Op-ed: Clock is running out on Heartland Institute

Posted on May 22, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Hateful billboard campaign and misleading conference talks a sign of desperation among global warming deniers

The residents of Tuvalu are very concerned about global warming and sea level rise, despite the best efforts of the Heartland Institute to convince them everything is going to be OK. PHOTO BY STEFAN LINS VIA THE CREATIVE COMMONS.

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — In a bizarre convocation, oil-smeared pseudo-scientists mingled with right-wing think tankers at the Heartland Institute’s annual anti-science climate conference, an event that would be funny if there weren’t so much at stake.

The panel sessions focused on launching repeated ideological and political attacks against efforts to curb global warming. In one of the first sessions, meteorologist Joe Bastardi invoked bible verses to end his presentation, suggesting that God is in charge of the climate, and that human efforts to cut greenhouse gases are meaningless in the big picture.

The day ended with Czech President Václav Klaus charging that climate activists are “exactly like communists” in their efforts to arrange society according to their desires.

In between, speakers said not to worry about malaria because, hey, we can simply start using DDT again, and that a warming climate is good for forests and agriculture — notwithstanding clear evidence that forests around the world are under stress as temperatures rise, and that rice farmers in Asia are already seeing impacts of climate change. (more…)

Filed under: climate and weather, commentary, Environment, global warming, op-ed | Tagged: , , , , , | 31 Comments »

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