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DSL at 08:39 AM on 17 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
Camburn: "Being a skeptic means that we don't let others "interpret" the data at hand. We do it ourselves." And when someone points out an error or weakness in the methodology of your interpretation . . . ? -
Phila at 08:29 AM on 17 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
Being a skeptic means that we don't let others "interpret" the data at hand. We do it ourselves. Incompetence and arrogance, together at last! -
Brian Purdue at 08:18 AM on 17 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
Don’t forget we’re not only dealing with the “Denial” machine but also the “Doubt” machine. The Heartland Institute has had plenty of practice at both so I wouldn’t believe anything this crew say. The worm has turned. -
OPatrick at 08:07 AM on 17 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
There is a certain irony in Jim Lakely, Heartland's communication director, apparently not responding to Suzanne Goldenberg's request for them to confirm the authenticity of the fundraising e-mail - from The Guardian He did not respond to a request to characterise the campaign, or send a copy of the fundraising email. He also refused to comment on the authenticity of a fundraising email obtained by the Mother Jones website on Thursday. -
Dikran Marsupial at 07:54 AM on 17 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
Camburn wrote: "Being a skeptic means that we don't let others "interpret" the data at hand. We do it ourselves." No, that isn't skepticism, it is a symptom of Dunning-Kruger syndrome. Do you let doctors, with many years of medical training, interpret the medical data for you, or do you do it yourself? I suspect the former, and with good reason. -
Camburn at 07:34 AM on 17 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
scaddenp@185: I don't know how many hits they would have. I haven't been to their site, do they have a hit counter? I think our differences are ones of interpretation of the data. Joshua@182: My response to you was to your last paragraph @178. -
scaddenp at 07:15 AM on 17 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
Camburn - "Who payed any attention". Well how many hits does NIPCC give you let alone the regurgitation of their nonsense on blogs and media worldwide. 2/ Which millions are these? And I'd like to some evidence of you analyzing the data yourself. So far, you seem happy to prefer other's disinformation that fits your biases. -
apiratelooksat50 at 07:10 AM on 17 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
ScaredAmoeba at 163 I agree with your post. If the "strategy" document is a fake and can be linked to an entity, it will be at a minimum a severe embarrassment to the person who generated and the organization to which they are connected. -
JMurphy at 07:09 AM on 17 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
And I would love to see who has been "promoting AGW" ! Who are these AGW 'promoters', Camburn ? -
Joshua at 07:06 AM on 17 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
Camburn - Maybe you could explain what your response had to do with my comment? -
Camburn at 07:02 AM on 17 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
Joshua@178: One could pose the question: 1. Who payed any attention The Heartland Institute? 2. What importance would a few million dollars make compared to the millions spent promoting AGW? Being a skeptic means that we don't let others "interpret" the data at hand. We do it ourselves. -
Ian Forrester at 06:58 AM on 17 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
Martin asks:Has anybody described as "one of the more neutral voices with big audiences", i.e. Revkin or Curry commented upon being so popular with HI?
