Heartland Institute, IPA caught out!

[Jovial Monk]

Oh dear, oh dear! scientists getting paid to talk about global warming! I bet Bolt is furiously typing away at a ringing expose of this scandal!



Doubt Bolt will say anything about this scandal. Scandal?

How about Dr Bob Carter getting paid $1600 per month by the Heartland Institute? Hmmmm Bob is a denialist, hmmmmm! Also named are the IPA, which always remind of what you see scuttling about when you lift a wet rock.

Read all about it: http://www.theage.com.au/environment/cl ... 1t7ho.html

Original Heartland Inst documents: http://www.desmogblog.com/heartland-ins ... d-strategy

Climate Denial Bombshell

A major event in the U.S. political battle over climate change happened this week with the unauthorized release of secret internal documents that reveal the finances and truly Machiavellian strategy of the Heartland Institute, a leading oil-industry-funded disinformation machine designed to spread propaganda and cast doubt on the settled science of anthropogenic global warming.

Tuesday morning, an anonymous person set up a Gmail account and used it to send incriminating internal strategy and budget documents to the email inboxes of bloggers who write about science denialism and climate change, then immediately cancelled the gmail account. The documents appear to be genuine and have been checked against other sources, which confirm their authenticity. If true, they show a pattern of breathtaking mendacity.

Take, for instance, the Heartland Institute's strategy of promoting climate science disinformation and propaganda in America's K-12 science classes, among the children who will be most impacted by it. The group is "pursuing a proposal from Dr. David Wojick to produce a global warming curriculum for K-12 schools." According to the Heartland Institute, Wojick is a consultant with the Office of Scientific and Technical Information at the U.S. Department of Energy in the area of information and communication science. Fair enough, except when you read on.

His effort will focus on providing curriculum that shows that the topic of climate change is controversial and uncertain -- two key points that are effective at dissuading teachers from teaching science.

There, in black and white in the group's strategy document, is the truly nefarious, unAmerican, bald-faced goal: to dissuade American science teachers from teaching science. The group plans to pay Wojick $100,000 do develop a 20-module curriculum of obfuscation.

Story broken by HuffPress: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shawn-law ... 78059.html

[IQS.RLOW]

Flannery is paid $180000/year to scaremonger and lie
Climate alarmists are financed by NGO's

[Mattus]

Oh dear, oh dear! scientists getting paid to talk about global warming!

A research institute employs a professor. This is hardly earth-shattering news.

"What they may make any payment to me for, I'm not discussing with anybody outside of my family."

Pretty sure he's now discussing it with JCU.

His effort will focus on providing curriculum that shows that the topic of climate change is controversial and uncertain -- two key points that are effective at dissuading teachers from teaching science.

That's taken way out of context. Their US Dept Energy expert believes global warming is uncertain. Uncertain science is not taught to children. Therefore the institute is seeking to prevent what they consider uncertain science being taught to children by having an expert point out that it is, in fact, uncertain.

There, in black and white in the group's strategy document, is the truly nefarious, unAmerican, bald-faced goal: to dissuade American science teachers from teaching science.

to dissuade American science teachers from teaching science which is uncertain.

The group plans to pay Wojick $100,000 do develop a 20-module curriculum of obfuscation.

They're paying an energy expert to correct what they see as an error in the current curriculum.


Look I think so long as these guys are disclosing these sorts of conflicts of interest whenever they are presenting themselves as an objective expert opinion on something then this is all fine. The science of global warming may be pretty solid, but science always has to stand up to close scrutiny by a sceptical expert peer. That's just how we roll!

[Jovial Monk]

Heartland Institute is a propaganda outfit financed by fossil fuel interests.

[Mattus]

Heartland Institute is a propaganda outfit financed by fossil fuel interests.

The same can be said of any not-for-profit in the world today.

The American Heart Association is a propaganda outfit financed by pharmaceutical interests

See how that works? I wouldn't question the opinion of an expert cardiologist because they held an AHA fellowship.

[Jovial Monk]

Another Oops for that “research body” the Hearland (propaganda) Institute:

Heartland associate taught 'biased' climate course at Ottawa university
Expert audit finds man connected with climate sceptic thinktank taught climate course to students at Carleton University

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2 ... CMP=twt_fd

[Outlaw Yogi]

Look I think so long as these guys are disclosing these sorts of conflicts of interest whenever they are presenting themselves as an objective expert opinion on something then this is all fine.

Tend to agree. I'm unfamiliar with the Heartland Institute, but I do know Bob Carter is somewhat of a fraud. Several years ago he was presented/portrayed as a climate expert, as in climatologist. He's not, he's a Marine Geologist and on the Institute of Public Affairs payroll, which is sponsored by the likes of Peabody coal (US company) via the NSW Minerals Council, and Carter does what he can to conceal his financial interest by only mentioning James Cook University.
And IMO, the IPA refering to itself as an 'institute' is somewhat fraudulent also, it's a lobby group.

[IQS.RLOW]

You should be scathing of just about all NGO environmental orgs as they are nothing but lobbyists ..the difference is that they also bolster their coffers from leftwing govts

You only have to look at Getup as a labor govt funded propaganda machine

That is truly disgusting in a democratic society

[Mattus]

Another Oops for that “research body” the Hearland (propaganda) Institute:

Heartland associate taught 'biased' climate course at Ottawa university
Expert audit finds man connected with climate sceptic thinktank taught climate course to students at Carleton University

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2 ... CMP=twt_fd

"The report from the Canadian Committee for the Advancement of Scientific Scepticism."

Now there's a legitimate sounding organization!

[Jovial Monk]

You do know scientists are sceptical by training?