This is about intimidation, not disclosure.
The Sydney Morning-Herald reports,
A climate change sceptic think-tank with close ties to Australia could have one of its key financial backers unmasked after a court challenge later today.
The UK’s Charity Commission, which regulates charities in the UK, is being asked to release a document that would show the start-up funders of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, chaired by former UK chancellor Lord Nigel Lawson.
Launched in November 2009, the foundation has consistently challenged the mainstream scientific view that human emissions of greenhouse gases represent a significant risk to the planet and societies.
Later today, freelance journalist Brendan Montague will appeal to the UK’s Information Rights Tribunal for the release of a bank statement provided to the Charity Commission by Lord Lawson, which Mr Montague believes will identify the source of a $50,000 seed donation.
Clive Hamilton, professor of public ethics at Australia’s Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, has backed Mr Montague’s case.
Professor Hamilton is a long-time critic of think-tanks promoting outlying views on the risks of human-caused climate change, including the Melbourne-based Institute of Public Affairs.
“The public should know who is funding climate denial so they can properly judge the information put out by organisations like the Global Warming Policy Foundation,” he said…