Well it looks like Revkin has gone from hero ("one of the more neutral voices with big audiences") to zero ("Since the documents were obviously stolen and marked "confidential," what Revkin did was not only unethical, it was also probably illegal".) over the past day or so. Interesting that they call it a "legal defense fund" shouldn't they have called it a "legal offense fund"? Unless they are looking a few weeks down the road when the IRS will be after them. -
Gringo at 06:35 AM on 17 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
I also find this quote from his fund raising email particularly interesting: "We have taken measures to ensure that we aren't victims of identity theft and computer fraud again, but in this age of identity theft and hacking, I can't promise it won't ever happen again." (Emphasis mine) Yep, that for sure will get new funds just pouring in from anonymous donors. -
Joshua at 06:28 AM on 17 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
An observation. A massive number of electrons are being spent determining whether that one document is a fake or not. Presumably, such a large number of electrons would indicate that the authenticity of the documents is a very important issue. Well, consider this: What % of people would view the significance of the Heartland documents differently, depending on a final proof of that one document's authenticity? Would "skeptics" change their perspective on the importance of the documents if they saw definitive proof that the one document is authentic? Would "realists" change their perspective on the importance of the documents if they saw definitive proof that the one document is a "fake?" My guess is that the # of climate debaters who might actually attach any real importance to the authenticity of that one document (in other words, have their view significantly altered contingent on proof) could be counted on one hand, although the # of climate debaters who will argue with great urgency about the authenticity of that document is quite large, indeed. -
rockytom at 06:26 AM on 17 February 2012Video of Chuck Kutscher debunking climate skeptic arguments
Dr. Kutscher should be invited to give his presentation to every state legislature and to the U.S. Congress. -
MA Rodger at 06:09 AM on 17 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
Gringo @171+ It's interesting that the H.I. President Jo Bast has time go on a fund-raising drive yet he is still complaining about folk quoting the leaked/faked documents that he has not yet had time to authenticate. So why is it taking him so long to check a few tens of pages? Perhaps he's realised there are a few comments that would be a bit too damaging to admit to. I liked Bast's appeal when he wrote "This attack would not have happened if we weren't unveiling the truth." Indeed, it seems some truth has been unveiled. Unfortunately for President Bast, it isn't the truth he intentionally wanted unveiled. So sad. -
Gringo at 05:45 AM on 17 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
Personally I believe that HI President Joe Bast fundraising memo will do his organization more bad than good given its wording and his admittance that many if not all of the originals were written by him. That makes it very likely that they all came from one source; his assistant's computer (at least one document, the one with the names, addresses and phonenumbers of HI Board Members) states the full pathname at its bottom; the name which appears there is mentioned in the Budget file as his Assistant). I still have to see concrete evidence (other than HI's claim) that the Strategy Memo is fake. Mr Joe Bast, being the only executive at HI to receive a compensation ($145,135 in 2010), has a direct interest in downplaying this blunder from very likely his assistant if not himself. -
John Russell at 05:40 AM on 17 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
It's worth a reminder that a Heartland Director once wrote about a UEA email: "[it's] ...so good, so juicy". The quote can be found on Heartland's own website: just google the words -- Heartland "so good so juicy" Talk about chickens coming home to roost! -
logicman at 05:13 AM on 17 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
From the horse's mouth - thanks to motherjones, hat tip to gringo #171 Joseph L. Bast says: "I am very sorry that the identities of some of our donors were revealed by this theft." Plain English that couldn't be any plainer confirming the authenticity of the documents which name donors: "the identities of some of our donors were revealed". Joseph L. Bast says: "Right now we are trying to get the individuals and organizations that have tried to make hay with these stolen and fraudulent documents to retract their statements, by threatening legal action if necessary." Good luck with that. How are you going to require blogs and media across the planet to unpublish the truth? I hope that Heartland has a team of linguists on hand to translate the legalese. Just a sample of non-English stories: http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2012/02/16/natura/1329397465.html?cid=GNEW970103 http://www.ceskapozice.cz/zahranici/svetove-udalosti/unik-dokumentu-i-popiraci-globalniho-oteplovani-uz-maji-svou-aferu http://www.klimaretter.info/forschung/hintergrund/10591-microsoft-bayer-und-der-zweifel-am-klimawandel -
