Heartland Institute a Demonic Organization

The Heartland Institute, a conservative free market Chicago based “think tank”, is probably more responsible than the Cato Institute or the George C. Marshall Institute for confusing the public about global warming and stalling congress from addressing its threat to humanity.

 In March 2013, in time for Earth Day, Heartland mailed a package of bogus information to, according to them, every school teacher, college professor, politician, and media contact in America attempting to vilify established peer reviewed science and legitimate scientists with their lies and misinformation. Heartland was also on a rampage trying to dissuade teachers from teaching science in America’s school rooms.

This package contained a book entitled, The Mad, Mad, Mad World of Climatism. It also included a 10 minute DVD entitled Unstoppable Solar Cycles: The Real Story of Greenland, a general brochure of the Heartland Institute, and a postcard slamming Al Gore showing a bogus CO2 time line claiming to prove that the planet is cooling, a claim running totally against all legitimate scientific observations.

This mailing campaign is extremely audacious considering the immense damage they did to themselves during their 7^th Annual Conference on Climate Change in Chicago when they posted an add on a billboard along the Eisenhower Expressway with a picture of Unabomber Ted Kaczynski saying, “I still believe in Global Warming. Do you?” They also planned to run follow-up billboards with Osama bin Laden, Charles Manson, and Fidel Castro.

Heartland’s justification for the ads, “Because what these murderers and madmen have said differs very little from what spokespersons for the United Nations, journalists for the “mainstream” media, and liberal politicians say about global warming.”

It is well known that oil tycoons the Koch Brothers, EXXON, and other fossil related companies heavily finance the Heartland Institute.  But after the billboard debacle 22 smaller corporate donors pulled their support. Considering the diabolical intentions of the Heartland Institute it is amazing that AT&T, Microsoft, Comcast, and the US Chamber of Commerce still finance their shenanigans. Shame on them! 

Now, to conceal donor contributions they filter the money through organizations like the Philanthropy Roundtable, Donors Trust, and Donors Capital Fund. While the investigation is going on at the IRS for stalling Tea Party nonprofit applications, they should also investigate the Heartland Institutes IRS violations.

Heartland’s diabolical fame began with their alliance with the tobacco industry. They worked with Philip Morris to create doubt about the science linking second-hand smoke to health risks. Then they nefariously defended RJ Reynolds’ “Joe Camel” campaign targeting kids to start smoking by making it look cool to smoke Joe Camel Cigarettes.  They used their scientist Fred Singer to dispute that tobacco is a health risk and now they cart Singer out to dispute the peer reviewed science about climate change.   

In contrast to Heartland’s claims, a report released by the International Energy Agency (IEA) about 2012 carbon dioxide emissions show that world CO2 concentrations rose 1.4 percent in 2012 to a record high of 31.6 billion tons. At this rate of increase the world is on track to push global temperatures up to between 6.5 and 9.5 degrees Fahrenheit. Climate scientists warn that to maintain a livable planet we cannot exceed a 3.6 degree Fahrenheit increase. This report is bad news - very bad news - and we haven’t even begun to deal with CO2 emissions yet. In fact, we pump 90 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere every 24 hours by burning fossil fuels and CO2 concentration in the atmosphere averages 397 parts per million (PPM) and twice has spiked to over 400 PPM, the highest since humans have inhabited the planet.

Besides fossil fuel industry money, what drives people at the Heartland Institute to be so diabolical? They are profoundly responsible for delaying actions that would cut CO2 and limit the impacts of climate change. Their actions have condemned future generations, our children and grandchildren, to an unpredictable and perilous world.  

Why we need a tax and dividend policy on fossil fuels

Here's a great article.

http://news.sudanvisiondaily.com/article.html?rsnpaid=647

Environmentalists, understandably, have been loath to make the fossil-fuel industry their enemy -- respecting its political power and hoping instead to convince these giants that they should turn away from coal, oil and gas and transform themselves more broadly into "energy companies."

Sometimes that strategy appeared to be working - emphasis on appeared.

Around the turn of the century, for instance, BP made a brief attempt to restyle itself as "Beyond Petroleum," adapting a logo that looked like the sun and sticking solar panels on some of its gas stations. But its investments in alternative energy were never more than a tiny fraction of its budget for hydrocarbon exploration, and after a few years, many of those were wound down as new CEOs insisted on returning to the company's "core business." In December, BP finally closed its solar division. Shell shut down its solar and wind efforts in 2009. The five biggest oil companies have made more than $1 trillion in profits since the millennium - there's simply too much money to be made on oil and gas and coal to go chasing after zephyrs and sunbeams.

