Leak exposes how Heartland Institute works to undermine climate science

Leak exposes how Heartland Institute works to undermine climate science

www.guardian.co.uk

The inner workings of a libertarian thinktank working to discredit the established science on climate change have been exposed by a leak of confidential documents detailing its strategy and fundraising networks.

DeSmogBlog, which broke the story, said it had received the confidential documents from an "insider" at the Heartland Institute, which is based in Chicago. The blog monitors industry efforts to discredit climate science.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
www.nytimes.com[/url ]
[url=http://www.desmogblog.com/heartland-confirms-it-mistakenly-emailed-internal-documents]www.desmogblog.com

Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
Climate Gate 2.00 : Shocking Corruption Revealed in Emails!

I guess this isn't the first time someone, e.g. NGO's, tries to manipulate policy or the curriculum in schools for their own benefit? Much like the topic of evolution, they try to do the same thing with the topic of climate change.

Leaked documents suggest that an organization known for attacking climate science is planning a new push to undermine the teaching of global warming in public schools, the latest indication that climate change is becoming a part of the nation’s culture wars.

I'm aware that the discussion of climate change is a topic of contention on ATS, that's why I also linked to a thread related to this.

ETA:
I would also like to add this excerpt to the post, because it infers that there are forces at work to "water down the science" pertaining to the topic of climate change.

The National Center for Science Education, a group that has had notable success in fighting for accurate teaching of evolution in the public schools, has recently added climate change to its agenda in response to pleas from teachers who say they feel pressure to water down the science.

www.guardian.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

Of course the weakness is in the script.

Regardless of fact, agendas which are driven by factors having nothing to do with climate or sustainability (or the welfare of our global population) make for an impossible to follow ebb and flow of facts, disinformation, and a healthy dose of populist hyperbole.... on both sides of the argument.

The ostensible "news" agency which postures itself implicitly as a reliable source of valid news fires the first volley by using the following phrase:

The inner workings of a libertarian thinktank working to discredit the established science on climate change have been exposed by a leak of confidential documents detailing its strategy and fundraising networks.

(emphasis mine)

Note the use of the phrase "established science." Is it not disingenuous to ignore the point of contention that the science is claimed to be "NOT" established by the dissenters?

Further; it is clear from the content of the article that opening phrases like ...

Libertarian thinktank keeps prominent sceptics on its payroll and relies on millions in funding from carbon industry, papers suggest

...rely on the subtle placement of the word "suggests" at the very end of the line. I guess the author wasn't being exactly forthright with her obvious choice of sides in the debate.

Further down:

It was not possible to immediately verify the authenticity of the documents, although Heartland issued a statement on Wednesday claiming at least one document was fake, and that it was the victim of theft and forgery.

The "theft and forgery" (if genuine) was also reported by the same author separately. www.guardian.co.uk... BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

Although that didn't stop her from using the title "Leak exposes...." in this article....

Can we say "populist theater for entertainment news?"

Sure..., I knew you could.

reply to post by Maxmars

Journalists will invariably frame an article in a particular way for a host of reasons, wheter it be unwittingly or consciously. The articles are obviously colored by her own viewpoints, it's hard to get around. As a reader, it's important to be aware of it however.

But I do see your point, and I agree.

reply to post by Droogie


Please allow me to explain; I am not disputing that this organization may be pursuing a denial agenda.... It just irks me that journalists seem to report that as if they themselves didn't support the other side...

... and believe me, I see the flaws on both sides of the argument.

It's like they don't care about the facts or the need to know the truth... they just want to be on the 'politically expedient' side of the argument....

It's like some weird journalism disease has spread and they are all becoming political lawyers... using rhetoric and sophism as substitutes for reason and actual investigation.

reply to post by Maxmars

I am not disputing that this organization may be pursuing a denial agenda....

I didn't believe that you were.

It just irks me that journalists seem to report that as if they themselves didn't support the other side...

That was what I was responding to.

I can't speak for the trends in american journalism, but it's a business like any other I presume.

Check this out... another 'journalistic' production.....

Leaked files expose Heartland Institute's secrets

The tables have been well and truly turned in "deniergate", the leak of documents from a key climate-sceptic think tank in the US

Environmental campaigners and climate scientists have been engaging in a merry bout of schadenfreude after the disclosure of sensitive internal documents from the Heartland Institute, a free-market think tank based in Chicago that has been at the forefront of lobbying against cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions.

The "deniergate" documents, as they have been rapidly dubbed, appear to reveal details of the institute's past and future planned funding arrangements, including the names of many donors. They also show major activities apparently planned by the institute this year, including efforts to influence public debate about climate change.

Interestingly the 'theft/forgery' report was left to the final paragraphs where.....

Responding through a press release, the Heartland Institute has alleged that the documents were stolen by "an unknown person who fraudulently assumed the identity of a Heartland board member and persuaded a staff member here to 're-send' board materials to a new email address".

The institute's release claimed that a two-page document posted alongside the other papers on the website of DeSmogBlog and headed "Confidential Memo: 2012 Heartland Climate Strategy" is "a total fake".

www.newscientist.com...

Of course, those who only read the first few paragraphs of the story (like most information-saturated news consumers) won't see that.

I hate the media..... and yet... I seem to have become part of a different media..... is that a good or bad thing, I wonder?