A comment on the WEI/CBD dog and pony show

I finally got to ask the question, face to face, about WEI/CBD’s report being accepted as “the primary scientific reference on Sharp Park”. This was during the question and answer period following the 2 hour tightly choreographed dog and pony show at the Hilton Library last night. The three presenters of the evening’s program quickly backed away from the claim, and I asked if John Bowie, whom I had never met, was in the room. A young fellow in a seat near the front half-rose and waved at me, and sheepishly admitted in an “Ah shucks” sort of way that San Francisco had NOT accepted the report as the primary blah blah blah. During this admission, Brent Plater stood about 10 feet from Mr. Bowie, completely unfazed, and said not a word. Ian Butler was filming everything, so maybe we’ll all get to see it on public TV. Ian also asked a question about the “peer-review” claim, and the presenters, seemingly on safer ground, fell over each other in proclaiming this is the way it was done in the enviro world, completely above board, always did it this way, etc. I tried to comment that this was not the way the general public views “peer-review”, but I was told to sit down. Brent might not have much regard for the truth, but he runs a tight ship.

Submitted by Paul Slavin