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Richard Littlemore
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Heartland Still Misrepresenting 500 Scientists as "Co-authors" of Denial Paper

7 May 08

The Heartland Institute is still misrepresenting 500 scientists as "co-authors" of a paper that challenges the human role in global warming.

Although Heartland President and CEO Joseph Bast conceded on Monday that his organization had been wrong to present the scientists as people who personally and professionally doubted the proof of humankind's impact on the climate, he refused to respond to the demands from dozens of those scientists to have their names removed entirely from the web-published "paper."

Bast said:

They have no right - legally or ethically - to demand that their names be removed from a bibliography composed by researchers with whom they disagree. Their names probably appear in hundreds or thousands of bibliographies (My emphasis: RL) accompanying other articles or in books with which they disagree.

But if you click here on the Heartland site, you get to the now-redacted original article by renowned denier Dennis T. Avery, and if you then click on the Download Full Text (pdf) button, you go to a page that DOESN'T say "bibliography" or even "references." It says, unapologetically, "Co-authors: Alphabetical List."

To strain the point, Joe Bast might look up the definition of "co-author." My Oxford says simply "a joint author," while TheFreeDictionary goes the extra mile and adds the word "collaborating."

And if it's not clear enough yet for Mr. Bast, he might even look up "collaborator," which would get him to this:

1. To work together, especially in a joint intellectual effort.
2. To cooperate treasonably, as with an enemy occupation force in one's country.
We at the DeSmogBlog have received outraged emails from six dozen of Bast's "co-authors" and we have contacted fewer than 150 out of the 500. They didn't work on this paper; they didn't authorize the use of their names; and they object strenuously to the spin that Avery has put on their legitimate scientific research.
In other words, none of these scientists fit the first definition of collaborator, but if you can define science, figuratively, as a "country," Avery certainly seems to fit the bill as a collaborator in the second, cooperating with fossil-fuel funded think tanks and ideologically driven political campaigners to undermine science.

 

 

 


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Legality

Submitted by octopod (not verified) on Wed, 2008-05-07 17:20.

Can't they sue him for libel?

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Heartland Play Fast & Loose with the Facts

Submitted by climate criminal on Thu, 2008-05-08 22:07.

The only thing the Heartland and Bast have proven is that they can't distinguish between science and nonsense, truth, half truths and lies.

I note on the same page:
http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=21978
there is a button linking to:
http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=16260
Its title is: Michael Crichton Is Right! Written By: Joseph L. Bast.
Under point 4
All of the points listed above are based on sound research by reputable authors. For confirmation, you can buy and read any of the following books:

Ronald Bailey (ed.), Earth Report 2000: Revisiting the True State of the Planet, 2000, chapter 2 and chapter 7.

Robert C. Balling, Jr., The Heated Debate: Greenhouse Predictions Versus Climate Reality, 1992.

Robert L. Bradley, Jr., Julian Simon and the Triumph of Energy Sustainability, 2000.

Robert Jastrow, William Nierenberg, and Freiderick Seitz, Scientific Perspectives on the Greenhouse Problem, 1990.

Jay H. Lehr (ed.), Standard Handbook of Environmental Science, Health, and Technology, 2000, chapter 22, section 1.

Jay H. Lehr (ed.), Rational Readings on Environmental Concerns, 1992.

Robert Mendelsohn and James E. Neumann (eds.),The Impact of Climate Change on the United States Economy, 1999.

Patrick J. Michaels, Meltdown: The Predictable Distortion of Global Warming by Scientists, Politicians, and the Media, 2004.

Patrick J. Michaels and Robert C. Balling, Jr., The Satanic Gases: Clearing the Air about Global Warming, 2000.

Thomas Gale Moore, Climate of Fear: Why We Shouldn’t Worry about Global Warming, 1998.

Kendra Okonski (ed.), Adapt or Die: The Science, Politics and Economics of Climate Change, 2003.

Dixy Lee Ray with Lou Guzzo, Environmental Overkill: Whatever Happened to Common Sense?, 1993

S. Fred Singer, Hot Talk, Cold Science: Global Warming’s Unfinished Debate, 1997

S. Fred Singer (ed.), Global Climate Change, 1989

Aaron Wildavsky, But Is it True? A Citizen’s Guide to Environmental Health and Safety Issues, 1995.

S.H. Wittwer, Food, Climate and Carbon Dioxide, 1995.

I recognised the names of the usual suspects including FSF, FS & PM; AKA Satan, Lucifer & Beelzebub. But some names I didn't know, I presume these to be lesser demons. FYI 'Bast' is the name of a lesser demon, [no, I am not making this up!]. No, I do not believe in demons, but I do know that ****ards exist.

All in all, not a very impressive list, I have no intention of reading any of these to learn about climate science, but I might read a few [via the local library] for an insight into the denialist's mindset.

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