date: Fri, 17 Mar 2000 09:59:02 -0700 (MST) from: Tom Wigley subject: Re: Support for CRU to: Mike Hulme On Fri, 17 Mar 2000, Mike Hulme wrote: > Thanks Tom, I have the letter from Bob and it is very encouraging. Your > comments about Mike Grubb confirm our view that Imperial have chosen the > wrong person to 'head' their Centre, but then it seems he has negotiated > himself a new Chair at Imperial and delivering this new Centre was probably > part of the deal. We have a suspicion (but no more than that) that Steve > Rayner (one of the Assessment Panel) may also have an interest in this - > but there is nothing we can do about that. > > We reckon that Schellnhuber, and probably Alan Thorpe, would go for the UEA > bid, and we think we probably have the NERC vote, but in the end I think a > lot will come down to how Sir Crispin Tickell decides the dice should fall. > Is Grubb the sort of person that would impress Tickell? Grubb is good at impressing ignorant people. Crispin is not only ignorant (in the economics area) but also a *real* snake in the grass. What he will do is vote on the basis of what he can get out of it, not on the basis of knowledge-based and fair judgement. At least Woods and Mason will be more balanced -- but their knowledge in these areas is also superficial. The trouble is that all three *think* they know more than they do. I think you are up against it. However, good luck. Cheers, Tom > > The Panel meet next Wednesday so I may miss you - I leave CRU about 2pm on > Tuesday. If we do miss each other, then thanks again for your support to > our bid - you'll hear the outcome as soon as we know it! > > Regards, > > Mike > > At 11:45 15/03/00 -0700, you wrote: > >Dear Mike, > > > >Bob Harriss (ESIG Director) says he'll be glad to support the CRU et al. > >bid -- he may have already written to you. Eileen Claussen (Pew) told me > >that Michael Grubb had also contacted her. She thinks he is a jerk; but > >because of the formal contact from both groups, she thought it best to > >support neither. Too bad. > > > >By the way, if you want to play an underhanded trick, you could try to get > >some *real* economists to express their opinions on Michael. I know that > >Rich Richels and Jae Edmonds have a very low opinion of him (as do I). He > >has no formal background in economics, even though he claims to do > >credible economic analyses. Basically, he is a "greenie"; and he bends > >his "science" to suit his ideological agenda. I don't know how you can > >alert the people who are judging the two bids to this: but it may be > >helpful to know the facts. > > > >For what it is worth, I have a similarly low opinion of John Woods and > >John Mason -- a couple clever "know-it-all"s in my view. > > > >Cheers, > > > > > >Tom > > > > > > > >********************************************************** > >Tom M.L. Wigley > >Senior Scientist > >ACACIA Program Director > >National Center for Atmospheric Research > >P.O. Box 3000 > >Boulder, CO 80307-3000 > >USA > >Phone: 303-497-2690 > >Fax: 303-497-2699 > >E-mail: wigley@ucar.edu > >Web: http://www.acacia.ucar.edu > >********************************************************** > > > > > ********************************************************** Tom M.L. Wigley Senior Scientist ACACIA Program Director National Center for Atmospheric Research P.O. Box 3000 Boulder, CO 80307-3000 USA Phone: 303-497-2690 Fax: 303-497-2699 E-mail: wigley@ucar.edu Web: http://www.acacia.ucar.edu **********************************************************