Much of that profit stems from a single historical accident: Alone among businesses, the fossil-fuel industry is allowed to dump its main waste, carbon dioxide, for free. Nobody else gets that break - if you own a restaurant, you have to pay someone to cart away your trash, since piling it in the street would breed rats. But the fossil-fuel industry is different, and for sound historical reasons:

Until a quarter-century ago, almost no one knew that CO2 was dangerous. But now that we understand that carbon is heating the planet and acidifying the oceans, its price becomes the central issue.

If you put a price on carbon, through a direct tax or other methods, it would enlist markets in the fight against global warming.

Once Exxon has to pay for the damage its carbon is doing to the atmosphere, the price of its products would rise.

Consumers would get a strong signal to use less fossil fuel - every time they stopped at the pump, they'd be reminded that you don't need a semi-military vehicle to go to the grocery store. The economic playing field would now be a level one for nonpolluting energy sources.

And you could do it all without bankrupting citizens - a so-called "fee-and-dividend" scheme would put a hefty tax on coal and gas and oil, then simply divide up the proceeds, sending everyone in the country a check each month for their share of the added costs of carbon.

By switching to cleaner energy sources, most people would actually come out ahead. There's only one problem: Putting a price on carbon would reduce the profitability of the fossil-fuel industry.

After all, the answer to the question "How high should the price of carbon be?" is "High enough to keep those carbon reserves that would take us past two degrees safely in the ground." The higher the price on carbon, the more of those reserves would be worthless.

The fight, in the end, is about whether the industry will succeed in its fight to keep its special pollution break alive past the point of climate catastrophe, or whether, in the economists' parlance, we'll make them internalize those externalities. 

Here's a must see video: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/09/rachel-maddow-video_0_n_3244328.html?utm_hp_ref=daily-brief?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=050913&utm_medium=email&utm_content=NewsEntry&utm_term=Daily%20Brief

Lets do the carbon tax the right way

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported atmospheric CO2 levels reached 395 parts per million (PPM) this year.  That’s 115 PPM higher than any time in at least 800,000 years, and it’s shocking!

 CO2 thickens the atmosphere trapping heat and moisture.  The more moisture trapped the worse droughts and storms become.  Humans pump 90 million tons of CO2 up there every 24 hours by burning fossil fuels.

Peer-reviewed science proving climate change is overwhelming.  The supposed disagreement among climate scientists about the reality of climate change is a manufactured myth created by fossil industry financed “think tanks” like the Heartland Institute and the Heritage Foundation and repeated by their brainwashed paranoid conspiratorial followers.

If “seeing is believing” losing 75% of the arctic sea ice last year should be enough to convince anyone that global warming is real. Since most people never see the arctic, shouldn’t witnessing terrible heat waves, droughts, wildfires, dust storms, and tornadoes; seeing super storms like Katrina and Sandy; seeing weird snowstorms and unusually strong consistent winds convince us?

Solar, wind, and geothermal are clean energy sources poised to replace fossil fuels. Right now, the playing field is stacked against clean energy. The US fossil industry in 2012 was subsidized to the tune of $4 Billion by taxpayers. They also are the most profitable industry on the planet which gives them unprecedented political influence and a mighty sledge hammer to stall clean energy development.

Amusingly, the paranoid conspirators that deny global warming are the first to accuse environmentalists of being socialist commies. Well, what’s more socialist than American tax payers subsidizing the fossil industry while they fleece our wallets? Perhaps Exxon should be renamed The People’s Oil Company of America!

What do we do about it? The most efficient way to stop addiction to fossil fuels is to impose a carbon tax on them.  Carbon tax legislation has been proposed a few times in congress resulting with the expected kneejerk reaction from the fossil industry, their paranoid harlequins, and fossil financed legislators.

The fossil financed government would have you believe that a carbon tax will ruin our economy, yet Alaska has had a carbon tax, or “dividend”, since 1982. This dividend is paid to Alaska’s citizens for the oil extracted from their state. Alaskan residents living there for at least one calendar year are eligible to receive the dividend. The lowest dividend paid out was $331.29 in 1984 and the highest was $2,069 in 2008.

