“When a number of the leading scientists in a field are caught with their hands in the cookie jar and very few scientists in the same field complain or even comment”
Ay, that is the key to people not taking it seriously regardless of it’s merits. There was no shortage of people crying foul when it came out that Hwang Woo-suk faked his cloning research. He was fired, faced criminal charges, and is no longer a voice in that field.
Climate science is full of ethical lapses and data corruptions – no problem, but why are those same voices (and their studies) still leading the way? That points to a larger corruption, be it bullying or collusion, making the whole thing damaged goods.