John Coleman

John Coleman (Deceased)

Credentials

According to an article in Columbia Journalism Review, “Coleman had spent half a century in the trenches of TV weathercasting; he had once been an accredited meteorologist, and remained a virtuoso forecaster. But his work was more a highly technical art than a science. His degree, received fifty years earlier at the University of Illinois, was in journalism.”1Hot Air: Why don’t TV weathermen believe in climate change?Columbia Journalism Review, January/February 2010. Archived August 27, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/6h4ie

Background

John Coleman passed away on January 20, 2018. He was a retired television weatherman. He retired in 2014 after working for over 20 years for KUSI Channel in San Diego. Coleman was a TV weatherman since he was a freshman in college in 1953. He was the founder of the Weather Channel until he was “forced out” a year after the Weather Channel went to air, according to his profile at KUSI.2John Coleman, network TV meteorologist who helped start the Weather Channel, dies at 83,” The Washington Post, January 22, 2018. Archived January 23, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/qldMr 3John Coleman,” KUSI News. Archived January 4, 2013. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/jgXVh

A July 2002 article claims that “the relationship between Coleman and Landmark [Coleman’s business partner] soured quickly in the face of larger-than-projected losses and, in Batten’s view, declining staff morale. The two parted ways just over a year later, but not before airing their dirty laundry in court, Coleman departing the venture entirely.”4Brent Kendall. “Weather vain,” Washington Monthly, July-August 2002. Archived .pdf on file at Desmog.

Coleman was skeptical of man-made climate change and aired his views on CNN, Fox News Channel, Showtime and Pen & Teller: B.S. In an interview on Fox News’ “Red Eye,” he described Fox as the “only cable network that will put us on the air.”5Al Gore sued by over 30,000 Scientists for Global Warming fraud John Coleman,” YouTube Video uploaded by user kduron2082, June 9, 2009.

Stance on Climate Change

2016

“When all the scare talk is pushed aside, it is the science that should be the basis for the debate. And the hard cold truth is that the basic theory has failed. Many notable scientists reject man-made global warming fears. And several of them, including a Nobel Prize winner, are in the new Climate Hustle movie. The film is an informative and even humorous new feature length movie that is the ultimate answer to Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. It will be shown one day only in theaters nationwide on May 2.”6John Coleman. “Get politics out of climate debate: Opposing view,” USA Today, April 22, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/JOiNF

2011

“There is no run away climate change. The impact of humans on climate is not catastrophic. Our planet is not in peril.” 7Weather Channel boss calls global warming ‘the greatest scam in history’,” The Telegraph, December 3, 2011. Archived June 23, 2012. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/gGT5I

November, 2007

“Global Warming, i.e. Climate Change, is not about environmentalism or politics. It is not a religion. It is not something you “believe in.” It is science; the science of meteorology. This is my field of life-long expertise. And I am telling you Global Warming are a nonevent, a manufactured crisis and a total scam. I say this knowing you probably won’t believe me, a mere TV weatherman, challenging a Nobel Prize, Academy Award and Emmy Award winning former Vice President of United States. So be it.”8“Global Warming Comments by John Coleman” (PDF), KUSI News. Archived February 18, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

Key Quotes

October 9, 2017

Following EPA administrator Scott Pruitt‘s announcement that the Trump administration would be scrapping the Clean Power Plan, Coleman issued the following statement via the Heartland Institute:9PRESS RELEASE: HEARTLAND INSTITUTE EXPERTS REACT TO EPA SCRAPPING THE CLEAN POWER PLAN,” The Heartland Institute, October 9, 2017. Archived October 10, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/B9m3e

“The ‘tons and tons of carbon we are spewing into the atmosphere every day,’ as Al Gore puts it, are actually a good thing. In his rants that the Earth will become uninhabitable, former Vice President Gore is referring the carbon dioxide gas being released into the atmosphere as we power our civilization with fossil fuels. However, it turns out that as the ‘greenhouse gases’ we release combine with nature’s carbon dioxide to make the planet greener and greener.