A big concern is how a carbon tax would be managed. Dr. James Hansen, former Director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies at NASSA proposes a fee on carbon at its source - a coal mine or an oil or gas well head. But unlike other proposals he wants the dividend to, “go directly to US citizens as a rebate on their tax bills; not one dime to make the government bigger.” That’s not much different than what has been going on in Alaska for 31 years. This dividend will offset the initial higher energy costs as the industry shifts from dirty carbon to clean energy. 

Hanson’s proposal is better than proposals that direct the dividend into government coffers where the public will probably never get it. An example is the Land &Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) that is also predicated on oil extraction. President Eisenhower initiated it in 1964. A miniscule percentage of off-shore oil drilling revenues amounting to around $900 million a year was to be set aside each year to fund conservation projects in all 50 states.  Well, LWCF was never declared a “dedicated” fund so congress rarely fully funds it. Instead they pilfer it every year to balance the general budget or to finance pork projects.  Even Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) isn’t safe from government pilfering. Alaska’s government is trying to pass bills to take that money to help balance their general budget.

We need a carbon tax to level the playing field between the fossil industry and the clean energy industry. The only proposed plan that will work is a fee/dividend plan. Anything that allows our inept government to get their greedy fingers on the dividend money will never help humanity survive the climate crisis. 

Lets Fix Congress

The 2012 Gallup poll found that 83 percent of Americans disapprove of the way Congress is doing its job. Our government was created to be governed “by the people; for the people” but it has lost itself in an ideologically partisan quagmire governed “by the corporations; for the corporations and by the top one percent wealthiest people” at the expense of the rest of us.

Since Congress can’t govern anymore, it’s time “we the people” to take our government back. As a result, a non-partisan effort called No Labels is working to bring Congressional Republicans, Democrats and independents together to work on issues facing our country.  It’s chaired by Republican former Governor Jon Huntsman and Democratic Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia.

No Labels is asking Congress to follow some specific principles: Fix the filibuster, no budget no pay, form a bipartisan leadership committee, bipartisan seating at congressional sessions, and an up or down vote on Presidential appointments to name a few. You can get the complete and comprehensive list at www.Nolabels.org.  

Twenty five members of Congress have already signed on, agreeing to become “problem solvers” and meet as a group once a month. Local signers include Republicans Charlie Dent of the Lehigh Valley area and Mike Fitzpatrick of Bucks County. You can see who the rest are here: http://www.nolabels.org/friends-no-labels.

We, in Jim Gerlach’s district would like to see Representative Jim Gerlach on this list. We want Gerlach to end the gridlock in Congress.

No Labels hopes to enlist 75 members of Congress by the end of 2013. I have asked Representative, Jim Gerlach to sign on. I encourage you to ask your congressmen to do the same.  More information can be obtained at www.NoLabels.org.

Great article about climate mitigation

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/sunday-review/its-not-easy-being-green.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130210&_r=0

Forest Gump always said, " And that's all I have to say about that!"

This about sums it up for climate change.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxQNy8G1cIQ

The National Climate Data Center reports that October was the 332nd consecutive month of above average temperatures. That means that anyone 27 years-old or under has never seen a colder-than-average month in their lives.

CO2 Levels are the Real Issue but few are paying attention

Please watch this short video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxQNy8G1cIQ&feature=plcp

Hurricane Sandy and Climate Change

Hurricane Sandy is predicted to potentially be the largest hurricane observed in the northeastern United States. Just last year, we got socked to the tune of $15.6 billion in damages by hurricane Irene.  Hurricanes, like heat waves and droughts are becoming more frequent and more extreme. This is what climatologists have been warning us will happen if we keep burning fossil fuels.

Every 24 hours humans pump 91 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere?  CO2 lingers in the atmosphere for over 100 years.  As a result, the CO2 concentration has jumped from an 800,000 average of 280 parts per million to today’s 393 parts per million. That’s a very sudden jump of 113 parts per million!

The more CO2 in the atmosphere, the hotter the atmosphere gets. The hotter the atmosphere gets, the more moisture it holds. The more moisture it holds the bigger and more frequent the storms get. As the atmosphere gets hotter it causes severe storms and flooding in some areas and heat waves cause severe droughts and wildfires in other areas. 

The CO2 we put in the atmosphere comes from burning fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and natural gas. For example, with every gallon of gas you burn, you put 20 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere and that stays up there for over a hundred years. Even the Marcellus Shale natural gas that our government touts as our energy future is a fossil fuel and puts 117 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere for every one million BTUs of energy it creates.  Keep in mind; we pump 91 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere every 24 hours.

