Heartland Institute: Purveyors of Hoax, Lies, Deception, and Climate Change Misinformation

Last week, we reported on the news from DeSmogBlog regarding a recent article from Heartland Institute’s Dennis Avery identifying 500 scientists with “Documented Doubts about Global Warming Scares.”

The True Enemies of Free Thinkers

Now, it appears that Heartland is stepping all over itself, trying to maintain an appearance of legitimacy. Much too late. This is one more example of Heartland’s relentless climate misinformation campaign.

On the one hand, they have backed away from the “headline” that their “PR department had chosen” while attempting to demonize those scientists for having the gall to object to Heartland’s public deception, misuse of their name, and outright lies.


Fraud: \’ frod\ Function: noun  Etymology: Middle English fraude, from Anglo-French, from Latin fraud-, fraus Date: 14th century.
1 a: deceit, trickery; specifically: intentional perversion of truth in order to induce another to part with something of value or to surrender a legal right b: an act of deceiving or misrepresenting: trick.
2 a: a person who is not what he or she pretends to be: impostor; also: one who defrauds: cheat b: one that is not what it seems or is represented to be.


Heartland Institute Spreading the Zone with BS

One would think such a fine, vaunted institution (at least in their mind) might have better oversight of their “PR Department,” but in any case, aside from the misbegotten headline, Heartland Institute president Joseph Bast asserts in a statement that,

none of the articles and news releases produced by The Heartland Institute or the Hudson Institute (the original source of the lists) claims that all of the scientists who appear in the lists currently doubt that the modern warming is man-made.

As it now reads, the paper written by Heartland and Hudson Institute fellow Dennis Avery directly connects the scientists listed with the idea that

the peer-reviewed studies they have published in professional journals provid(e) historic and/or physical proxy evidence that:
1) Most of the recent global warming has been caused by a long, moderate, natural cycle rather than by the burning of fossil fuels: (and seven other equally off-base conclusions).”

To which a typical response from the scientists dragged into Heartland’s web of deceit is

“I have spent the last 20 years arguing the opposite,”

or

“I don’t believe any of my work can be used to support any of the statements listed in the article.”

(See more reactions from scientists on the DeSmogBlog.)

Nothing to See Here

Bast claims that the scientists are listed merely as bibliographic references and that their support for the assertion in Avery’s work is never stated, suggested, or implied.

Heartland is hoping that nobody reads the paper. So go ahead and see for yourself.

Finally, in his bombastic statement admitting only a mistake on the part of his Public Relations department, Bast attacks the scientists who reacted in shock and horror when seeing their hard work associated with such hacks, trotting out the same tired old argument that the scientists’ motivation is to “fund more climate research.”

Well, heaven forbid that.

Fund Science, Not Deception

The good scientists – the ones who don’t need funding for their research – think that “modern warming might be due to a natural 1,500-year climate cycle.”

It seems as if funding climate research might be a good thing, whether or not you’re a scientist who sees no influence from the relatively sudden release of millions of years of stored carbon into the atmosphere. Who’s getting rich here? Climate scientists or Joseph Bast?

If Heartland were even a sliver of what they claim to be, they would not need to employ deception to advance their work. This episode is not an isolated one. There is a pattern to deceive and trick public perception of the science and the scientists themselves. They accuse others of using the tactics they employ. Heartland and their ilk are the alarmists, the crackpots who seek gain instead of acting in the public interest.

They claim to serve an open-minded public and scientific debate on the issue of climate and policy. That is a laudable goal. Science evolves, our understanding grows, and with any luck at all, civilization advances. No scientific theory is ever “proven” beyond all doubt. We are still proving Einstein’s theory of gravity. In the meantime, I will move my foot when I drop the hammer.

The Heartland Institute should be shunned, their climate misinformation denounced, laughed at, and, ultimately, ignored.


Photo by NOAA on Unsplash

Thomas Schueneman
Thomas Schuenemanhttps://tdsenvironmentalmedia.com
Tom is the founder and managing editor of GlobalWarmingisReal.com and the PlanetWatch Group. His work appears in Triple Pundit, Slate, Cleantechnia, Planetsave, Earth911, and several other sustainability-focused publications. Tom is a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists.

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  1. yes global warming is real. it’s caused by solar cycles. current global cooling is real too. people who blame climate change on human activity are scaring our children with their lies. best to stick them in jail with the paedophiles.

