John Coleman: Media Will Ignore Climategate Until They Hear ‘I Was Wrong’

"This simple three-word phrase is almost impossible to say because it changes everything. It is easiest for a child to say it — after all, a child isn’t expected to be right about things. But the higher you climb through life, the more difficult it becomes to admit being wrong. It would be devastating for a president of the United States to say it: 'I was wrong.' And it may be about as difficult for an established, respected scientist who does research at an institution funded by millions of tax dollars.

"That is why I don’t expect any of the scientists caught by the Climategate leak to admit 'I was wrong' anytime soon.

"Consider the case of Roger Revelle, the 'grandfather of global warming.' He didn’t say “I was wrong” during all the years he was heading up the Scripps Institute of Oceanography or the Center for Population Studies at Harvard. He waited until he was in a retirement job back at UC San Diego — a mere professor without any research or grant monies coming in — to admit he was wrong about CO2 being an important greenhouse gas.

"But to his credit, he did say it in his final years. I respect that he did clear the air before leaving the scene."