This summer we saw 75% of the Arctic Polar Ice Cap melt away, we saw record heat waves, droughts and wild fires, so there is now no doubt that global warming is happening. If we plan to survive on this planet, we have to stop burning oil, coal and natural gas as quickly as possible.

Think about it like this; you are in a car speeding toward a solid wall. If you speed past a given point, applying the brakes will be too late to avoid a fatal crash. We have already passed that line pumping CO2 into the atmosphere. We are passed the point of avoiding a collision but we still have a short window of time to prevent it from being fatal.

Politicians and fossil fuel industry people say it will hurt the economy to change to clean green energy. But, you know what? Switching to clean energy will boost our economy and create jobs. How many Katrina’s, Irene’s, and Sandy’s do we have to pay damages for before we figure it out?

 But, the most baffling consideration is: If we don’t stop burning fossil fuels right now when we hit the wall the economy will be a moot point!

Why Won't Candidates Talk About Global Warming?

Why isn’t climate change being discussed in the Presidential debates? It is the most ominous threat to the survival of humanity, yet not only are our presidential candidates not talking about it, they are talking about burning more fossil fuels as part of their future energy plans.

 Every 24 hours humans pump 91 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere?  CO2 lingers in the atmosphere for over 100 years.  As a result, the CO2 concentration has jumped from an 800,000 average of 280 parts per million to today’s 393 parts per million. That’s a very sudden jump of 113 parts per million!

The more CO2 in the atmosphere, the hotter the atmosphere gets. The hotter the atmosphere gets, the more moisture it holds. The more moisture it holds the bigger and more frequent the storms get. As the atmosphere gets hotter it causes severe storms and flooding in some areas and heat waves cause severe droughts and wildfires in other areas. 

The CO2 we put in the atmosphere comes from burning fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and natural gas. For example, with every gallon of gas you burn, you put 20 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere and that stays up there for over a hundred years. Keep in mind; we pump 91 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere every 24 hours.

This summer we saw 75% of the Arctic Polar Ice Cap melt away, we saw record heat waves, droughts and wild fires, so there is now no doubt that global warming is happening. If we plan to survive on this planet, we have to stop burning oil, coal and natural gas as quickly as possible.

Think about it like this; you are in a car speeding toward a solid wall. If you speed past a given point, applying the brakes will be too late to avoid a fatal crash. That’s where we are now pumping CO2 into the atmosphere. We have now passed the point of avoiding a collision but we still have a short window of time to prevent it from being fatal.

Politicians and fossil fuel industry people say it will hurt the economy to change to clean green energy. But, you know what? Switching to clean energy will boost our economy and create jobs. But, the most baffling consideration is: If we don’t stop burning fossil fuels right now when we hit that wall the economy will be a moot point!

This season's Arctic sea ice loss was over 75% of it's original area. Only around 24% remained this year. This year's loss was equivalent to the land mass of Alaska and Canada combined. NOAA says that ElNinio has stalled. No one has an idea what impact that will have on weather but it is suspected that it will extend droughts in the south western United States.

Hilarious Must See Video - Please watch

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/09/04/792061/must-see-video-what-if-a-tv-weather-forecaster-told-the-truth/?fb_action_ids=4167204615070&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481237582

This part of the latest NOAA report about global temperatures:


Global Highlights
• The average combined global land and ocean surface temperature for July 2012 was 0.62°C (1.12°F) above the 20th century average of 15.8°C (60.4°F). This is the fourth warmest July since records began in 1880.

• The globally-averaged land surface temperature for July 2012 was the third warmest July on record, at 0.92°C (1.66°F) above average.

• The Northern Hemisphere land surface temperature for July 2012 was the all-time warmest July on record, at 1.19°C (2.14°F) above average.

• ENSO-neutral conditions continued in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean during July 2012 as sea surface temperature anomalies in that region continued to rise. The average July worldwide ocean surface temperature ranked as the seventh warmest July on record.

• The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for January–July 2012 was the 10th warmest such period on record, at 0.53°C (0.95°F) above the 20thcentury average.

Richard Whiteford

Humans are at the fulcrum point of deciding; do we want to continue pursuing unbridled unsustainable capitalism and destroy our earthly life support system, in which case economy will become a moot point; or do we make environmental protection and health our top priority and survive as a species?

There isn’t a more perfect example of why money should be removed from our political process than Senator James Inhofe (R-OKL).  He’s the epitome of a bought politician.

