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Why We Need Debate, Not Consensus, on Climate Change

The president of The Heartland Institute replies to Fred Krupp’s Wall Street Journal essay.

Dear Fred,

I read your August 7 opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal, “A New Climate-Change Consensus,” with great interest. As you know, The Heartland Institute is a leading voice in the international debate over climate change. The Economist recently called us “the world’s most prominent think-think promoting skepticism about man-made climate change.”

First, I welcome you to the effort to bring skeptics and alarmists together. We need your help. We have been trying to do this for many years.

For example, we ran more than $1 million in ads calling on Al Gore to debate his critics. He repeatedly refused. We hosted seven international conferences on climate change and invited alarmists to speak at every one, the most recent one held in Chicago on May 23-24. Only one ever showed up, and he was treated respectfully.

Regrettably, your colleagues in the liberal environmental movement responded at first by pretending we don’t exist, and when opinion polls and political decisions revealed that strategy wasn’t working, by denouncing us as “deniers” and “shills for the fossil fuel industry.”

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Pacific Institute Reinstates Gleick

The Board of Directors of the Pacific Institute announced yesterday it was “pleased to welcome Dr. Peter Gleick back to his position as president” of the organization. The announcement comes three months after Gleick, a prominent climate scientist, confessed to stealing confidential board documents from The Heartland Institute.

Gleick also circulated a memo, purportedly describing Heartland’s “climate strategy,” that he originally claimed to have received from Heartland, and later claimed to have received “in the mail” from an anonymous source. Heartland and others identified the memo as a fake and continue to believe it was most likely written by Gleick himself to damage Heartland’s reputation.

Since the “Fakegate” scandal broke in February, environmental groups including Greenpeace and 350.org have used the fake memo to launch disinformation campaigns against Heartland’s donors and the scientists who participate in its climate change research programs.

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The Heartland Institute and Tobacco

“Forecast the Facts,” a front-group created by environmentalists to attack The Heartland Institute, its donors, and the scientists it works with, has posted a one-page document on its Web site titled “Heartland Institute and Tobacco.”

The document consists of a paragraph of false and misleading claims meant to defame The Heartland Institute, followed by twelve bullet points consisting of quotations, the first six apparently by me (dates but not sources follow my name after each quotation) and six from persons not affiliated with The Heartland Institute, but possibly taken from Heartland’s Web sites. I have not tried to confirm the authenticity of the quotations attributed to me, and won’t.

The quotations from persons other than me do not represent the views of The Heartland Institute. Heartland hosts “PolicyBot,” an online search engine and database that contains more than 25,000 reports and commentaries from 350 sources. We are a clearinghouse for the work of other groups. You will find a wide range of opinions on many topics there, including tobacco control, not all of them representing Heartland’s positions.

A full statement of positions taken by Heartland’s spokespersons on tobacco control, last updated in 2007, appears on our Web site. Here, briefly, is what we have to say on this topic:

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Background on Fakegate

1.  What is Fakegate?

On February 14, 2012, an environmental activist named Peter Gleick sent to liberal activists and sympathetic journalists several documents he stole from The Heartland Institute, along with a fake memo he claimed was also from Heartland. On February 20, Gleick confessed to stealing the documents but claimed to have received the fake memo “in the mail” from an anonymous source.

The fake memo, titled “January 2012 Confidential Memo: 2012 Heartland Climate Strategy,” is a mixture of text copied and pasted from the stolen documents and original commentary by the forger. By distorting and misrepresenting the plans set forth in the stolen documents, the fake memo paints a false and disturbing picture of Heartland’s motives and tactics.

2.  What did the stolen documents reveal?

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New Evidence Released in Fakegate Global Warming Scandal

The Heartland Institute today released more evidence that Pacific Institute President Peter Gleick was the likely author of a fake “climate strategy memo” that Gleick originally claimed came from a “Heartland insider,” and later said he received “in the mail” from an anonymous source.

Heartland released a computer forensics report, conducted by Protek International, which states: “We conclude that the Memo did not originate on the Heartland System. It was not created on the Heartland System and was never present there prior to its February 14 posting online.”