  2. Wikipedia shows how Heartland has close ties with the tobacco and oil companies. Remember how the tobacco companies could produce “scientists” who said there was really no proof that cigareets caused smoking — to fill the room with smoke (literally)–

    Heartland has doing the same tactics.

    As for proponents of man-made global warming:

    EVERY major scientific organization has issued an official statement that Global Warming is real and mostly man-made:

    * The National Academy of Sciences (NAS),
    * the American Association for the Advancement of Science,
    * the American Institute of Physics,
    * the American Chemical Society,
    * the American Geophysical Union,
    * the American Meteorological Association, etc.

    The NAS is particularly credible. That’s 1800 of the USA’s best scientists, elected by their peers. Being elected to the NAS is like winning the Oscar in science.

    Virtually all the federal agencies with scientific missions warn of global warming.

    ———————————————————————————–

    **ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY**
    What’s Known
    Scientists know with virtual certainty that:
    Human activities are changing the composition of Earth’s atmosphere. Increasing levels of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere since pre-industrial times are well-documented and understood.
    The atmospheric buildup of CO2 and other greenhouse gases is largely the result of human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels.
    An “unequivocal” warming trend of about 1.0 to 1.7°F occurred from 1906-2005. Warming occurred in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, and over the oceans (IPCC, 2007).
    The major greenhouse gases emitted by human activities remain in the atmosphere for periods ranging from decades to centuries. It is therefore virtually certain that atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases will continue to rise over the next few decades.
    Increasing greenhouse gas concentrations tend to warm the planet.
    http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/stateofknowledge.html

    ——————————————————————————————————————————————————–
    **NASA**

    Evidence for Global Warming

    Recent observations of warming support the theory that greenhouse gases are warming the world. Over the last century, the planet has experienced the largest increase in surface temperature in 1,300 years. The average surface temperature of the Earth rose 0.6 to 0.9 degrees Celsius (1.08°F to 1.62°F) between 1906 and 2006, and the rate of temperature increase nearly doubled in the last 50 years. Worldwide measurements of sea level show a rise of about 0.17 meters (0.56 feet) during the twentieth century. The world’s glaciers have steadily receded, and Arctic sea ice extent has steadily shrunk by 2.7 percent per decade since 1978

    http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/GlobalWarmingUpdate/

    Climate Approaches Dangerous “Tipping” Point
    GISS research finds that human-made greenhouse gases have brought the Earth’s climate close to potentially dangerous consequences for the planet. (May ’07)

    http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/news/20070530/

    Climate Change and Summer Heat Waves
    A NASA study suggests that greenhouse-gas warming may raise average summer temperatures in the eastern U.S. nearly 10°F by the 2080s. (May ’07)

    http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/news/20070509

    —————————————————————————————————————-
    **NOAA**

    “Reflecting the long-term warming trend in the Earth’s climate, U.S. and global annual temperatures are now approximately 1.0°F warmer than at the start of the 20th century, and the rate of warming has accelerated over the past 30 years, increasing globally since the mid-1970’s at a rate approximately three times faster than the century-scale trend. For additional information on global temperature trends, please see the 2006 annual temperature trends discussion.

    [see graph at link]

    The last eight 5-year periods (2002-2006, 2001-2005, 2000-2004, 1999-2003, 1998-2002, 1997-2001, 1996-2000, 1995-1999), were the warmest 5-year periods (i.e. pentads) in the last 112 years of national records, illustrating the anomalous warmth of the last decade. The 9th warmest pentad was in the 1930s (1930-34), when the western U.S. was suffering from an extended drought coupled with anomalous warmth.”

    http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/2006/ann/global.html

  3. Wikipedia shows how Heartland has close ties with the tobacco and oil companies. Remember how the tobacco companies could produce “scientists” who said there was really no proof that cigareets caused smoking — to try and undo recent scientific research.

    Heartland is employing the same tactics

    The studies are in on global warming and the major scientific organizations are saying it is a true threat and has man made origins.

    EVERY major scientific organization has issued an official statement that Global Warming is real and mostly man-made:

    * The National Academy of Sciences (NAS),
    * the American Association for the Advancement of Science,
    * the American Institute of Physics,
    * the American Chemical Society,
    * the American Geophysical Union,
    * the American Meteorological Association, etc.

    The NAS is particularly credible. That’s 1800 of the USA’s best scientists, elected by their peers. Being elected to the NAS is like winning the Oscar in science.

    Virtually all the federal agencies with scientific missions warn of global warming.