Jeffrey Davis at 05:03 AM on 17 February 2012Tropical Thermostats and Global Warming
Basically, they are parlaying a local event to global. Since the Earth has been much warmer in the past, that phenomenon doesn't have global implications. -
John Russell at 04:42 AM on 17 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
@Gringo I particularly like the quote near the bottom of that long and rambling email appealing for funds... "Dave Padden, Heartland's founder and long-time chairman, used to say that a lie can run around the world while the truth is still tying its shoestrings. Of course he was right. We're witnessing that right now." I think Dave Padden was thinking about the Heartland's modus operandi when he said that! -
Dennis at 04:36 AM on 17 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
Re Gringo @ 171: What I found interesting about the fundraising email is its repetitive references to the "left" etc. when talking about climate change. Not a word about the actual science. That says a lot about the interests of Heartland and its donors. -
Gringo at 04:17 AM on 17 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
Mother Jones has obtained a Heartland Institute fundraising email written by its president Joseph L Bast in which it uses the leak incident to seek donations for its legal fund. Some interesting snippets: "Most of the leaked documents appear to have been written by me for a board meeting that took place on January 17. I have not yet had a chance to compare the ones that are posted online with the originals I wrote, so I don't know if they are authentic or have been altered. " & "We have reported the identity theft and computer fraud to the police and to the FBI. We are asking the bloggers and reporters to immediately remove these documents and all statements about them from the blogs, Web sites, and publications, and to publish retractions." & " I am very sorry that the identities of some of our donors were revealed by this theft. I apologize to them, from the bottom of my heart. We are calling everyone who was named in these documents to give them the bad news and offer whatever assistance we can to repair the damage. We promise anonymity to many of our donors because nobody wants the risk of nutty environmentalists or Occupy Wall Street goons harassing them. We know that privacy is important to you. " -
Martin at 04:16 AM on 17 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
I would have expected companies like Exxon to be on their donor list. What do they do to influence public opinion? The Heartland Institute must be incredibly effective with their limited budget, unless there is a lot more money from other sources sloshing around somewhere. The think it is their intention to interfere in the high school curriculum that has angered me the most. I sincerely hope that David's Wojick's climate doubt modules will not make it to the classrooms. Has anybody described as "one of the more neutral voices with big audiences", i.e. Revkin or Curry commented upon being so popular with HI? -
Paul D at 02:01 AM on 17 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
My point @170 was that HI deserve no support if you base your involvement in a discussion on science. Heartland have made hypocritical statements about how unfair things are, yet have involved themselves in attacking climate scientists without seemingly engaging any discussion with those scientists. -
CBDunkerson at 01:43 AM on 17 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
Camburn, no this will not 'eventually amount to nothing'... because it has already demonstrated that Heartland is a direct link between the businesses paying for climate change denial and the scientists, journalists, bloggers, et cetera spreading this denial. Some of Heartland's donors have also stated that they are 're-evaluating' their relationship. Thus, the document release has already amounted to something. Whether it will amount to more remains to be seen, but "nothing" is off the table. -
Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
Regarding the 'Strategy' document and the fact that it was scanned: Whatever it's provenance, the strategy document states that it's for very limited distribution. It was also scanned considerably later than the other documents were created. I don't think this speaks to the authenticity in any way whatsoever - a limited distribution document like that isn't going to be floating around as a computer file on every staffer's computer. But if a board member, or someone representing themselves as such, were to request a set of docs, it would be very easy for a staffer with appropriate access (such as Bast's assistant) to pull a file hardcopy, scan it, and send the scan PDF along. I think email logs showing the message that was sent would clear up uncertainty - both in regards to this scanned document and to their statements that some of the documents may have been altered. Personal opinion - the budget docs confirm the amounts going to various persons and projects. The strategy doc is quite damning due to its tone, but I believe there's sufficient information in the rest to call HI's non-profit status into serious questions. -
andylee at 01:16 AM on 17 February 2012Video of Chuck Kutscher debunking climate skeptic arguments
