Denial-a-palooza or Yawn-fest 2008?

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Here on the ground for the Heartland Institute’s Denial-a-palooza, which would more aptly be labeled Yawn-fest 2008.

With the conference winding down, there’s yet to be anything new or groundbreaking to occur – just the same old tired lines (read: global cooling in the 70’s and the medieval warming period), by the same group of people we’ve been writing about on DeSmogBlog for the last two years.

Of course, Heartland would have us all believe that this conference is an extravaganza of scientific inquiry, a “smashing success” they’re calling it. But the media isn’t buying that – most major outlets I talked to at the conference are not swallowing Heartland’s talking points. Most are here to report on the dying days of the climate denial industry.

And dying days they are.

One reporter told me that if this conference was held two years ago, oil companies like ExxonMobil would have been all over it and would most likely have been the lead sponsor. But, even ExxonMobil wouldn’t touch this circus  with a 100-foot pole. In fact, no company is, the entire conference is being sponsored by freemarket right-wing think tanks.

No doubt, Heartland will be disappointed with the outcome of their attempt at reinvigorating the appearance of major scientific debate about the effect human activity, our continued over-consumption of oil, gas and coal, has on our earth’s climate.

Unfortunately, this conference will also force Heartland and their industry-friendly think tank friends to go back to the drawing board and develop the next generation of PR spin, which could,if we all sit back in the belief that this battle is over, continue to sow public confusion and delay government, corporate and individual action on global warming.

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Kevin is a contributor and strategic adviser to DeSmogBlog.

He runs the digital marketing agency Spake Media House. Named a “Green Hero” by Rolling Stone Magazine and one of the “Top 50 Tweeters” on climate change and environment issues, Kevin has appeared in major news media outlets around the world for his work on digital campaigning.

Kevin has been involved in the public policy arena in both the United States and Canada for more than a decade. For five years he was the managing editor of DeSmogBlog.com. In this role, Kevin’s research into the “climate denial industry” and the right-wing think tank networks was featured in news media articles around the world. He is most well known for his ground-breaking research into David and Charles Koch’s massive financial investments in the Republican and tea party networks.

Kevin is the first person to be designated a “Certified Expert” on the political and community organizing platform NationBuilder.

Prior to DeSmogBlog, Kevin worked in various political and government roles. He was Senior Advisor to the Minister of State for Multiculturalism and a Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Asia Pacific, Foreign Affairs for the Government of Canada. Kevin also worked in various roles in the British Columbia provincial government in the Office of the Premier and the Ministry of Health.

In 2008 Kevin co-founded a groundbreaking new online election tool called Vote for Environment which was later nominated for a World Summit Award in recognition of the world’s best e-Content and innovative ICT applications.

Kevin moved to Washington, DC in 2010 where he worked for two years as the Director of Online Strategy for Greenpeace USA and has since returned to his hometown of Vancouver, Canada.

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