Well I would nuance that, in that there are many interest groups why try to sway public opinion by posing as scientists. Like ANH I write code for and have worked with climate scientists, actual ones who have no real political or financial motivation and just really try to model the world around us as accurately as possible. So I guess it boils down to the definition of 'scientist'. I don't call every quack who get a book on Lulu or marketer who is paid to write scientific-sounding 'position papers' a scientist.