Over the weekend, Greenpeace released several documents received through the Freedom of Information Act that show scientist Wei-Hock Soon, who rebuts the scientific consensus about man-made climate change, received more than $1.2 million from Exxon Mobil, the American Petroleum Institute, Southern Company and the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation.

It is troubling news considering Soon did not disclose the money on at least 11 papers since 2008, reports The New York Times.

"I write proposals; I let them decide whether to fund me or not. If they choose to fund me, I'm happy to receive it. ... I would never be motivated by money for anything," Soon said in 2013 in his defense.

Greenpeace expressed outrage on its blog.

"For years, we at Greenpeace have been working to make public the secret paper trails that show what everyone already knows: climate science deniers -- #Fakexperts -- are few and far between, and most of them are paid by companies most responsible for global warming to downplay the problem," the environmental group said.

Soon, who works for the well-respected Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, is recognized as the expert on climate changes. The Heartland Institute gave him the "Courage in Defense of Science Award." He has addressed the Kansas Legislature to lend evidence to support Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe (R) and his notion climate change is a hoax.

Conservatives discredit the weekend's revelations regarding Soon's funding.

"[The New York Times] smears scientist Willie Soon for telling the truth about 'Global Warming,'" James Delingpole wrote in a Breitbart blog. "There's nothing new or scandalous about this latest New York Times hit job on poor Willie Soon. It's just a continuation of a vendetta, which has been waged for years against an honest, decent, hardworking -- and incredibly brave -- scientist who refuses to toe the official (and increasingly discredited) line on man-made global warming."

No matter the legitimacy of Greenpeace's document, Delingpole and conservatives condemn anything presented by what they call the "warmist establishment."

"Ideological filters" explain this phenomenon, wrote Andrew J. Hoffman, Professor of Sustainable Enterprise, in the Stanford Social Innovation Review.

"We'll consider evidence when it is accepted or, ideally, presented by a knowledgeable source from our cultural community; and we'll dismiss information that is advocated by sources that represent groups whose values we reject," Hoffman wrote.

According to Hoffman, the climate change debate is more about "culture, worldviews and ideology" than it is about science.

Soon has his own ideas about those who disagree with him, which he shared with the Boston Globe during a 2013 interview. "Those people are so out of their minds," he said at the time of scientists who claim man-made climate change is real and worrisome. Soon also dismissed them as "crazy," adding, "and they call this science."

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