A Montana twist on Peace Prize controversy

In 2007, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize jointly to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and to Al Gore “for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.”

Following the award, the IPCC leadership sent personalized certificates “for contributing to the award of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2007 to the IPCC” to coordinating lead authors, review editors, bureau members, staff of the technical support units and staff of the secretariat.

These were personalized “thank you” certificates, not Nobel Peace Prizes.

Yet at least 12 recipients claimed their certificates were Nobel Peace Prizes (see fakenobellaureates.com), including Steve Running of the University of Montana and Michael Mann of the University of Pennsylvania.

Daily Inter Lake Editor Frank Miele wrote (Aug. 17, 2014) how Michael Mann, creator of the discredited “hockey stick” temperature plot that omitted the well-documented Medieval Warm Period, claims he is a 2007 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Mann’s curriculum vitae (as of Sept. 3, 2014) claims he was “co-awarded (along with several hundred other scientists) the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for involvement in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (lead author of chapter 2 of the Third Assessment Report, 2001).” http://www.geosc.psu.edu/sites/default/files/Mann_Vitae.pdf

Steve Running’s resume on the University of Montana website (as of Sept. 3, 2014) claims in “Professional Experience” that “Dr. Running shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 as a chapter Lead Author for the 4th Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change” and in “Awards” that he was “Co-recipient, Nobel Peace Prize 2007.” (http://www.ntsg.umt.edu/user/9)

Running claims in his video entitled “The importance of the latest IPCC findings for Montana policymakers” (Oct. 3, 2013) that he is a “University of Montana climate scientist and Nobel Prize-winning co-author of the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.”

Running displays his “award” where the top section is a copy of the Nobel award to the UN IPCC with no mention of Running and the bottom section is an IPCC “thank-you” note “For contributing the Award of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2007 to the IPCC.” (youtube id=”iB3WDfw0g74”)

In October 2012, to stop Running and others from claiming they are Nobel Laureates, the IPCC issued this statement:

“The IPCC was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for its work on climate change, together with former US Vice-President Al Gore.

“The prize was awarded to the IPCC as an organization, and not to any individual associated with the IPCC. Thus it is incorrect to refer to any IPCC official, or scientist who worked on IPCC reports, as a Nobel laureate or Nobel Prize winner.”

But, as of Sept. 3, 2014, neither the University of Montana nor Steve Running has corrected Steve Running’s resume nor announced their error to the media.

Running is neither a Nobel laureate nor professionally qualified in the physical or geophysical aspects of climate change.

Running worked in IPCC Working Group Two, “Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability” and not in IPCC Working Group One, “The Physical Science Basis.” Running’s expertise is in Forest Ecophysiology, not physics. And a “Peace” prize has nothing to do with science. There are separate Nobel prizes for science.

Fraud is a “false representation with the intent of persuading the victim to part with property,” and, in my opinion, that is precisely what the University of Montana and Steve Running have done to their students and the citizens of Montana.

Together, they have abused their students by preaching what I would characterize as lies about Running’s qualifications, lies about climate science, and lies about the necessity of restricting America’s CO2 emissions.

Masquerading as Nobel laureate for seven years now, Steve Running has pounded the nails of fraud into Montana’s education system, legislation, and public knowledge.

Berry, of Bigfork, is a retired atmospheric physicist. He has placed a version of this letter at his website www.PolyMontana.com with links to resource material.