Excerpted from Legal Insurrection
Leslie Eastman
Dear Dr. Soon-Shiong:
I am writing to you, scientist-to-scientist, to address a chronic problem with the American press and the Los Angeles Times: The use of weakly credentialed writers to analyze important topics of scientific relevance.
Perhaps if the journalists you hired weren’t climate cultists and racialists who wanted to “get Trump”, one of America’s Great Cities wouldn’t be burning..,potentially from arson started by terrorists or foreign street gangs. A healthy country needs a healthy press.…
— Leslie Eastman ☥ (@Mutnodjmet) January 10, 2025
One great example is the time a social justice extremist, Sammy Roth, was allowed to publish a “scientific” piece on air pollution in the Los Angeles area….linking it to racism.
With respect, you have social justice extremists covering “science”. You need to get people with scientific backgrounds willing to debate the data. Example: LA Times Makes Racist Claims that White Drivers are ‘Polluting the Air’ of ‘People of Color’” https://t.co/OPHkUrRXon
— Leslie Eastman ☥ (@Mutnodjmet) January 17, 2025
Roth was your paper’s “Energy Reporter“.
There is a lot of misinformation to unpack in this gem, so I will start by noting that this is a prime example of ideological capture of the sciences through “science” writers who do not have traditional science-based backgrounds.
A quick review of Roth’s LinkedIn profile shows he graduated from Columbia University with a degree in . . . Sustainable Development.
I majored in Sustainable Development and minored in American Studies, graduating cum laude. My coursework included environmental law, urban studies, energy development, geographic information systems and environmental economics. I reported and edited for the Columbia Daily Spectator, and I worked on water conservation projects for the Columbia Aquanauts, an interdisciplinary water club.
Without a stronger background in questioning assertions and challenging hypotheses, certain elements are not considered. For example, are the patterns of freeway use perhaps more driven by socioeconomic factors rather than race?
The Los Angeles Times, under your ownership, has not permitted reasonable debate nor allowed the publication of information that runs counter to the preferred political narrative on climate and energy.
Good public policy must be based on solid, reliable information. The public has not received full information on climate, what impacts it, subjects involving climatology, energy efficiency, or any other science-related topic that has a significant impact on regulations.
I assert that the ideological capture of the sciences is a contributing factor to the historic fires that have hit the Greater Los Angeles area. I think if you reflect on my hypothesis, you will agree.
I would like to offer you one solution: diversify your staff by including alternative scientific perspectives. For example, you can confer with the CO2 Coalition, who can connect you with serious and experienced people who can do accurate analysis.
You can reach out to people such as geologist and climate expert Dr. Matthew M. Wielicki for guidance.
You can make the same data look very different. pic.twitter.com/n9oTBYVn5q
— Dr. Matthew M. Wielicki (@MatthewWielicki) January 17, 2025
There are scores of other talented scientists mocked or derided for being “tools of fossil fuels” by those who would like to make sure their misinformation is the only information accessible to the public. The louder the complaints, the more effective that researcher tends to be. If you would like a list of other examples, contact me.
One last thought, as we look forward to Inauguration Day 2024. When he was leaving office, President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned:
“Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite.
Dr. Soon-Shiong: Please free your publication from its ideological capture. It’s better for Los Angeles. It’s better for California. It’s better for the nation.
With respect,
Leslie Eastman, MSc., CHMM, SDSRP….wife, mother, and Californian.
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