“Scientists have worked hard to learn ways to process coal so it burns cleaner. And they have worked diligently to improve our coal burning power plants to eliminate any particulate pollution. Coal continues to be essential to provide the finer points of our civilization such as electric power for our computers, smart phone and phone networks, lights and air conditioning.

“So since the invisible, odorless gas carbon dioxide is not a pollutant – and it is making the Earth greener and greener – scrapping the so-called Clean Air Plan of the Obama EPA was an excellent step forward.”10PRESS RELEASE: HEARTLAND INSTITUTE EXPERTS REACT TO EPA SCRAPPING THE CLEAN POWER PLAN,” The Heartland Institute, October 9, 2017. Archived October 10, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/B9m3e

May, 2016

John Coleman defended Marc Morano’s Climate Hustle film after Bill Nye described it as “not in our national interest and the world’s interest.”11‘Climate Hustle’ debuts as skeptics take on global-warming ‘consensus’,” The Washington Times, May 1, 2016. Archived August 26, 2016. Archive.is URL:https://archive.is/XtLXp

“I have always been amazed that anyone would pay attention to Bill Nye, a pretend scientist in a bow tie,” Coleman said on Climate Depot.12Weather Channel Founder Slams Bill Nye: Calls him ‘a pretend scientist in a bow tie’,” ClimateDepot, April 29, 2016. Archived August 27, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/3tIur

“As a man who has studied the science of meteorology for over 60 years and received the [American Meteorological Society] Meteorologist of the Year award, I am totally offended that Nye gets the press and media attention he does,” Coleman said. “And I am rooting for the ‘Climate Hustle’ film to become a huge hit — bigger than ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ by Al Gore.”13Weather Channel Founder Slams Bill Nye: Calls him ‘a pretend scientist in a bow tie’,” ClimateDepot, April 29, 2016. Archived August 27, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/3tIur

April, 2016

“As a skeptic of man-made global warming, I love our environment as much as anyone. I share the deepest commitment to protecting our planet for our children and grandchildren. However, I desperately want to get politics out of the climate debate. The Paris climate agreement is all about empowering the U.N. and has nothing to do with the climate.”14John Coleman. “Get politics out of climate debate: Opposing view,” USA Today, April 22, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/JOiNF

May, 2011

“Many people don’t accept my position that there is no significant man-made global warming because I am simply a Television Meteorologist without a Ph.D. I understand that…”15The Truth About Greenhouse Gasses,” Kusi News, May 23, 2011. Archived August 27, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/ANHsi

November, 2007

“Some misguided scientists with environmental and political motives manipulated long-term scientific data back in the late 1990’s to create an illusion of rapid global warming. Other scientists of the same environmental-extremism type jumped into the circle to support and broaden the ‘research’ to further enhance the totally slanted, bogus global warming claims.”16“Global Warming Comments by John Coleman” (PDF), KUSI News. Archived February 18, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

“Now the really good news: The increase in our atmospheric carbon dioxide during the 20th and early 21st centuries has produced no deleterious effects upon Earth’s weather and climate. There is absolutely no correlation between the increase in CO2 and average worldwide or US temperatures. And, predictions of harmful climatic effects due to future increases in hydrocarbon use and resulting increases in minor greenhouse gases such as CO2 do not conform to current experimental knowledge or have any scientific basis. On the other hand, increased carbon dioxide has markedly increased plant growth. Forest growth and farm crop output per acre have grown proportionally with increased atmospheric CO2 that is a key to photosynthesis in plants.”17“Global Warming Comments by John Coleman” (PDF), KUSI News. Archived February 18, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

“Environmental extremist, notable politicians among them then teamed up with movie, media and other liberal, environmentalist journalists to create this wild ‘scientific’ scenario of the civilization threatening environmental consequences from Global Warming unless we adhere to their radical agenda.”18“Global Warming Comments by John Coleman” (PDF), KUSI News. Archived February 18, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

Key Deeds

September 24, 2020

Appearing in a segment of Marc Morano’s 2020 film Climate Hustle 2: Rise of the Climate Monarchy, produced by the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), Coleman was quoted:

