAN OF IPCC’

[email protected] or [email protected]

Shukla, the “leader of RICO20 climate scientists runs his government grants through a ‘non-profit’,” Pielke Jr. wrote on September 20 on Tweeter.

Prof. Shukla is listed as the “President” of “Institute of Global Environment & Society, Inc.” in the 2014 990 forms.

The group “pays him and wife $500,000 per year for part-time work,” Pielke Jr. revealed. He also provided a link to Guide Star with the supporting information.

Pielke Jr. continued: “From 2012-2014, the Leader of RICO 20 climate scientists paid himself and his wife $1.5 million from government climate grants for part-time work. Shukla’s wife Anne Shukla is listed as the groups “business manager” in the IRS forms.

Anne Shukla’s email: [email protected]

“The $350,000-$400,000 per year paid leader of the RICO20 from his ‘non-profit’ was presumably on top of his $250,000 per year academic salary,” Pielke wrote. “That totals to $750,000 per year to the leader of the RICO20 from public money for climate work and going after skeptics. Good work if you can get it,” Pielke Jr. added.

Pielke Jr. concluded his research by writing: “Investigative reporters, you are welcome.

Background Info:

Debate no more! Jailed for scientific dissent?! Twenty climate scientists, including Top UN scientist, call for RICO investigation of climate skeptics in letter to Obama

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Professor Roger Pielke Jr. also commented via Twitter: 

Pielke Jr. : ‘This week began with a NYT op-ed comparing climate skeptics to Hitler. It ends with multiple calls for skeptics to be jailed. Lost the plot?’ – ‘WTF: Need to outlaw unwelcome scientific views of “scientifically qualified, knowledgeable and influential persons” http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/18/world-court-should-rule-on-climate-science-quash-sceptics-philippe-sands …

‘Int’l Court of Justice should rule on climate science to quash sceptics,prepare for trials says Prof. Philippe Sands’
Pielke lamented the fact the the establishment media has thus far failed to report on the RICO scientists own funding. “MSM on climate $ scam? Crickets,” Pielke tweeted on September 21.
On September 22, Pielke Jr. continued: “2013 http://iges.org  received $4.2M in public $ -passed thru $2.8M for research -$800k salary to 3 execs ($600k other).”“The salary of the http://iges.org  husband/wife team is set by IGES board of directors. Who is on it is not public. (Real reporters?)”“If pass thru research money to GMU has standard overhead, then only 33% of the $4.2M in public money actually goes to research.”

“So the US government is paying three people $800k to oversee $1.4M in actual research (best case scenario).”

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Mike Shellenberger, the President Breakthrough Institute, a man who Time Magazine called ‘Hero of the Environment’, mocks the call for RICO prosecution of skeptics: ‘Every idealistic law school student’s dream is to one day be able to use RICO for its highest purpose: prosecuting scientists.’
“Who are the guys who are like, ‘Well, I could spend the day running experiments or… I could call for RICO prosecutions of people I hate!’
As Ben Franklin famously said, “It is the job of prosecutors & juries, not scientists, to decide what is good science.”
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‘False’: Mike Shellenberger takes down the ‘The Exxon Climate Denial Myth’ – Exxon in ‘many cases advocated for climate policy!’ – Mike Shellenberger, the President Breakthrough Institute, and a man who Time Magazine called ‘Hero of the Environment’: ‘The picture painted of Exxon seeking out & funding “climate change deniers” to mislead public & prevent climate policy is false.’

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50 Responses

  1. “J. Shukla was born in 1944 in a small village (Mirdha) in the Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh, India. This village had no electricity, no roads or transportation, and no primary school building.”
    Maybe he’s homesick and wants to make the entire West like his hometown. Extracting a couple of $million/yr from it for useless nonsense also helps.

  2. So, given his desire to have others charged under RICO and the knowledge that he and his wife are profiting so lavishly from the government funding through a nonprofit, doesn’t that simply scream RICO itself???? Get him!

  3. Why are these people who are committing fraud and taking Tax Payer money through illegal grants not prosecuted under the RICO laws? There are a lot of people who would help contribute to such an action.

