Britannia Radio

THE GUARDIAN          9.3.09

Czech leader joins meeting of climate change deniers
• US convention aimed at escalating confrontation
• Klaus to attack 'arrogant, unscrupulous ideology'

Climate change is said to be [not by anybody who knows1 -cs]   
threatening the future of species such as the polar bear. Photograph:  
Mathieu Belanger/Reuters  [Oooh! Isn’t he luverly and cuddly - Pity  
that the reality is a record world population ! -cs]

It is billed as the largest ever gathering of climate change deniers,  
a convention that kicked off last night with a title suggesting  
global warming is a thing of the past, and a guest list that includes  
a hurricane forecaster, a retired astronaut and a sitting European  
president.

Entitled Global Warming: Was It Ever Really a Crisis? and featuring  
some of the most prominent naysayers in the climate change debate,  
this week's conference in New York sets out to escalate its  
confrontation with the scientific establishment, the vast majority of  
whose members subscribe to the view that humans are the principal  
cause of climate change.

Conference organisers were celebrating something of a coup in  
securing as a keynote speaker the Czech president, Václav Klaus, at a  
time when his country holds the rotating presidency of the EU. Klaus,  
a Eurosceptic, believes that efforts to protect the world from the  
impact of climate change are an assault on freedom.

In his remarks last night, Klaus accused European governments of  
being "alarmist" on the subject of climate change and in thrall to  
radical environmentalists.
"They probably do not want to reveal their true plans and ambitions  
to stop economic development and return mankind several centuries  
back," he said.

He received a standing ovation. But Klaus admitted that his position  
was a lonely one.
"It is evident that the climate change debate has not made any  
detectable progress," he said. "It reminds me of the frustration  
people like me felt in the communist era."

This week's gathering by the Heartland Institute, a Chicago thinktank  
that shares the Czech president's free-market views, brings together  
some of the more vocal critics of the scientific consensus, which  
maintains that rising temperatures are now so dangerous to people's  
existence as to warrant urgent action.

Among more than 70 participants listed by the Heartland Institute is  
Jack Schmitt, a former astronaut, who now teaches engineering  
physics. William Gray, who is regarded as a leading hurricane  
forecaster, is also listed, along with Fred Singer, the atmospheric  
physicist who argues that a melting Arctic would have some positive  
effects, including the formation of the long-sought north-west  
passage. There is also a strong contingent of free marketeers and  
conservative commentators, including Christopher Booker and  
Christopher Monckton, both British.

Environmentalists argue that climate change denial, although the view  
of a minority, has damaged efforts to introduce policies to address  
the changes.
Kert Davies, research director for Greenpeace, says the climate  
change deniers have been adept at adapting their views as the public  
grows more conscious of the dangers of global warming.

The deniers also have resources. The Centre for Public Integrity said  
in a report last month that the lobby opposing climate change action  
gave work to 2,430 Washington lobbyists in 2008. The report estimated  
that about 15% of Washington's lobbyists were now working to try to  
stop Congress from passing a law putting a cap on carbon.

"They are on the fringes - when you look at where the public is on  
this issue, where governments are on this issue, and where scientific  
organisations are on this issue," said Kevin Grandia, the manager of  
DeSmogBlog, which seeks to counter misinformation on global warming.  
"The problem is when you take that fringe and add in the public  
relations ability to amplify that message. They have ingrained their  
message so well ... it can easily be used as a tool to oppose  
legislation."

Opinion polls show that about 58% of Americans believe human activity  
is causing climate change. However, many do not see a need for urgent  
action. A poll by the Pew Research Centre this year showed that  
climate change ranked last among topics of public concern to Americans.

The Heartland Institute was funded by Exxon Mobil until 2006. It  
disavows such links for this conference, but lists 55 sponsors, some  
of which do receive funding from Exxon and rightwing thinktanks.

How we deal with climate change: denial
Academics meeting in Bristol at the weekend for Britain's first  
conference on the psychology of climate change [sic! -cs]  argued  
that the greatest obstacles to action are not technical, economic or  
political - they are the denial strategies that we adopt to protect  
ourselves from unwelcome information. Nearly 80% of people claim to  
be concerned about climate change, but many people have a tendency to  
define this concern in ways that keep it far away. They describe  
climate change as a global problem (not a local one) and as a future  
problem (not one for their lifetimes). And 60% of people believe that  
"many scientific experts still question if humans are contributing to  
climate change" while 30% believe climate change is "largely down to  
natural causes". Seven per cent deny climate is changing at all.

George Marshall
• George Marshall is founder of the Climate Outreach Information Network