“By the way, carbon dioxide isn’t a pollutant. CO2 is not a pollutant. And it has become so distorted. My science has gotten so bad. It drives me nuts,” adding: “the whole global warming thing is, in fact, invalid. It’s science gone bad it drives me nuts.”19 Climate Hustle 2: Rise of the Climate Monarchy. CFACT/ CDR Communications, Inc., 2020

September 28, 2017

Coleman wrote an introduction to a fundraising mailer, obtained by Greenpeace. The the later portion of the mailer details CFACT’s goals to influence students in America’s schools and college campuses. Coleman’s introduction downplays the dangers of climate change:

“Unlike so many of my colleagues, who are caught up in climate change hysteria, I am confident that ‘man-made’ global warming does not pose a catastrophic threat (as Al Gore says) to the future of mankind and the Earth itself,” Coleman wrote. “I’ve studied this subject for decades. I know beyond any doubt the science behind the global warming frenzy is based on a completely failed theory. There is nothing alarming in any of the actual evidence.”20Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow CFACT Weather Channel Mailer 2017-09-28,” DocumentCloud.

Coleman claims that “politicians and Radical Green activists step over the bounds of what science actually reveals and into the realms of political advocacy and demagoguery.”21Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow CFACT Weather Channel Mailer 2017-09-28,” DocumentCloud.

He ends with a call to action for the reader to “join my friend David Rothbard and his Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) in raising the alarm over the rampant climate indoctrination infesting America’s schools and colleges.”22Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow CFACT Weather Channel Mailer 2017-09-28,” DocumentCloud.

Following Coleman’s letter was one by Rothbard where he outlined his need for funds and strategy to counter climate “alarmism” in classrooms:23Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow CFACT Weather Channel Mailer 2017-09-28,” DocumentCloud.

“Together , we must make sure CFACT’s programs – especially designed to push back against Green indoctrination in America ‘s classrooms – are fully funded and ready to immediately counteract Left-wing climate alarmism in classrooms and on campuses across America,” Rothbard wrote.24Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow CFACT Weather Channel Mailer 2017-09-28,” DocumentCloud.

The rest of the fundraising letter outlined CFACT’s “anti-climate indoctrination budget,” which totalled $470,000:

  • $50,000 for an “indoctrination survey”
  • $50,000 “to tour ‘red’ America with our West Virginia success model to get other states with sympathetic leadership to help us fight climate indoctrination.”
  • $85,000 “to develop the entertaining short videos we plan for YouTube and to expand our social media outreach to young people.”
  • $100,000 for “promotion of Climate Hustle over the next few months”
  • $200,000 for “20 new Collegians chapters in four regions of the country”

June 9, 2017

Andrew Bolt, writing at the Herald Sun, commented on a clipped video of John Coleman in what he describes as a “brilliant smackdown of a CNN host” regarding climate change.25Andrew Bolt. “CNN GETS HEAT FOR WARMING BIAS,” Herald Sun. June 9, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/biKff

Graham Readfearn notes that the video, in fact, was over three years old. View the original deed and below, from November 2014 from when Coleman appeared on CNN’s Reliable Sources with host Brian Stelter. 26Graham Readfearn. “Andrew Bolt brings readers news from climate denialist echo chamber – three years late,” Readfearn.com, June 12, 2017. Archived June 15, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/PxkOj, 27Former Weather Channel CEO Goes off on CNN: ‘Hello, Everybody! There’s No Global Warming!’,” Mediaite, November 2, 2014. Archived November 4, 2014. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/cc13D

“Important things not clear from the clip Bolt shared are either John Coleman’s actual link to the Weather Channel or his actual qualifications, “Readfearn notes. The full clip, which Bolt does not publish, goes on to an interview with Weather Channel CEO David Kenny who point out that Coleman “has not been with the Weather Channel for 31 years.” Kenny added, “ “I would prefer people to use their credentials they have today, not the credentials of three decades ago.”