The new report contradicts disgraced climate scientist Gleick’s claim to have received the memo from someone affiliated with The Heartland Institute and adds to a growing body of evidence pointing to Gleick’s guilt. A month ago, Juola & Associates, the premier provider of expert analysis and testimony in the field of text and authorship, said “it is more likely than not that Gleick is in fact the author/compiler of the document entitled ‘Confidential Memo: 2012 Heartland Climate Strategy,’ and further that the document does not represent a genuine strategy memo from the Heartland Institute.”

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Heritage Foundation President Ed Feulner Weighs in on Fakegate

Ed Feulner, president of the Heritage Foundation, penned a great run-down of Fakegate in today’s Washington Times. Mr. Feulner wrote: “Bravo to Heartland for standing up to the bullies.” We thank him for that, and the entire op-ed in the Times. Here’s the lead:

What could be more American than encouraging a robust debate on one of the most controversial issues of the day? The answer – for some on the left, anyway – is: Lie about your opponents, and make a pathetic effort to discredit them.

That, at least, is what an activist named Peter Gleick decided to do in a backward attempt to promote his view that global warming is unquestionably and primarily a man-made phenomenon – one that will cause calamitous changes in the environment.

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The Heartland Institute Replies to ‘Forecast the Facts’

For the past several weeks, a front-group calling itself “Forecast the Facts” has been contacting donors to The Heartland Institute demanding they publicly commit to withdrawing their financial support. The letters and emails being sent by this group contain false statements that are plainly meant to defame and harm The Heartland Institute. This is our reply.

Background

The campaign actually started on February 14, 2012, when Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute and a leading climate scientist, sent to liberal activists and sympathetic journalists several documents he stole from The Heartland Institute, along with a fake memo he claimed was also from Heartland. On February 20, Gleick confessed to stealing the documents but claimed he received the fake memo “in the mail” from an anonymous source.

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Heartland Institute Calls on Oxford to Cancel Speech by Admitted Thief Peter Gleick

‘All Honest Scientists Should Be Outraged’

The Heartland Institute today called on Oxford University to cancel the April 24 “Oxford Amnesty Lectures” event featuring disgraced climate scientist Dr. Peter H. Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute, who committed theft, fraud, and defamation in the “Fakegate” scandal – all potential crimes and an affront to scientists everywhere.

Gleick is slated to deliver a lecture on “The Human Right to Water” at the prestigious university just weeks after he admitted to stealing the identity of a board member of The Heartland Institute to obtain confidential documents – including personal information of Heartland employees and board members – which he subsequently sent to environmental activists and sympathetic journalists.

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Greenpeace: Destroying Coral Reefs To Save Them

Greenpeace has a long history of claiming to run campaigns dedicated to saving environmental sanctuaries. Yet they are happy to exploit the emotional impact of the destruction of nature to raise funds and recruit members, but less interested in acting to help maintain the earth.

In 2005 Greenpeace’s flagship Rainbow Warrior II ran aground at Tubbatha Reef Marine Park, in the Sulu Sea in the Philippines. Park Officials said almost 1,076 sq ft of precious coral reef had been damaged. The boat had been in the water to allow Greenpeace divers to inspect the reef for damage caused by global warming; they also used the moment to have a photo shoot. What they did not realize is they themselves were damaging the invaluable reefs.
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Greenpeace: Damaging the Fish Industry

Greenpeace is engaged in a scurrilous intimidation campaign against scientists who dare to differ from the climate-alarmist orthodoxy – and who are associated with The Heartland Institute’s efforts to promote their research. That’s a typical intimidation tactic of an organization with a sketchy reputation.

Gavin Gibbons, director of media relations for the National Fisheries Institute (NFI), wants every U.S. supermarket retailer to carefully consider in advance of Greenpeace’s annual “Carting Away the Oceans” report that’s due to be released in the coming weeks.

Gibbons says the annual seafood sustainability “rank and spank” report will again find retailers being asked to provide in-depth answers to more than 50 loaded questions about the sustainability of their seafood procurement programs, including shelf stable tuna.

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