Gosselin is reporting that a prominent engineer has resigned from one of France's learned societies over its bad behaviour on climate change - SEII, which appears to be an interdisciplinary body, disinvited two prominent sceptics from its conference after pressure from the IPCC.
Thanks to Messenger for this rough translation of the resignation letter:
For the attention of M Philippe Wauters, President
Subject: the resignation of all my commissions exercised on behalf of the SEII and cancellation of my position as member of the SEII.
It has come to my knowledge that the official document put out by the Secretary General in which he informed the Administrators with regard to the Climategate affair.
The SEII Executive, had by a very large majority, reiterated its trust in you, despite the factual evidence which I had supplied earlier, establishing the reality of the lies you had told them. It appears that, after (although?} this has been denied in writing, you would do well to remember that you had made an intervention through a “third party”, as he was discreetly called in the Secretary General’s letter to the Administrators, this intervention by a third party being in fact a letter of protest [declaration?] from Prof. VAN YPERSELE. For myself, to put it plainly, this action was nothing other than the trafficking of influence, based on defamatory declarations that you had not taken the trouble to verify yourself and you would have been better to admit that you had come under external pressure from SEII [for?] appearing to censure those who defended a point of view which was opposite to that of M. VAN YPERSELE and those authorities that he represents. These facts are incontestable, whatever casuistical arguments you are tempted to develop to suggest that I had committed a serious fault in procedure. In the absence of any limits in the extremely woolly definition of the commissions with which I had been entrusted during the setting up of the activities of the SEII, and more precisely, in those appearing to be the direction of a [cut-price?] philosophical “café” dedicated to the climate controversy, I really can’t see which procedure I would have failed to follow in the simple execution of the repetitive activity of the working group which I was involved with for more than a year. When the action of sending an agenda or the minutes of a meeting from the working group of the SEII, or the temptation to invite new members to join with him, for that is only certain and uniquely what was done in this instance, it seems to me that it is the rule that one should use paper with the SEII heading for this, and each time (to do) it without any input from the Bureau. Moreover, without the intervention of M. VAN YPERSELE, you would no longer have anything plausible you could find fault with, obviously, nothing which would not require the Bureau to remain coherent and objective in its judgments.
The facts which I reproach you for are strategic in nature for the SEII. To try to escape the blame by utilising arguments of procedure are specious and belittle you. It would have been better and more judicious to remember [how] you had been reduced by M VAN YPERSELE because of the reputation which he is once more enjoying in Belgium, in spite of his association with the most radical branch of Greenpeace. I have proof of it. On this occasion, having given you the opportunity of a week in which to review your position, [it appears} you do not wish to take it.
I can no longer accept that neither you nor the Executive Bureau share [the same] values which are dear to me and on which I have never compromised nor will ever compromise in the future. In consequence of which, I present you with my resignation from all the duties which I have performed on behalf of SEII. Also I no longer wish to appear on the list of members, nor to receive any more of your emails.
Above all, in this affair which brings us into conflict, I reserve for myself the freedom to plead my own good faith, which I can prove, by calling on people and authorities of my choice.
Yours faithfully