Posted on 04/24/2009 6:18:49 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Top officials at the California Air Resources Board knew that the lead scientist on a study justifying sweeping new regulations on diesel emissions from heavy-duty trucks had lied about his academic background before adopting the rules on Dec. 12, according to an official document provided by the air board.
The document is a 12-page "Notice of Adverse Action" to air board scientist Hien T. Tran, who was demoted and given a 60-day unpaid suspension for lying about having a Ph.D. in statistics from the University of California, Davis. The finding of facts in the notice include a timeline of when air board officials became aware of the allegations against Tran:
On Friday, December 5, 2008, Bart Croes, ARB's Research Division Chief (Chief) was informed by James Goldstene, ARB's Executive Officer, that Professor James Enstrom, an epidemiologist with the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCLA, had raised an issue regarding the validity of your Ph .D . in a briefing for Board Member John Balmes on the proposed In-Use On-Road Diesel Vehicles Regulation (herein after Regulation) (a .k.a_ Statewide Truck and Bus Regulations) . (Exhibit #15) The proposed Regulation is a regulation to help reduce emissions of diesel particulate matter , other criteria pollutants , and greenhouse gases from inuse heavy-duty diesel-fueled vehicles . Because the implications of the Regulation place additional requirements on truck and bus companies, it is critical that the research behind the regulation is considered valid .
8 . On Monday morning, December 8, 2008, the Chief left a voicemail for you to call him while you were attending an off-site management training session . In addition, the Chief did some internet searching to try and find your Ph .D . from UC Davis, but was unsuccessful. You later e-mailed the Chief and stated you had called the person in charge of the alumni web page at UC Davis to have the information updated and you were told it should be ready in one or two days . The Chief replied with an e-mail asking for a paper copy of your Ph .D . degree or a signed thesis page . You responded by saying you would make some phone calls and get back to him the next day, after which he requested that you call him the following morning (or words to that effect). (Exhibit #18) You continued to avoid telling the Chief the truth concerning your lack of a Ph .D . from UC Davis by indicating you were still working on getting the verification documentation he was requesting from UC Davis, perpetuating the deception .
9 . On December 10, 2008, you called the Chief and requested to meet with him in the late afternoon, after your training class . At that time, you admitted that you did not have a Ph .D, from UC Davis, but rather an on-line Ph .D . in Applied Statistics from Thornhill University, dated June 28, 2007, or words to that effect . In addition, you stated that you received the certificate from Thornhill University after listing your accomplishments and paying a $1,000 fee (or words to that effect) .
The air board unanimously adopted the diesel rules that Tran's research was used to justify two days later. At the hearing at which the rules were adopted, Tran's deception was not disclosed.
The rules -- described in an L.A. Times' account as the "most expensive" ever adopted by the air board -- are widely expected to be copied around the world.
So the research by a known fraudster is accepted as honest?
Sadly, diesel is exactly the solution needed.
CA is going to kill itself and possibly take the rest of the country with it.
bump
Just like the law, one only gets the Science one pays for.
I wish Dr. Bill Wattenburg would take the gloves off, and quit referring to these people using grade school terms like “nincompoops”. They are criminals.
Sad but apparently true. I don’t think the scientific community realize the damage they are doing to themselves by allowing this the go on. Eventually, when it happens, they will be surprised by the real truth commissions to come.
Somebody needs to call “foul.”
Those nut job regs are perfect for Mexican truckers to come in and haul produce under the NAFTA loophole...WLW am 700 has a trucking topics show which comes on 12pm edt. I don’t know who the host will be tonight they switch off but if you link to WLW and tonight’s host I suggest you email him this report.I’d give you the link but I’m not sure of what it is I do have it linked in my web index page scroll past articles to links
http://www.theusmat.com/
al gore flunked out of graduate school in theology,
and has no scientific credentials.
air resource board is a fraud ont eh taxpayers, it should be disbanned. thanks for all the worhtless smog checks, driving us broke. they monitor the equipment, wrong part and you fail, wrong engine you fail. even if the new engine burns 90% cleaner than the original motor (which can oft be the case for a vintage car being updated with a new motor)
yes the air resource nazis will fail your car even if it passes the actual comprehensive, expensive dyno tail pipe test simply becuase you upgraded it with a part they did not pre-approve. this makes the home hobbiest car mechanic at a big finacial and legal dead end.
we can not per their crazy rules put in a motor that spits out 1/10 the smog on the smog tested cars!(admititly we can do it if we jump thru all their hoops, add extra equipment, blah, blah, blah.
no the bastards are regulating CO2, this is nuts. all hope lost. this is the end times. crazy insane people running the place.
Not a freakin' chance!
Spelling, grammar, and punctuation are not merely outdated concepts; they are useful tools in composing an understandable sentence or two.
Give them a try some time.
None of this surprises me in the least.
We have this, the fact that we elected a plagiarizer as VP, and a President who thinks that there are 57 freaking states. So what if this professor bought his Ph.d online? It’s ok in Zero’s Amerika to lie your tailpipe off to get ahead...after all, how do you think he got elected?
This story being discussed by Dr Bill Wattenburg on KGO this evening. A caller brought it to his attention.
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