Frederick Seitz

Background

Seitz was a former head of Rockefeller University, a former head of the National Academy of Sciences and the principal scientific advisor to the R.J. Reynolds medical research program.

He was a co-founder of the George C. Marshall Institute and later the Chairman Emeritus of the Board of the Institute.  

Frederick Seitz passed away on March 2, 2008.

Frederick Seitz and the Tobacco Industry

Seitz was the former principal scientific advisor to the RJ Reynolds medical research program.

A May 2006 Vanity Fair article by Mark Hertsgaard outlines the central role Seitz in a $45 million “medical research” program in the 1970s and ’80s for tobacco-giant RJ Reynolds:

“‘They didn’t want us looking at the health effects of cigarette smoking,’ says Seitz, who is now 94— but it nevertheless served the tobacco industry’s purposes. Throughout those years, the industry frequently ran ads in newspapers and magazines citing its multi-million-dollar research program as proof of its commitment to science—and arguing that the evidence on the health effects of smoking was mixed.”

Last year, DeSmogBlog uncovered a 1989 internal memo from tobacco company Philip Morris explaining that Seitz “is quite elderly and not sufficiently rational to offer advice.”

To quote: “I spoke with Bill Hobbs [RJ Reynolds] about arranging an appointment for you with Dr. Fred Seitz, former head of Rockerfeller University and the principal scientific advisor to the RJ Reynolds medical research program. Bill told me that Dr. Seitz is quite elderly and not sufficiently rational to offer advice.”

Seitz and the Science and Environmental Policy Project

Seitz was the Chair of an organization called the Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP). The founder of SEPP is Fred Singer, a very well-known climate change denier. Singer is also well-known for his willingness to take money from the oil industry.

Seitz’s is also listed as a signatory to the Leipzig Declaration, a 1995 open letter designed and spread by SEPP in conjunction with a group called the European Academy of Environmental Affairs. The declaration stated: “there does not exist today a general scientific consensus about the importance of greenhouse warming from rising levels of carbon dioxide.”

According to SourceWatch, when a Danish journalist attempted to contact the 33 European scientists listed on the petition, 12 denied signing the petition and some had not even heard of the Leipzig Declaration. Of those that did admit to signing the letter, one was a doctor and another was an expert on flying insects. The declaration was then revised and many names were removed.

Seitz and the Oregon Petition

in 1998, an initiative called the “Oregon Petition” was organized by Fred Seitz and another individual named Art Robinson.

The Oregon Petition has been used by climate change deniers as proof that there is no scientific consensus, however they fail to note the controversy surrounding the petition itself. In April 1998, Robinson’s Oregon Institute, along with the Exxon-backed George C. Marshall Institute, co-published the infamous “Oregon Petition” claiming to have collected 17,000 signatories to a document arguing against the realities of global warming.

The petition and the documents included were all made to look like official papers from the prestigious National Academy of Science. They weren’t, and this attempt to mislead has been well-documented.

Along with the petition there was a cover letter from Seitz. Also attached to the petition was an apparent “research paper” titled: Environmental Effects of Increased Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide. The paper was made to mimic what a research paper would look like in the National Academy’s prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy journal. The authors of the paper were Robinson, Sallie Baliunas, Willie Soon (both oil-backed scientists) and Robinson’s son Zachary.

The petition was so misleading that the National Academy issued a news release stating:

“The petition project was a deliberate attempt to mislead scientists and to rally them in an attempt to undermine support for the Kyoto Protocol. The petition was not based on a review of the science of global climate change, nor were its signers experts in the field of climate science.”

Seitz was actually the president of the National Academy of Sciences from 1962 to 1965, but after the incident regarding the Oregon Petition, the Academy tried to distance themselves from any association with Dr. Frederick Seitz.

Seitz and the George C. Marshall Institute

Seitz was listed as the “Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Directors” at the George C. Marshall Institute in 2006. 

The George C. Marshall Institute was established in 1984 with its purpose being to “conduct technical assessments of scientific issues with an impact on public policy.”

The institute describes its process as follows:

“Through briefings to the press, publication programs, speaking tours and public forums, the Institute seeks to preserve the integrity of science and promote scientific literacy.”

Having co-published in Oregon Petition, the Marshall Institute has received $840,000 in funding from ExxonMobil since 1998.  Since 1985, the institute has also received $3,082,000 from Scaife Foundations and $30,000 from Koch Family Foundations.

Seitz and the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow

Seitz was listed on the “Board of Academic and Scientific Advisors” of the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT).

CFACT is an environment and policy lobby group that has received significant funding from oil companies including over $60,000 from Chevron, and over $570,000 from ExxonMobil (between 2000 and 2007). 

CFACT also receives funding from right-wing foundations; they received a combined $1,280,000 from the Sarah Scaife Foundation and the Carthage Foundation between 1991 and 2006. 

CFACT is also a member and organizer of the Cooler Heads Coalition, a group of global warming denial organizations that have collectively received $5,659,400 in funding from ExxonMobil since 1998.

Seitz and the Advancement of Sound Science Coalition

Seitz has been listed on the “Scientific Advisory Board” for the Advancement of Sound Science Coalition (TASSC).

TASSC was created in 1993 by APCO Worldwide, a prominent public relations firm, at the request of tobacco giant Philip Morris.  

TASSC is best known as the front group that manufactured the “sound science” campaign.  “Sound science” was basically a PR ploy manufactured to discredit any science suggesing tobacco smoke increased cancer or heart problems.  They dubbed such science “junk science,” while they advocated a “sound science” which had found that smoking tobacco did not cause major health issues.

TASSC has since advocated industry-friendly positions on global warming and pesticides.  They have fitted their “junk science” campaign onto global warming issues, now labelling the science that supports the theory of man-made global warming as junk science.