Climate Change Deniers’ Sad Little Gathering in NYC
March 10, 2009 · Print This Article
First, there was the ‘Celebrate Coal’ rally held in Washington D.C. that drew less than twenty people as thousands of anti-coal demonstrators marched nearby. Now, a paltry 600 climate change deniers have gathered in New York City for their annual ‘International Conference on Climate Change’, put together by the Heartland Institute, a conservative organization that seeks to discredit climate change science.
This year’s conference is a little different than usual. You would think these people would be motivated to join together and put up a united front against what they see as a huge threat – the Obama administration, which is aggressively moving forward on climate change issues. But the fact is, their ranks are showing signs of internal rifts and weakening support.
From The New York Times, via The Huffington Post:
The meeting participants hold a wide range of views of climate science. Some concede that humans probably contribute to global warming but they argue that the shift in temperatures poses no urgent risk. Others attribute the warming, along with cooler temperatures in recent years, to solar changes or ocean cycles.
But large corporations like Exxon Mobil, which in the past financed the Heartland Institute and other groups that challenged the climate consensus, have reduced support. Many such companies no longer dispute that the greenhouse gases produced by burning fossil fuels pose risks.
Alan T. Jeffers, a spokesman for Exxon Mobil, said by e-mail that the company had ended support “to several public policy research groups whose position on climate change could divert attention from the important discussion about how the world will secure the energy required for economic growth in an environmentally responsible manner.”
Of course, that doesn’t mean that Exxon Mobil has suddenly had a dramatic change of heart and now fully supports the fight against global warming – their motivations are undoubtedly rooted in the desire to stay afloat as the world begins the shift toward clean energy.
However, climate change deniers are finding themselves and their arguments increasingly marginalized, especially as the economic downturn spurs climate change action all over the world. Without the Bush administration and companies like Exxon Mobil to back them up, they’re going to disappear into obscurity, and not a moment too soon. Good riddance.
Link [The New York Times] via [The Huffington Post]
Photo credit: Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times
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We need to base our decisions and actions on scientific data, not beliefs. If there is data to support some of the claims of this group, let’s hear it and use it. If there is evidence that supports climate change, then let’s use that. Any other approach is simply ego bolstering, which is the primary cause of the mess we are in now.
Roger, agreed. we need a full on open debate on this issue. …suggesting anyone who’s thinking is non-mainstream as somehow Nazi is obviously very dangerous. politically this climate change situation could land us all in some twisted eugenics nightmare police state could it not? …myself, if i see a loss of rights and more tax as solutions to anything it screams tyranny to me.