    ———————————————————————————–

    **ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY**
    What’s Known
    Scientists know with virtual certainty that:
    Human activities are changing the composition of Earth’s atmosphere. Increasing levels of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere since pre-industrial times are well-documented and understood.
    The atmospheric buildup of CO2 and other greenhouse gases is largely the result of human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels.
    An “unequivocal” warming trend of about 1.0 to 1.7°F occurred from 1906-2005. Warming occurred in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, and over the oceans (IPCC, 2007).
    The major greenhouse gases emitted by human activities remain in the atmosphere for periods ranging from decades to centuries. It is therefore virtually certain that atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases will continue to rise over the next few decades.
    Increasing greenhouse gas concentrations tend to warm the planet.
    http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/stateofknowledge.html

    ——————————————————————————————————————————————————–
    **NASA**

    Evidence for Global Warming

    Recent observations of warming support the theory that greenhouse gases are warming the world. Over the last century, the planet has experienced the largest increase in surface temperature in 1,300 years. The average surface temperature of the Earth rose 0.6 to 0.9 degrees Celsius (1.08°F to 1.62°F) between 1906 and 2006, and the rate of temperature increase nearly doubled in the last 50 years. Worldwide measurements of sea level show a rise of about 0.17 meters (0.56 feet) during the twentieth century. The world’s glaciers have steadily receded, and Arctic sea ice extent has steadily shrunk by 2.7 percent per decade since 1978

    http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/GlobalWarmingUpdate/

    Climate Approaches Dangerous “Tipping” Point
    GISS research finds that human-made greenhouse gases have brought the Earth’s climate close to potentially dangerous consequences for the planet. (May ’07)

    http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/news/20070530/

    Climate Change and Summer Heat Waves
    A NASA study suggests that greenhouse-gas warming may raise average summer temperatures in the eastern U.S. nearly 10°F by the 2080s. (May ’07)

    http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/news/20070509

    —————————————————————————————————————-
    **NOAA**

    “Reflecting the long-term warming trend in the Earth’s climate, U.S. and global annual temperatures are now approximately 1.0°F warmer than at the start of the 20th century, and the rate of warming has accelerated over the past 30 years, increasing globally since the mid-1970’s at a rate approximately three times faster than the century-scale trend. For additional information on global temperature trends, please see the 2006 annual temperature trends discussion.

    [see graph at link]

    The last eight 5-year periods (2002-2006, 2001-2005, 2000-2004, 1999-2003, 1998-2002, 1997-2001, 1996-2000, 1995-1999), were the warmest 5-year periods (i.e. pentads) in the last 112 years of national records, illustrating the anomalous warmth of the last decade. The 9th warmest pentad was in the 1930s (1930-34), when the western U.S. was suffering from an extended drought coupled with anomalous warmth.”

    http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/2006/ann/global.html

  4. Patrick,

    Thanks for laying out this information so well. I think I’ll just refer your comment to the deniers that comment here with the same worn out, tired old “arguments”.

    Anyway, great comment. Thanks.

  5. Hi Tom,

    Go out to the internet — it’s amazing the global warming lies and myths out there.

    I’ve found a few good links you might be interested in that helps dispense with some of these myths

    http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn11462-climate-change-a-guide-for-the-perplexed.html

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/629/629/7074601.stm

    http://www.logicalscience.com/
    (be sure and see the consensus link)

    Here is an interesting article from the Independent

    http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/the-climate-change-unbelievers-958237.html

    This is a great article showing how the Right Wing has outright lied to claim global warming has actually shown cooler trends in the last decade. Unbelievable tactics:

    http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/the-real-global-warming-swindle-440116.html

    Take care Tom. Keep up the good work.

  6. George:

    Your attacks on the Heartland Institute are obviously rooted in eco-fundamentalism and not sound science. I appreciate the skepticism of the Heartland Institute and it’s efforts to bring another point of view to the American public. While I don’t agree with everything they say, I see them as a voice of reason. I have confidence that the scientific community will eventually determine just how much of an influence man has on the earth’s climate (likely very tiny), but right now – the scientific process has been tainted by politics. And, the climate models are not yet ready for “prime-time” predictive purposes.

    Global warming alarmists like yourself have gone way overboard in your dire predictions and the American public is not falling for it. There is a silent majority out there and the words of an 11 year old boy named Nicholas illustrate this point.