Excellent presentation, but how come it has only had 341 views in the 6 weeks since it was uploaded? The 'choir' are definitely not doing enough, so get out there and spread this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDpGdC3HNas We have to cancel out the Denialist machine with their own tactics, be more active in fora and expose this organised and cynical obfuscation of the Truth. -
Gringo at 01:13 AM on 17 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
As per the directory path info printed on one of the released documents (not the memo), all documents may have come from HI's president Joseph Bast's assistant. If that is the case then it is very likely that he himself prepared the Strategy Memo and printed it outside of HI's offices and eventually handed it over to his assistant for filing (who then scanned it and saved it as "2012 Climate Strategy (3).pdf", the '(3)' possibly indicating the third version of the memo). It is not unthinkable given the nature of the memo that internal HI security rules were violated by its author by creating a physical document outside of HI offices. Joseph Bast, along with his wife Diana Bast are the only paid boardmembers of HI. If the Strategy Memo reveals the original author violated HI rules (not because of its contents but because of its initial format), then both have a direct (financial) interest in claiming the document is fake. -
Dikran Marsupial at 00:52 AM on 17 February 2012The Year After McLean - A Review of 2011 Global Temperatures
Ken Lambert wrote "Lambert sounds somewhat schoolmasterish", which is amusingly ironic given that the first sentence of his previous post was "I did find the actual Trenberth quotation on SKS". ;o) Having said which, it would be better if this conversation were conducted in a more calm manner on both sides, which requires (i) Ken to be more ready to accept when he has been shown to be in error and (ii) the rest of us to not let ourselves be wound up by the failure of others to accept having been shown to be in error. I know this can be difficult, but at the end of the day, to those that read SkS but don't post, it is likely that calm, patient argument is likely to carry more weight than insults or failure to admit error. -
MarkR at 00:47 AM on 17 February 2012Tropical Thermostats and Global Warming
#4 mac: I suspect not. The heat flux to the net ocean seems to be of the order of tenths of a Watt to Watts per square metre. That's very small fly compared to atmospheric dynamics! -
Paul D at 00:44 AM on 17 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
Surely the main issue is data protection and it seems Heartland Institute are deflecting interest away from this issue. They have failed to adequately protect their clients data as a result of their own poor management and internal systems. This is of course ironic, because as a bunch of red tape cutting enthusiasts, it seems ridiculous that they are now worried that red tape has been cut and information is freely available. They want less legislation but are now wanting to impose it. Which of course reveals the double standards most libertarians have, having no rules is fine until they feel some rules will help their cause. -
Camburn at 00:42 AM on 17 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
When it is all said and done, mainly because part of the "Leak" does seem to be fabricated, this will amount to nothing. A ship under full sail with strong winds, all of a sudden hitting no winds and dead in the water. -
CBDunkerson at 00:41 AM on 17 February 2012The Year After McLean - A Review of 2011 Global Temperatures
So Trenberth says that Asian aerosols cannot explain the decreased rate of atmospheric warming. This differs from your previous representations that he was saying they do not exist or that they are insignificant. He says neither. Only that he does not believe they explain the change. Which still falls back to my prior statement that the uncertainty around these minor factors is still too large to separate them out... which is precisely the point Sphaerica was making (in reference to natural variability) that you 'disagreed' with in the first place... which was itself only tangentially on topic as these 'deductive analyses' of temperature anomaly components were one of the reasons it was obvious McLean's prediction was insane from day one... which is the actual topic here. -
ScaredAmoeba at 00:32 AM on 17 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
Sadly, having compared the documents, I strongly suspect that the 'January 2012 Confidential Memo: 2012 Heartland Climate Strategy' is NOT genuine, it is an 'outlier' as anyone who examines the documents will be able to determine for themselves. It is a great shame, because had it been genuine, it might have been very useful. -
Ken Lambert at 00:30 AM on 17 February 2012The Year After McLean - A Review of 2011 Global Temperatures
Sphaerica #38 I can't imagine what the 'black helicopters' remark means, however I am mindful of the comments policy. I don't mind being called by my first name either - or an abbreviation like KL is quite OK. Lambert sounds somewhat schoolmasterish. -
Ken Lambert at 00:15 AM on 17 February 2012The Year After McLean - A Review of 2011 Global Temperatures