  4. Dear friends,

    As the curtain is now pulled back on the modern Wizard of Oz, “Stalin’s Scientists” are desperately trying to frighten critics with legal action and the public with CERN’s pseudo-physics:

    http://wchildblog.com/2015/09/20/nostradamus-warnedcern-will-be-the-destroyer/

    This fantasy physics began after Stalin won WWII during a news blackout of events that changed the course of world history at Konan, Korea in Aug-Sept 1945 and then united nations on 24 Oct 1945:

    https://brittius.wordpress.com/2015/08/16/dr-o-manuel-ph-d-stalins-science/

    What a sad, sad day for science.

  5. The people who should be arrested & tried under RICO are those, including the President, using this pseudo science scare tactic to redistribute wealth. Soviet Communists proposed using environmental issues to elevate Communist ideals during the 1960s & this is the fruit of their labors.

    1. Bullshit. Most scientists supporting climate change are independent college scientists and academics. All that don’t are hired by the fossil fuel industry, they are exploiting you for money. Energy bills could literally be zero with solar power. The Nazis are the ones who claimed there was a world order. If this is communism, then you are a nazi. 97% of scientists support man-made climate change, less at 84% from the gallipoli. The people who should be tried, are the fossil fuel lobbyists spreading lies and propaganda. The fossil fuel industry is corrupt as hell, has held back technology, destroyed the environment and atmosphere, and don’t give a shit about you. At least the government will give you welfare so you don’t die, the corporations want you as nothing more than a tool to help them make money. All of which goes to the lazy manager and CEO, while people who actually work get paid far less. Who do you want to trust, independent scientists with evidence supporting this, or fossil fuel company bought scientists with contradicting in-accurate evidence?

      1. ❝Energy bills could literally be zero with solar power❞

        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/49dc50bde702a2e7d5b1bb5a133f23339a1fcc1d52bdbe7283131c8dfaa5d039.jpg

        The more a country has in solar and wind, the more expensive their electricity has become. The scatter-plot at the top shows the correlation…

        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/95248345851df7050a1c3c1a549e3b39d76626f2f42ef117384886df072e11f3.jpg

        One of the leaders in governmental intervention, with solar and wind, is Germany. How are their energy bills progressing?

        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/691402759aa4d5b67a5b3154aa89f50f45ff6d853caf04c57145f72e261deaf9.jpg

        literally be zero?
        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3f3a7c2de0f35418428864bf95bc325e05bbb3925e37fa5442bad0ab2eaa9f4d.jpg

        Seriously?
        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/235711ed6a3db46903bbd0becc742b84394381b86d07265241105745b7328cd0.jpg

        1. Probably becuase of oil prices. Oil gets more expensive when the demand decreases, so anyone without solar panels is paying a lot more. Not to mention they still have to pay if they don’t have batteries with their system.

          1. You really don’t have anything besides your opinion. No references, no citations, no URLs, and no graphics.

            I allow you your opinion.

            ❝Oil gets more expensive when the demand decreases,…❞

            What? That’s bass-ackwards nonsense. When demand goes down, prices go down.

            ❝so anyone without solar panels is paying a lot more❞

            Provide some research to back up your opinion.

            The problem is governments … taxes. They tax the hell out of electricity, and the provider passes that expense on to the consumer, through higher prices. The government uses the tax revenue to bribe business into staying (not leaving to another country) by heavily subsidizing their electric rates. The government uses the tax revenue to subsidize electric generation they way it wants … wind and solar and stuff. It is hard to discern what is, or is not, the cost of production. Denmark has about the highest electric prices to their residents, yet has a lower cost of electric production.

            https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6ff6385799c172019a0b212a57b140e55d6ee18c4d21c08279ff557073847bba.jpg

  6. Given the UK Court’s demolition of the movie “An Inconvenient Truth”, it would seem that Al Gore and his cronies would fall under the RICO provisions. Would make for an interesting (test) case!!

