We're not going to agree - but perhaps there's something here where you might change your mind.
If an academic paper has a PhD or doctorate student as the author, they're likely on less than £15k per year.
The average academic researcher salary at the University of Oxford - across all seniorities - is £34k.
The average Comms salary at Shell, is £62k.
You don't go into academics to make money. You leave academics to make money.
I'm not disagreeing that the "Political think-tank-public-facing" type people are paid handsomely. But these are not the people churning out papers supporting climate change. I agree that you're not going to get a research grant from a reputable university with a thesis like that - but you might well get funding elsewhere. Case in point - Patrick Michaels. Prominent denier of severity/cause of environmental issues - receiving many hundreds of thousands of dollars from energy groups.
To believe that the average highly qualified academic has stayed in research for the money is ridiculous. To the contrary - it's hugely depressing to see how many of the brightest minds leave academia and research for finance, banking and other more lucrative industries.
Have a read of this