May 2, 2016

John Coleman was featured in Marc Morano’s film Climate Hustle, which had a one-day release in May 2016 in U.S. theatres. The Washington Times reports that John Coleman defended the film after Bill Nye described it as “not in our national interest and the world’s interest.”28‘Climate Hustle’ debuts as skeptics take on global-warming ‘consensus’,” The Washington Times, May 1, 2016. Archived August 26, 2016. Archive.is URL:https://archive.is/XtLXp

“I have always been amazed that anyone would pay attention to Bill Nye, a pretend scientist in a bow tie,” Coleman said on Climate Depot.29Weather Channel Founder Slams Bill Nye: Calls him ‘a pretend scientist in a bow tie’,” ClimateDepot, April 29, 2016. Archived August 27, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/3tIur

“As a man who has studied the science of meteorology for over 60 years and received the [American Meteorological Society] Meteorologist of the Year award, I am totally offended that Nye gets the press and media attention he does,” Coleman said. “And I am rooting for the ‘Climate Hustle’ film to become a huge hit — bigger than ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ by Al Gore.”30Weather Channel Founder Slams Bill Nye: Calls him ‘a pretend scientist in a bow tie’,” ClimateDepot, April 29, 2016. Archived August 27, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/3tIur

The film was produced by the Committee for Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) and CDRCommunications. As noted at Desmog’s project, ClimateHustler.org, CFACT has received funding from ExxonMobil, Chevron, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars from foundations associated with Richard Mellon Scaife. CFACT has also received at least $7.8 million in “dark money” through DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund.31Background on Climate Hustle Host and Producers,” ClimateHustle.org. Archived .pdf on file at Desmog. 32Homepage, climatehustler.org. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/NB9qn

CDR Communications was behind the 2010 video by the Cornwall Alliance titled Resisting the Green Dragon, which claimed environmentalism was a “false religion” and a “global government” power grab. Chris Rogers of CDR Communictions is also chairman of The James Partnership, the umbrella arm that includes the Cornwall Alliance as one of its projects and pays the salary of Calvin Beisner, Cornwall’s founder and spokesperson.33Graham Readfearn. “The Evangelical Christian Climate Deniers Behind Marc Morano’s Climate Hustle Documentary,” Desmog, November 19, 2015.

April 22, 2016

John Coleman wrote an article in USA Today titled “Get politics out of climate debate: Opposing view” on Earth Day, 2016. In his article, Coleman accuses “The environmentalists, bureaucrats and politicians who make up the U.N.’s climate panel” of producing “the desired results” due to the influence of “money, politics and ideology […]”34John Coleman. “Get politics out of climate debate: Opposing view,” USA Today, April 22, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/JOiNF

“As a skeptic of man-made global warming, I love our environment as much as anyone,” Coleman writes. “I share the deepest commitment to protecting our planet for our children and grandchildren. However, I desperately want to get politics out of the climate debate. The Paris climate agreement is all about empowering the U.N. and has nothing to do with the climate.”35John Coleman. “Get politics out of climate debate: Opposing view,” USA Today, April 22, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/JOiNF

According to Coleman, “it is obvious that science has taken a back seat at the United Nations” with the U.S. commitment to signing the Paris climate agreement.36John Coleman. “Get politics out of climate debate: Opposing view,” USA Today, April 22, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/JOiNF

June 11-12, 2015

John Coleman was a speaker on Panel 12: “Effective Climate Science Communication,” at the Heartland Institute’s Tenth International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC10) in Washington, D.C., with Tom Harris and Michael Bastasch.37Speakers,” Heartland Institute. Archived June 30, 2015. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/lpiqu

View John Coleman’s Panel 12 presentation at the Heartland Institute’s ICCC10, below:38Panel 12: Effective Climate Science Communication with Tom Harris, John Coleman, and Michael Bastasch,” Heartland Institute, June 12, 2015. Archived July 14, 2015.