    While standing on a street corner waiting for my kid’s school bus to arrive one morning this week, Nicholas and I had the following conversation. The bus was late due to heavy snowfall, so I talked about the weather:

    Me: “Hey kids, this sure is a cold and snowy winter we are having isn’t it?” (We live in northern Illinois near the Wisconsin border)

    Nicholas: “Yeah, I think another ice-age is coming.”

    Me: “Nicholas! How can you say that? Don’t they teach you in school about global warming? Haven’t you seen the movie by Al Gore?”

    Nicholas” “Yes. They teach us all about that stuff, but I don’t believe them”.

    Me: “Really, then why do you think all these scientists and Al Gore talking are talking so much about global warming?”

    Nicholas: “Because they want to scare people into being green”.

    I gave Nicholas a “high-five” and praised him for being so smart. I also told my 10 and six year olds to sit next to Nicholas on the bus cause he’s such a smart kid.

    If an eleven year old can understand this truth, there is hope for America.

    Lighten up George…..the Heartland Institute is not the problem – you are.

    -john
    Global Warming Denier

  7. Sorry Thomas, I addressed the above note to George – not you. Please try to refrain from using this irrelavent error as a point of attack -stick the subject.

    John
    GWD

  8. George,

    Who is getting rich off of you being green? I find it much more easy to believe that people are getting very rich off of you not being green.

    And of course we’re trying to scare you into being green, we’re scared – it’s a scary thing. It’s something that we need everyones participation to solve. If we could solve it ourselves – we’d definitely leave you alone.

    Now WHAT IS THE HARM in being more eco friendly?

    Who’s getting rich if you stop buying so many disposable things, if you start growing (a little bit of) your own food, turning lights off when you exit the room, drive less, compost, stop buying bottled water, purchase 2 or 3 canvas bags to replace a lifetime of plastic bags??
    Most eco-friendly choices are archaic, cheaper alternatives to todays solutions.

    Do you have any idea how much money and garbage I’ve saved switching from tissues to handkerchiefs!?
    How about how much money and plastic I’ve saved buying a filter for my sink and a good stainless steel water-bottle?

    I have no idea how you can look at the exhaust coming out of a smoke stack and say “it couldn’t possibly make a difference”? How you can look at all of the cars on this planet and say “it doesn’t make a difference”. How you can look at the oil and gas refineries in Houston, or the farms spraying petrol-based pesticides directly onto their fields, or the super gas-guzzling hummers needlessly using up tremendous amounts of gas in the name of vanity and say “global warming is a myth”.

    If you studied climate change without bias you would understand that it does not imply warmer winters in Illinois – but warmer temperatures globally. You would see how it makes sense for us to be plunged into an ice age.

    And you ARE biased. You complain about the issue being politicized and yet you’re the one who mentions “Al Gore”…

    But seriously? What’s the harm in being green?
    Isn’t eco friendliness a safer bet? You don’t have to spend money to be green… you just have to make an effort.

    But I don’t expect to convince you. You’ve made up your mind and I figure that you wouldn’t change it regardless of what I say. I figure I could show you undeniable proof and you’d find a way to deny it. So

    what can I do?

    I’ll recycle a little extra on your behalf.
    I’ll pick up the trash that you throw out on the street.
    I’ll invest whatever I can afford into building solar panels and planting trees while you buy paper towels and tissues that are made from ancient forests.
    I’ll make my commute 3 times longer by taking public transit while you buy yourself a bigger car.
    I’ll buy fewer things in generaland skip purchasing those things that I don’t really need, while you stock-pile cheap things that you don’t really need.
    I’ll buy used and refurbished goods whenever I can.
    I’ll keep my home temperatures low in the winter and high in the summer.
    I’ll wait as long as possible before turning on the air-conditioner.
    I’ll take a 22 hour train ride instead of a 3 hour plane ride.
    I will not have kids because another life is a *HUGE* impact on the planet. If I decide I want to be a parent, I’ll adopt (and I’m not just saying that).
    I’ll do whatever I can to soften my impact on the planet and where I can I’ll do even more so I can balance out yours.

    Believe it or not, green might be trendy but it’s definitely not the most popular on the planet. For every eco-friendly lifestyle there are 1000 people who’s effort to exist is damaging the planet.
    I don’t do it because I want to be cool, I don’t do it because I think I can save the world.

    I do it becuase it’s the right thing to do.

    I’ll continue to do it and I’ll try my best to ignore you and others expressing similar sentiment. Please understand why I must pretend you don’t exist.

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