Buying 'Science'?

There is a worrying report detailing the degree of 'secret funding' supporting the activities of 'climate change deniers' in the USA and the UK (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/feb/15/secret-funding-climate-sceptics-not-restricted-us?INTCMP=SRCH) and my initial response was shock/horror. It certainly makes evaluating the evidence for and against studies on a phenomenon difficult enough for professionals and next to impossible for the general public. On reflection, however, I cannot deny that the funding of science by governments and even charities is clearly influenced by opinion and politics (sometimes involving the scientists themselves). I suppose that the most concerning aspects of the report are the claimed size of the funding pot, the clear 'black-balling' of certain organisations with respect to the possibility of their receiving cash and the apparent commercial interests of the donors. Evidence-led planning for human populations becomes very difficult in such circumstances.