There are few as zealous against environmental protection as he. His most recent escapade was championing a bill S.J. Res 37 using an obscure Congressional Review Act to try to block the EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule. Lucky for humanity, he lost.

The EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards require steep reductions of mercury, lead, arsenic, and other toxic pollutant emissions from coal-fired power plants.  It is estimated that the reduction of these pollutants will save 11,000 lives annually, prevent more than 100,000 asthma and heart attacks yearly, and it’s estimated to reduce associated medical cost by $80 billion annually.

Senator Inhofe is also one of the staunchest deniers of climate change. He held witch hunt hearings against established peer-reviewed climatologists like Dr. James Hansen at NASA and Dr. Michael Mann, a scientist on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) trying to discredit them by misquoting their scientific reports and telling outright lies about their science.

In his effort to discredit real climatologists, Inhofe pushed junk non peer-reviewed science and quack scientists like Fred Singer, Richard Lindzen, and Frederick Sietz whose fake “science” has been publicly summarily and repeatedly debunked. They also have been exposed for receiving thousands, in some cases millions, of dollars from the fossil fuel industry either directly or funneled indirectly through extreme conservative “think tanks” like The Heartland Institute and the George C. Marshal Institute. Basing his “proof” that climate change is a hoax on their phony science, Inhofe coined his infamous phrase, “climate change is the biggest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people”. He, more than anyone, is responsible for derailing vital climate change legislation in congress. 

If his campaign contributions were overlooked one might think he were insane. After all, on the Rachel Maddow Show on March 15, 2012 Inhofe said, “I was actually on your side on the issue (global warming) when I was chairing the committee (Senate Environmental Committee) and I first heard about this. I thought it must be true until I found out what it would cost (to fix it).”  What?

Perhaps he meant to say, how much it paid to be a denier. According to Opensecrets, Inhofe accepted $311,800 in oil contributions during the 110^th Congress.  He received $662,506 from oil companies between 2000 and 2008, making him the top congressional recipient of oil money.  He has received $152,800 in coal industry contributions during the 110^th Congress.  Opensecrets listed Inhofe’s top five campaign contributors from 2005 to 2010 as: Koch Industries - $41,800, Murray Energy - $31,100, Reed Elsevier Inc. - $29,450, OEG Energy - $21,800, and Contran Corp - $21,500. Inhofe’s campaign contributions from the fossil fuel industry since 1998 total $1,189,050. No wonder he’s against environmental regulations! While he was receiving all of this money he’s been serving on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works; as Chairman from 2003 to 2007 and now as Ranking Minority member. Talk about the fox in the hen house!

After his junk science and his quack scientists were summarily discredited, he tried a new tactic - religion. In a radio interview with Vic Eliason on Voice of Christian Youth America, Inhofe said “only God can change the climate, and the idea that manmade pollution could affect the seasons is “arrogance”. In his book, The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Future, Inhofe quotes Genesis 8:22, “as long as the Earth remains there will be springtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night “, as his biblical foundation for disbelieving human caused climate change.

Meanwhile scientists measure 91 million tons of CO2 pumping into the atmosphere globally every 24 hours. They watched CO2 levels rise 116 parts per million (PPM) in the last 120 years, or so, to today’s 396.18 PPM. This steep jump in CO2 levels comes after an 800,000 year period of CO2 levels hovering at a steady natural average of around 280 PPM. That sudden jump is not natural and we know it comes directly from burning fossil fuels. Scientists also observe the ten hottest years on record occurring since 1998. To continuing to burn fossil fuels is total insanity.

Now, if Senator Inhofe were so religiously inspired where is his love and compassion for the humans that suffer now from pollution and climate change around the planet?  In fact, considering that his state, Oklahoma, suffered from extreme droughts and tornadoes in 2011 and ranchers lost over 117,000 head of cattle, and many their livelihoods, how can he possibly deny climate change and keep a straight face?  

Campaign financing PAC and Super PAC money keeps legislators like him in power. Inhofe doesn’t represent the people of Oklahoma; he’s a pimp for the fossil fuel industry.  His brand of politician is destroying our democracy and our ability to survive on this planet.

 It’s all about money, but if we disrupt earth’s life support system, the economy will be a moot point.  It’s time for people to pay attention and change the system.

Wild fires, wild storms, early excessive heat. CO2 levels at the highest ever, now 396.48 PPM. That's 116 PPM higher than any time in at least the last 800,000 years.