CBD #40 I did find the actual Trenberth quotation on SKS: Quote: "There is discussion in the comments of the supposed finding that increasing aerosol (pollution) from China may be the explanation for the stasis in surface temperatures and I do not believe this for a moment. Similarly, Jim Hansen has discussed the role of aerosol as a source of discrepancy. However, the radiation measurements at the top of the atmosphere from satellites (CERES) include all of the aerosol effects, and so they are not extra. They may well be an important ingredient regionally, and I have no doubt they are, but globally they are not the explanation." endquote One might disagree with Dr Trenberth's analysis however he plainly says that: "increasing aerosol (pollution) from China may be the explanation for the stasis in surface temperatures and I do not believe this for a moment". And futher: "They (Chinese aerosols) may well be an important ingredient regionally, and I have no doubt they are, but globally they are not the explanation." We are talking about global warming and global temperatures here - not regional variations. So though my language was imperfect - my meaning did not misrepresent Dr Trenberth's position on the global effects of Asian (Chinese) aerosols. -
otter17 at 00:09 AM on 17 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
Ah, sorry I didn't provide a link to the comical WUWT moderator comment about SkS. I don't feel quite right pasting any WUWT link given their propensity to bash peer reviewed papers and scientists without participating in the peer review process themselves. -
Jeff T at 00:08 AM on 17 February 2012Tropical Thermostats and Global Warming
The histogram (Figure 1) appears to show a moderate ramp up from low temperatures with an abrupt fall at about 30C. That shape is artificial, because the histogram mixes all latitudes. If the histogram is limited to a narrow range of latitudes, it will be more nearly symmetric and won't give the impression of an upper limit to sea-surface temperature. It will still be somewhat asymmetric, because the eastern Pacific is relatively cold. -
CBDunkerson at 23:51 PM on 16 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
For the 'document sleuthers', note that the 2/14 date on the contested strategy memo is time zone dependent. If the document actually originated from Heartland's offices in Chicago it would have been created at 11:47 am local time on Monday 2/13. It might also be possible to get some idea of the location of the sender from the header information of the e-mail DeSmog received... depending on what kind of e-mail account it was. -
kampmannpeine at 23:26 PM on 16 February 2012Fritz Vahrenholt - Duped on Climate Change
yes - this man Vahrenholdt is manager of one of the big energy companies here in Germany. This is typical and as I often quoted here at SKS, the EIKE institute of denialists (CFACT behind EIKE) stands behind everything there ... you know EIKE is fostering Svensmark (and Kirbky) in a very rare way - actually a good scientist with brilliant ideas, but, as you say the results of the CERN project CLOUD are too thin as that they were final. And even though: CO2 is warming the atmosphere (and other GHGs) and this CLOUD-effect - as we might call it - is perhaps a shortterm mitigation effect ... when it is over, CO2 and the other GHGs strike back ... This does not go into the heads of some influential people ... Moreover there is another interview with Prof. Eicke Weber Head of the Fraunhofer Institute in Freiburg/Germany in one of the online issues of WELT or SPIEGEL (I just do not know which one) who is being opposing the Vahrenholdt book ... etc. etc. -
SRJ at 23:07 PM on 16 February 2012We're coming out of the Little Ice Age
What is the reference for figure 2? The figure caption mentions GCRP, 2009 p. 20. What is the acronym short for? -
Forrest at 22:37 PM on 16 February 2012Tropical Thermostats and Global Warming
And even if there is some unknown mechanism which prevents ocean surface temperature from exceeding 31 C, so what? It doesn't act as a planetary thermostat unless there is also a mechanism which prevents the higher surface temperature from spreading outside the current areas of high temperature. When tourists begin traveling to Antarctica to surf in the 31 C water, we've got a serious problem. -
logicman at 22:13 PM on 16 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
I can state with confidence that the 2010 IRS 990 document is genuine. US law requires tax exempt organisations to make some matters publicly available: IRS on public disclosure. The Heartland Institute has made the form 990 publicly available: heartland.org IRS form 990. Any interested person can download the form from Heartland and compare it with any other version shown or linked on line. nullias in verba = show me the evidence. -
John Russell at 22:08 PM on 16 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
Thanks for the thoughts, everyone since #154. I still find the idea of someone faking the document to be the least likely explanation. It seems much more likely that a Heartland Exec, preparing for the January board meeting, produced an informal 'executive summary' or overview, pulling together the key elements to be discussed. The fact they had printed this out was probably so they could refer to it during the meeting. A copy was then left lying around and photocopied by the whistle-blower. To me this seems the most plausible explanation. Another point. Clearly the whistle-blower is sitting back watching events unfold with interest. Assuming the 'fake' document is genuine, I suspect that at some point he will try to clear his name by telling how he did it -- or by releasing something to corroborate his evidence. I don't think he'll ever own up, of course, but he won't like being accused of fakery. If the document is a fake then I expect silence. This comment might be construed as a challenge. I suspect the whistle-blower will at some point read this entire thread. -
