There’s nothing liek the defection of a prominent group of scientists to get the open-minded and tolerant progressives in an uproar. Earlier this week, the Association of Physical Scientists reversed its position on AGW. I say “reversed” because the earlier position was that AGW was “incontrovertable” and now they are actively sponsoring debate on the subject. That is, contrary to argument made in the comment of the post I linked above, a reversal.

Of course, such a thing can not stand. Nearly as soon as the story broke, the APS put out an announcement noting that it was, in every way, still faithful to the Church of Global Warming and could they please call off their inquisitors, please. Yet they are still sponsoring debate, which is still a reversal of their position, but one subtle enough to throw off the anti-scientific, faith-based, global warming fetishists.

One of the things the APS did, however, was to slap a screaming red disclaimer above the paper submitted (at the APS’s request) by Lord Monckton. The disclaimer reads:

The following article has not undergone any scientific peer review. Its conclusions are in disagreement with the overwhelming opinion of the world scientific community. The Council of the American Physical Society disagrees with this article’s conclusions.

Today, Lord Monckton has replied to the head of the APS in a letter. In it, he explains exactly how his paper had been peer-reviewed (by an APS member at the request of the APS no less) and significantly revised to make it even more understandable.

As he succinctly explains in the letter, not one of the three sentences in the disclaimer is correct and he’s asked the APS to either remove it or provide proof (you know, like real scientists do) to support their assertions.

What I find most charming about the letter is that Lord Monckton does not make a great point about the inaccuracy of the disclaimer, though he asks them to answer three direct questions. He seems most offended about the discourteous treatment he received. They should at least be polite. After all, he did a lot of work for them without a single dime in compensation and he acceded to all their requests for review and revision.

Then again, courtesy has never been the Global Warming Cult’s specialty. I’d hope that that APS remembers that it is a group of scientists, and not water-carriers for a group of fanatics and their semi-charismatic leader.