  7. Tip of the iceberg. This unconscionable diversion of public funds could not have occurred without the cooperation of government agencies. What they’ve created is a culture of environmental entrepreneurialism. And the tone of the RICO letter makes it clear that this culture will stamp out any challenge and, with it, scientific inquiry.

    An investigation should not end with this fellow. It should follow the money back to the holier-than-oil government bureaucrats who, to push their agenda, were accessories, those who gave this gross diversion of public funds their stamp of approval. My money is on the agency who assigned $6M of taxpayer funds to develop climate games.

    http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/05/26/5-7-million-nsf-grant-to-columbia-university-for-climate-voice-mails-from-the-future/

    Bets anyone?

  8. A prime example of the fascist mentality and graft that pervades the Climate Establishment!… It is the craven enrichment of people like Professor Shukla and the bureaucratic gate-keepers who blatantly funnel public funds that should be investigated and charged under the RICO statutes!…

  9. There is a possibility of fraud in these charges. If the payments made to Shukla via the Institute were for work on a Federal grant, there is an hourly rate associated with such charges. From the Form 990, the amounts paid per year are at the high end of the pay scale allowed by Federal pay schedules. He lists his own average hours at 28 hours per week and those of the other participants at 40 hours per week. His rate works out to about $200 per hour, at the high end of the federal pay scales. If he charged more than 12 hours per week to his University time keeping system, then he was defrauding one or the other if not both. The Fall 2015 GMU class schedule lists him as teaching at least one course in addition to his other administrative duties. The 990 also lists him as receiving an additional $40K for other compensation. If the other employees also had other employment they presumably charged time to those jobs. It looks like there could be a case for false charges if he was audited.

      1. It looks like Anastasia and Anne are indeed the same person. According to this link:

        http://www.iges.org/gandhicollege/cgvsframe.html


        Anastasia S. Shukla (Anne) was born in Sheridan, Wyoming (USA) and
        later moved to Denver, Colorado. She passed her B.S. from the University
        of Colorado, and M.S. in Financial Management from the Benjamin
        Franklin University, Washington DC. She has one brother George Booras,
        and one sister Elaine Harvey. She is the Business manager at the
        Institute of Global Environment and Society (IGES).

        J. Shukla and Anne were married on 4 October 1979 in Rockville,
        Maryland. They have been blessed with two extraordinary children,
        Chandran (1981-2004), and Sonia (born 5 April, 1983) who received her
        Bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Irvine, USA.”

          1. I feel slightly sorry for Prof Shukla that his family affairs are being trotted out in news stories and on the internet. For a small business, there is nothing illegal about nepotism and it is quite common for small businesses to utilize family members. However, he brought this on himself by generating a public call for investigation of other scientists essentially accusing them of something illegal.

            As I understand it, RICO simply allows prosecution for individuals who conspire to commit crimes, but there must be some crimes committed. It seems the most likely crime would be fraud, but that requires knowingly providing something that does not satisfy the funder’s expectations. I don’t see the criminal fraud possibilities, even if the accused knowingly provided false information that was requested by corporations. The injured party of a fraud is the funder, typically but not necessarily the government. Maybe academic fraud if they published results, but as far as I can tell that is not illegal, just unethical. The other possibility is that they could be liable for damages suffered from climate change, but that would be a very tough thing to link directly to such work. One would have to show it would have been prevented but for their specific actions and that it occurred and exactly who was damaged.

            The more serious issue for Prof Shukla is potential fraud against the government. If he accepted government funds for a specific labor effort and charged it to those funds, and it can be shown that he did not actually provide that effort after audit, then there is a possibility of fraud. That scrutiny he brought on himself.

    1. If by “involved” you mean he was one of 10 editors of a book in which Sukla appears to have published something, that is correct. No evidence of financial involvement with the specific grant, at least not on the information provided.

  10. Frankly I don’t see what the problem with the RICO letter is.

    It seems to be calling for an investigation to assess whether there has been an effort to mislead the public, which is entirely different to pursuing research from a genuinely skeptical position.

    As there is such confidence that there has been no malpractice on the part of those opposing the theory of climate change, how can a chance to demonstrate that everything is above board be anything but welcome.

