702 H Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20001 Tel: 202-462-1177 o Fax: 202-462-4507 Michael M. Crow President, Arizona State University Foundation Building, Suite 410 NE Corner of College and University PO Box 877705 Tempe, AZ 85287 Email: Michael.Crow@asu.edu Fax: 480-965-0865 Dear President Crow, Greenpeace is the world's largest independent environmental organization. For over 40 years we have been winning campaigns to protect the environment. We do not take any money from corporations, industry or government. Last week, internal documents from the Heartland Institute, a purported independent nonprofit organization, became public showing that the Institute has been receiving large donations from corporations to distribute misinformation about climate change science. According to The New York Times, these documents show that Heartland "is planning a new push to undermine the teaching of global warming in public schools."1 Mark S. McCaffrey, programs and policy director for the National Center for Science Education, told The New York Times that the internal Heartland documents show that when it comes to climate change "they continue to promote confusion, doubt and debate where there really is none."2 In one document titled, "Heartland Institute 2012 Proposed Budget," Heartland discussed plans for multi-year budget for its Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), which is described as "an international group of scientists that produces critiques of the reports of the United Nation's IPCC" (International Panel on Climate Change). According the document, climate contrarian Craig Idso had recruited several scientists to be contributors and authors to NIPCC reports that attempted to undermine the conclusions of the IPCC. In the table that discusses the personnel budget for the NIPCC, there are several items that list monthly payments for authors who are drafting different chapters of a report. One line items lists Robert Balling receiving monthly payments of $1000 to write a report chapter and notes his affiliation as Arizona State University. [See Attachment A, p. 8] 1 Justin Gillis and Leslie Kaufman, "Leak Offers Glimpse of Campaign Against Climate Science," The New York Times, February 12, 2012. 2 Ibid. According the website of Arizona State University, Robert Balling is a Professor in the School of Geographical Sciences & Urban Planning and the Associate Program Director, Masters of Advanced Study in Geographic Information Systems.3 CONFLICT OF INTEREST RULES IN FEDERAL SCIENCE The federal government has rules regarding conflicts of interest (COI) and federally funded science. Following several high profile scandals at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2004, Congressman Joe Barton as Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee held several hearings on the matter. He found that several NIH scientists were moonlighting as consultants for pharmaceutical companies. In several stories, The Los Angeles Times reported that the NIH disciplined 35 scientists for violating conflict of interest rules, and six scientists were suspended or placed on probation.4 As then Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Investigations, Rep. Edward Whitfield (R-Ky.) said, "This is the largest scandal in the NIH's existence."5 The NIH later banned all outside consulting by NIH employees. The NIH Director stated that the ban helped "to provide the American public with an unbiased and trusted source of scientific and health information, while preserving our ability to recruit and retain world-class scientists and staff."6 In recent years, Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) led a high profile investigation of consultants and grantees from the NIH. He found that several of these consultants had severe conflicts of interest and were receiving grants from the NIH while also taking large payments from corporations.7 In one case, a psychiatrist at Emory University received millions of dollars from drug companies as a consultant while also receiving federal grants.8 In response, the NIH tightened its rules last August regarding conflicts of interest.9 A separate agency, the National Science Foundation has rules on conflicts of interest that are similar to those of the NIH.10 CONFLICT OF INTEREST RULES AT ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY 3 4 See ASU webpage: http://geoplan.asu.edu/balling David Willman, "Panel Challenges NIH Handling of Rules Violations," Los Angeles Times, September 14, 2006. 5 Ibid. 6 NIH Record Vol. LVII No. 18. See also http://nihrecord.od.nih.gov/newsletters/2005/09_09_2005/story01.htm 7 Gardiner Harris, "Top Psychiatrist Didn't Report Drug Makers' Pay," The New York Times, October 3, 2008. 8 Ibid. 9 Brian Vastag, "NIH finalizes financial conflict of interest rules," Washington Post, August 23, 2011. 10 NSF 05-131 July 2005, Chapter V - Grantee Standards. According to a search of grants at the National Science Foundation (NSF), Robert Balling was a Co-Principal Investigator on a $99,000 grant regarding climate change that began in March, 2008 and expired in December, 2010.11 The NSF has clear policies on financial conflicts of interest regarding grantees.12 For instance, the NSF requires institutions to enforce conflict of interest policies that require investigators to disclose their financial conflicts of interest to their institution and that the institution maintain records of such disclosures.13 We are pleased to see that ASU is attempting to comply with these federal regulations. ASU's policy on conflicts of interest in research states: Arizona State University is dedicated to upholding the principles of free and unbiased inquiry, the transfer of ideas and technologies for the benefit of the public, and stewardship of the resources entrusted to it as an integral part of its institutional mission. The University recognizes that faculty and employees are increasingly engaged with private industry and are building complex relationships with private companies. It is essential that financial and other relationships with outside entities do not create situations that are, or appear to be, in conflict with the values of free and unbiased inquiry.14 According to the ASU policy, researchers must submit an "Interest Disclosure Form" and complete an "Annual Objectivity in Research Questionnaire."15 CONCLUSION AND QUESTIONS We are interested in better understanding if Robert Balling completed an "Interest Disclosure Form" and an "Annual Objectivity in Research Questionnaire" as required by ASU. Furthermore, we wish to understand how ASU managed the apparent conflict between Robert Balling's climate change research funded by taxpayers, as well as his climate change activism funded by corporate interests attempting "to promote confusion, doubt and debate" on climate change. 1. Did Robert Balling complete and "Interest Disclosure Form" as required by ASU for the years 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012? If yes, can you please supply this form? If not, why was it not filed? Award Abstract #0751790 "Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Climatological Variations in Isentropic Surfaces" See also: http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward.do?AwardNumber=0751790 12 NSF 11-1 January 2011, Chapter IV - Grantee Standards. See also: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf11001/aag_4.jsp 13 Ibid. 14 See ASU webpage: http://researchintegrity.asu.edu/coi 15 Ibid. 11 2. Did Robert Balling complete and "Annual Objectivity in Research Questionnaire" as required by ASU for the years 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012. If yes, can you please supply this form? If not, why was it not filed? 3. Did ASU report any conflicts of interest to the National Science Foundation regarding Robert Balling's NSF grant "Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Climatological Variations in Isentropic Surfaces"? If yes, please supply such correspondence or forms. If not, why were no reports filed? We thank you for your time and attention to this matter. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact my Research Director Kert Davies at 202-319-2455. Sincerely, Phil Radford Executive Director Greenpeace USA CC: Dr. Subra Suresh Director, U.S. National Science Foundaion 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1205N Arlington, Virginia 22230 ssuresh@nsf.gov Fax: (703) 292-9232