Skeptics lie; news at 11

DeSmogBlog uncovers Heartland lies

Posted by David Roberts at 9:27 AM on 02 May 2008

Read more about: climate | climate change skepticism | jackassery | climate science

The right-wing Heartland Institute has been making a big fuss about "500 Scientists with Documented Doubts of Man-Made Global Warming Scares."

Five hundred skeptical scientists? Sounds bad!

Kevin Grandia at DeSmogBlog had the radical idea of actually contacting the scientists, to see if they are being accurately characterized by Heartland.

You see where this is going, right?

In less than 24 hours, Grandia received three dozen outraged replies from scientists who didn't know they were on the list and wanted to be removed. At this point the number is up to 45. Here's a representative quote, from Dr. David Sugden, Professor of Geography, University of Edinburgh:

I am horrified to find my name on such a list. I have spent the last 20 years arguing the opposite.

Says University of Maryland's Distinguished Professor Eugenia Kalnay:

This is just another example of lack of scruples that climate skeptics have shown in pursuing short-term financial advantages, and basically condemning the next generations to suffer the consequences of climate change due to our lack of prudent and responsible planning.

If Heartland really believes what it claims, why does it have to lie and slander scientists to make the point?

I assume the mainstream media will follow up on this, Heartland will lose its credibility, and their inevitable next BS press release won't be gullibly quoted by journalists across the country. Ha ha.

For story: Skeptics lie; news at 11
9 Comments | Post a Comment

Assume?

David, there is the old addage that to assume makes an "ass" out of "u" and "me".

You assume too much about Mainstream Media. Do you actually think that John "Give Me a break" Stossel will cover this? Actually, his comments on "The Globe is Warming, but Why? The Debated is Not Over" carries 738 comments. How many posts here carry attract that much attention, even though the truth is here, not there. (In all fairness, I did not count the number calling Stossel an idiot versus the number calling him a hero).

How do we break past this? I really wonder. It is about as important as anything we need to do.

Wes Rolley CoChair - EcoAction Committee Green Party US

by wesrolley at 10:50 AM on 02 May 2008

now i'm mad.

i am so pissed. i suppose I'm not good enough to have my name on the list, eh? sure, Dr. David Sugden, Professor of Geography, University of Edinburgh is important enough to lie about his stance on global warming, but the Heartland Institute doesn't think I'm important enough to lie about. Hmph.

by gzuckier at 11:32 AM on 02 May 2008

Fight back!

We, the undersigned highly-respected scientists hereby find scientific proof that all employees of the Heartland Institute are addicted to homosexual bestiality.

Signed,

Albert Furt
Peter Grunberg
John Mather
George Smoot
Roy Glauber
John Hall
Theodor Hansch
David Gross
H. David Politzer
Frank Wilczek
Alexei Abriskosov
Vitaly Ginzburg
Masatoshi Koshiba
Raymond Davis Jr.
Eric Cornell
Wolfgang Keiterle
Carl Weiman

Unless you hear back from every single one of these guys claiming I made this up, you will have to conclude that it is at least partially true.

Keep your pets away from Heartland!

by Sean Casten at 12:46 PM on 02 May 2008

Stossel isn't an idiot

He's a moron. Bush is an idiot.

In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world

by biodiversivist at 1:58 PM on 02 May 2008

S&S

Frankly I am shocked to hear about Heartland's homosexual bestiality. Shocked and saddened. Not surprised, really -- you could kind of tell. But saddened. And shocked.

BioD, I look forward to your upcoming Taxonomy of Dimwittery.

grist.org

by David Roberts at 2:16 PM on 02 May 2008

Where are the trolls?

There must be a rational explanation for this...

Where are Manacker, Black Wallaby, or Jabaillo when we need them? I usually wish they would just shut up and go away, but I think it might be interesting to hear their take on this.

by SKenzie at 2:16 PM on 02 May 2008

Trolls are at DeSmogBlog

SKenzie, there are lots of trolls over at the DeSmogBlog posts. Not sure whether they're the same trolls or different trolls, not that that matters...

Their take on the Heartland list? The usual conspiracy theory crap -- scientists have been coerced by invisible Bolshevist forces to make the statements they made, yadda yadda yadda.

(My response to that: "Fred, been studying hammer-and-sickle patterns formed on cereal flakes? Or doing crossword puzzles to find traces of Bolshevism in Moby Dick?")

(VJ's response: "He's trying to play his CDs backwards, but it doesn't work.")

Plus, the ninja trolls are also throwing out lots of gratuitous smoke bombs to divert our attention to other topics.

-- bi, International Journal of Inactivism

by frankbi at 9:35 PM on 02 May 2008

And as for the inactivist _bloggers_...

Here's what I observed about the, um, reactions on the Heartland list from the inactivist blogosphere.

-- bi, International Journal of Inactivism

by frankbi at 9:54 PM on 02 May 2008

Dang it...

So why's this story not in the mainstream media already? When'll someone manage to get them to cover this story?

-- bi, International Journal of Inactivism

by frankbi at 2:17 AM on 04 May 2008

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