Jay Lehr

Lehr on Groundwater and Agri-Business

While listed as a “global warming expert” for the Heartland Institute, according to his bio, Lehr is a “leading authority on groundwater hydrology” - the study of water resources below ground.

According to another bio, Lehr is an, “Economist and Futurist [who] makes people feel good about the environment and American Agriculture. He combines 5 decades of expertise and experience in Agricultural Economics, Agronomy, Environmental Science and Business Administration with the most contagious enthusiasm for the future of the American Farm and Ranch.”

Lehr and the Heartland Institute

Lehr is a “Senior Fellow” for the Heartland Institute, a Chicago-based free market think tank that attacks the scientific evidence for human-caused climate change. The Heartland Institute has received over $791,000 from oil-giant ExxonMobil since 1998.

The tobacco industry has also been a regular funder to the Heartland Institute, with at least $190,000 coming from Philip Morris since 1993. The Heartland Institute maintains a smoker’s rights section on its website called “The Smoker’s Lounge.”

Lehr on Public Speaking and Public Stoning

Since this briefing note is being prepared in advance of a public conference, here’s a 1985 article written by Lehr titled, “Let Their Be a Stoning.” Lehr describes a conference in which he took it upon himself to publicly humiliate a scientist in front of 200 colleagues because he found his speech boring.

Lehr writes: “Trembling I spoke, I told him and the audience that his paper was an insult which had obviously bored and irritated a kindly groups of scientists who deserved better. Those who kept awake refrained from stoning him, though they surely had adequate cause.”