    It can after all, only enhance the credibility of those scientists and think tanks putting forward a robust counter case to the AGW.

    I say bring it on!

      1. In my experience Governments and the politicians who staff them want above all else a sound, high employment economy, (perhaps) the occasional successful war, and anything else that will keep the electorate happy and compliant enough to re-elect them.

        Climate change either makes Politicians look impotent when inactive or forces them to commit electoral suicide by suggesting that we may have to give up some hard won freedoms and dismantle successful job creating industries. The easy (politically expedient) course would be for it to stop being an issue.

        If there is credible research out there, I think any investigation would jump at the chance to flag it up to a grateful world.

              1. Interesting? Ad hominem attack fallacies are flawed and doomed to fail from the start, explain why he is wrong, you take the laziest possible option proving you have likely no answer and are being deliberately dishonest. Pathetic. How is that fossil fuel lobbyist dick up ya arse then?

  11. RICO-20 leader Jagadish Shukla – did he funnel $100,000 to family members?

    http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2014/521/761/2014-521761388-0b7d49e1-9.pdf

    Under “Grants and Other Assistance to Organizations, Governments and Individuals in the US” we see this:

    Institute For Global Education Equality Of Opportunity And Prosperity Inc – 100,000

    http://www.manta.com/c/mmyvql4/institute-for-global-edu

    Company Contacts
    Anastasia Shukla, Manager
    Manager

    Their “head office” is a very well-to-do home here:

    http://listings.findthecompany.com/l/16449332/Institute-For-Global-Education-Equality-of-Opportunity-and-Prosperity-Inc-in-Rockville-MD

    Their employees are:

    Employees
    Name Title
    Santosh Jiwrajka President
    Anne Shukla Secretary
    J Shukla

    I think that the address of this home, home of that charity is Shukla’s home.

    http://990s.foundationcenter.org/990_pdf_archive/550/550610012/550610012_201412_990.pdf?_ga=1.213813271.2020733058.1442934895

    That charity gave $100,000 to some unnamed person or entity in South Asia, apparently for “education” purpose.

  12. Please notice Page 11, item 11 of the 990 attached in the article.

    “Investments – Publicly traded securities $51,968”

    so a “non-profit” is holding $50k in NEW investments end-of-year

    hmmmmmm. Wanna bet what those are? It would be telling.

  13. So when are they going to investigate the warming alarmist for creating a hoax on a grand scale and milking the governments for millions of dollars let them investigate them

  14. The Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies (COLA)

    President: Shukla, Jagadish
    Assistant to the President: Shukla, Sonia
    Assistant Business Manager: Shukla, Sonia
    Business Manager: Shukla, Anastasia

    COLA is widely considered to be a shining example of the successful way that cooperation and coordination among the federal agencies that support climate research has led to greater, more flexible and more creative federal support for basic research in climate variability and change.
    Support for COLA research is provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The supercomputing resources that have been made available by the National Center for Atmospheric Research, NASA Center for Computational Sciences and NASA Advanced Supercomputing Division have been instrumental in the successful execution of the COLA research agenda.
    The scientific and technical activities at COLA are critically reviewed periodically by a Scientific Advisory Committee composed of highly respected leaders in the field.

    http://www.iges.org/aboutcola.html
    http://www.iges.org/people/people.html

  15. I was just a dumb trigger puller before retiring out yet I feel I have to comment. This is a DISGRACE. Where would our country be today without healthy debate? Locked up for disagreeing? What did we take an Oath for and who does this man answer to? WE NEED THE SCIENCE COMMUNITY to be brutally honest, to question everything and be able to research, publish results and guide this messed up planet. Scientist are all we have to bring humanity multiple probability’s for the future. Note that military supports you, we will do our job, you do yours and for God sake do not let clowns like this succeed! Good luck all.

  16. $500K? The average RepugliKKKan lobbyist or politician or pundit wouldn’t bother rolling out of bed for that. And how much graft has Pielke Jr taken from dubious sources, such as when he was “double dipping” from U Colorado as well as Oxford et al?

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