Bernard J. at 21:56 PM on 16 February 2012Peter Hadfield on Himalayan glacier melt
I hate to be pedantic, but the latent heat of fusion of ice only describes the energy required to melt it when it reaches 0 degrees celcius. A large proportion of polar ice is unlikely to be sitting at exactly 0°C, so additional energy is required to raise it from its ambient temperature to 0°C. The specific heat capacity of ice at −10°C is approximately 2.05 J/(g·K). Thus, to raise a gram of ice from an average ambient temperature of −10°C to 0°C would require 20.5 joules which is, admittedly, about 1/16th that of the heat of fusion. Following Andylee's format at #14: Raising the temperature of 1kg of ice from −10°C to 0°C would require 20.5 kilojoules. Raising the temperature of 1 tonne of ice from −10°C to 0°C would require 20.5 megajoules. Raising the temperature of 4.3 trillion tonnes of ice from −10°C to 0°C would require 4.3 x 1012 x 20.5 megajoules, or approximately 8.82 x 1019 joules. And that's assuming that the average temperature of the ice is −10°C. It's likely colder, so the amount of energy required would be commensurately greater. -
CBDunkerson at 21:53 PM on 16 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
Really there is no need for Heartland to publicly release the purported phishing e-mails. They are promising to pursue prosecution... the first step in that would clearly be contacting the police and providing them with the e-mails. So the question becomes whether they have actually done that. As to motivations for and impact of a possible forgery... does anyone remember the George W Bush military records imbroglio? The so called 'Killian memo' was a forgery... but ironically it was the other real documents which conclusively showed that Bush had failed to show up for several months (without permission) and did not complete his full military commitment. The Killian memo itself was just designed to provide an 'explanation' of the underlying data... a narrative. Instead, the story became about the forgery and most people don't even realize that the accusations were actually true. -
Tom Curtis at 21:32 PM on 16 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
John Russell @154, this website exists to combat the incredible amount of stupidity that people seem able to bring to the subject of climate change, including people who think they are very smart, and no doubt score well on IQ tests. As it stands, the evidence supports with about equal weight, at the moment, two hypotheses: 1) The document release was made by a person who had direct access to the 990 form, but who phished for the other documents and created the "strategy document" to give a narrative to the dry facts in the other available documents; or 2) The documents where obtained legitimately by an employee or board member of the Heartland Institute, or somebody closely associated with the above. On this hypothesis the strategy document was a privately circulated physical document sent to a limited number of board members and/or senior staff at the Heartland Institute to explain the basis of the HI's strategy. The Heartland Institute can definitively rule out the second hypothesis by releasing the emails relating to the phishing scam. Alternatively, they can tacitly concede that no such emails exist by refusing to release them, thereby confirming the second hypothesis. The ball is in their court, and until they play it we will not know which way the game will go. -
Lloyd Flack at 21:27 PM on 16 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
John Russel, I can think of some reasons. It could be an insider who is doing this for personal reasons, to even some score. Someone trying to lash out is likely to overdo things. I could be a zealot who has lost their sense of proportion and can't see the possibility of a backfire. Remember, believing things because they are what one's side believes is not a monopoly of any political side. There are plenty of people who are concerned about Global Warming, not because they have followed the science but because it is what their side of politics does. There are plenty of ingenious idiots around and some are taking the right side on climate issues for bad reasons. But still, I agree that it is more likely that the the Heartland Institute is lying. Someone is and they have terminal cases of self righteousness and willful blindness. -
Eric (skeptic) at 21:24 PM on 16 February 2012Denialgate - Internal Heartland Documents Expose Climate Denial Funding Network
Tom, your proof of non-authenticity logic is sound, but the HI will ignore it like they usually do. My guess is they will spread FUD instead. Whether people will understand your logic is a separate question. The recent date on the doc could either be from a rescan or from a paper doc leak, document provenance is a tricky business and Desmog (or whoever) has more to prove in that regard.
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