Peter Gleick is Apparent Author of FakeGate, Confesses to Fraud

Peter Gleick has confessed to the fraudulent obtaining of private documents from the Heartland Institute think tank, and of subsequently disseminating them to avowed enemies of Heartland. He claims to have done this out of frustration at his inability to utterly defeat the enemies of the climate orthodoxy by legitimate means, or something to that effect.

One way or the other, Gleick’s use of deception in pursuit of his cause after years of calling out climate deception has destroyed his credibility and harmed others. (Some of the released documents contain information about Heartland employees that has no bearing on the climate fight.) That is his personal tragedy and shame (and I’m sure devastating for his colleagues, friends and family). _Revkin NYT (who himself is "involved" in this escapade and who may have deleted online materials in an attempt to limit his personal legal risk)

Gleick is refusing to admit to authorship of the fake memo, which is written in a unique style curiously similar to Gleick's own writing (see Steven Mosher comments here, here, here and here). I suspect that much more will be said about Mr. Gleick's personal standards of honesty in the days to come -- perhaps even in a court of law.

Gleick has been an outspoken advocate of the catastrophic view of climate change, and has been vocally impatient -- and often abusive -- at anyone who wishes to take a more cautious and careful approach in the interpretation of the scientific data.

Here are more reports on this development:

Climate Audit: Peter Gleick confesses

Watts Up With That Breaking: Gleick Confesses

Tom Nelson: Regarding Gleickgate and much more

Climate Depot coverage

It is likely that the fallout from Gleick's egregious contretemps will grow to greater significance over the next several days.

Stay tuned to Tom Nelson, Anthony Watts, and Steve McIntyre for more.