My testimony at the EPA last week:

May, 24, 2012
EPA Docket Center
Room 3334,
1301 Constitution Ave., NW,
Washington, DC, 20460. 

Reference: Public hearings on proposed carbon pollution standard for new power plants.

I’m sure you know that CO2 levels are now at 396.18 parts per million (PPM) according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That’s over 116 PPM higher than any time in the last 800,000 years during which it hovered around 280 PPM. That increase happened in roughly the last 120 years.

We know beyond any doubt that this rapid increase is due to humans burning fossil fuels. We are also seeing the effects of this level of CO2 in frequent and severe storms in some areas and more prolonged severe droughts in others. These events are causing billions of dollars in property and business losses and displacing millions of people globally. It will, in the near future, cause catastrophic disruption to water supplies, agriculture production, and food availability to millions of people on several continents leading to famine and wars.

Due to this, and given no matter how you burn oil, gas, wood or coal, it’s end product is CO2 that further exacerbates the problem. That’s why this proposal for a carbon pollution standard for new power plants won’t work. 

 At this writing there is no known technology that can “reduce” CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels or to sequester it. That’s a pipe dream. Our only option is to stop burning it. Shift the oil company subsidies to non-carbon based energy technology as soon as possible and get that technology moving.

Much of the delay is caused from the politicization of climate change by anti-science campaigns well funded by the fossil fuel industry and orchestrated by “think tanks” like the Heartland Institute and the George C. Marshall Institute, to name a few. With the overwhelming peer-reviewed science that supports the fact that climate change is real, dangerous, and urgent, how did the government let hearsay triumph science?

The United States Government has squandered precious time by not taking this problem serious enough years ago when we could have lessened the impacts of climate change by keeping CO2 levels lower. What’s even worse, the United States’ leadership on the world stage has been abysmal causing critical delays in worldwide cooperation.

The Administration needs to get some backbone, shut the climate deniers up, and get us off of fossil fuels now. For the sake of the continuation of the human race why in the name of God aren’t you doing this?
Richard Whiteford – The Climate Reality Project
908 Covington Drive

Downingtown, PA 19335   610-246-7974 - Savebisophere3@verizon.net

“Follow the money” advised Deep Throat, the clandestine informer in the movie All the President’s Men about the Watergate break-in. Well, that advice also applies to the massive disinformation campaign financed by the fossil fuel industry and promoted by the Heartland Institute to convince government officials and the public that climate change is a hoax in spite of the fact that peer reviewed science and every National Academy of Science on the planet proves otherwise.

 Very little of Heartland’s anti-climate “science” is peer reviewed which means that it is not really science. Much of it comes from the infamous Fred Singer and his phony Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP). Fred Singer is the “scientist” that the tobacco industry held up against medical research to claim that smoking doesn’t cause cancer. Then the chemical industry paraded him out to claim that CFC’s didn’t destroy ozone in the atmosphere. Now, in perfect succession, he goes against overwhelming evidence that proves climate change is very real and at a very dangerous level. In fact Singer is so bogus that he listed Fredrick Seitz as Chairman of SEPP on his IRS 990 forms for two years after Seitz died.  Not only that, there are some highly questionable money transactions being investigate with both SEPP and Heartland along with a few other “think tanks”.

The Heartland Institute boasts of feeding their disinformation to 7,300 state elected officials and 8,400 county and local officials. They say “they reach more elected officials, more often, than any other think tank in the U.S.” Considering that Heartland is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization with restrictions on lobbying activities it would seem they are in violation of the nonprofit laws.

In preparation for its International Conference on Climate Change from May 21 - 23 in Chicago, Heartland sponsored the most sophomoric hysterically lunatic billboard campaign depicting people who believe in the peer reviewed proven climate science as being like some of the world’s most notorious criminals like Charles Manson, Ted Kaczynski, the infamous Unabomber, and Osama bin Laden. Really now!

Considering all of the above, who in their right mind would give the Heartland Institute the time of day – other than likeminded paranoids?  Besides the fossil fuel industry and the tobacco industry it will be interesting to see who continues to fund them, and even more interesting, who with any serious level of credibility will be willing to be seen in public with them. 

Here's a great link to an analysis of how the planet is heating up:
http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/03/16/445846/breaking-news-the-earth-is-still-warming-a-lot/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+climateprogress%2FlCrX+%28Climate+Progress%29