November 5, 2014

The Heartland Institute‘s “environmental science and policy experts” published comments following the release of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) “Synthesis Report,” completing the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report (AR5).39Heartland Institute Experts Comment on Latest United Nations Climate Report,” Heartland Institute, November 5, 2014. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/CBLqi

John Coleman wrote the “climate of planet Earth has been constantly changing for 4.5 billion years,” and “climate scientists, the media, environmentalists, bureaucrats, and politicians have all been thinking about climate in a wrong way for decades now.”40Heartland Institute Experts Comment on Latest United Nations Climate Report,” Heartland Institute, November 5, 2014. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/CBLqi

Coleman continued by stating “we are altering the climate at spots and in minor ways through our activities, but the bottom line is that it is not changing very much and no significant climate change is occurring or likely in the future. There is no climate crisis.”41Heartland Institute Experts Comment on Latest United Nations Climate Report,” Heartland Institute, November 5, 2014. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/CBLqi

November 2, 2014

John Coleman appeared on CNN’s Reliable Sources with host Brian Stelter and Weather Channel CEO David Kenny, after writing an open letter to UCLA denying the existence of anthropogenic global warming and receiving air time on Fox News to “express his views about climate change to their national audiences.”42Former Weather Channel CEO Goes off on CNN: ‘Hello, Everybody! There’s No Global Warming!’,” Mediaite, November 2, 2014. Archived November 4, 2014. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/cc13D 43Why Does Anyone Pay Attention to John Coleman, Weather Channel co-founder, on climate change?,” The Washington Post, November 3, 2014. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/fszS3

“I resent you calling me a denier,” Coleman begins. “That is a word meant to put me down. I am a skeptic about climate change. And I want to make it darn clear: Kenny’s not a scientist. I am.”44Former Weather Channel CEO Goes off on CNN: ‘Hello, Everybody! There’s No Global Warming!’,” Mediaite, November 2, 2014. Archived November 4, 2014. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/cc13D

Coleman also told Stelter that “CNN has taken a very strong position on global warming that it is a consensus. Well there is no consensus in science. Science isn’t a vote. Science is about facts,” and that he was “terribly disappointed” by his former network, The Weather Channel, because it “has bought into [climate change]. But so has all the media. That’s no big surprise.”45Former Weather Channel CEO Goes off on CNN: ‘Hello, Everybody! There’s No Global Warming!’,” Mediaite, November 2, 2014. Archived November 4, 2014. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/cc13D

Kenny had published his own open letter “clarifying the channel’s belief in global warming because ‘some people were confused’ by Coleman’s comments.”46Weather Channel: Co-founder doesn’t speak for us on global warming,” CNN Money, November 2, 2014. Archived November 4, 2014. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/she5J

Kenny wrote The Weather Channel was grateful that Coleman got it started 32 years ago, “but he hasn’t been with us in 31 years. So he’s not really speaking for The Weather Channel in any way today … I think we can all be proud of our resumes, but I would prefer people use the credentials they have today, not the credentials of three decades ago … The climate of the earth is indeed warming … The science is really clear. And I don’t like our brand being associated with something that’s not scientifically-based.”47Weather Channel: Co-founder doesn’t speak for us on global warming,” CNN Money, November 2, 2014. Archived November 4, 2014. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/she5J

October 20, 2014

John Coleman writes an open letter to UCLA and the Hammer Museum, “urging UCLA’s Hammer Museum to provide balance to a presentation titled ‘Tackling Climate Change Nationally and Globally,’” according to a press release from the Heartland Institute.48Weather Channel Founder Challenges UCLA to Offer Balanced Climate Change Debate on Thursday,” Heartland Institute, October 20, 2014. Archived October 22, 2014. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/tjT6q

Coleman references William Happer, Richard Lindzen, Willie Soon, and John Christy as scientists who “all agree with [his] opening two sentences [of the letter to UCLA] … There is no significant man-made global warming at this time, there has been none in the past and there is no reason to fear any in the future. Efforts to prove the theory that carbon dioxide is a significant ‘greenhouse’ gas and pollutant causing significant warming or weather effects have failed. There has been no warming over 18 years.”49Weather Channel Founder Challenges UCLA to Offer Balanced Climate Change Debate on Thursday,” Heartland Institute, October 20, 2014. Archived October 22, 2014. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/tjT6q

Coleman states that “it is important to have those attend know that there is no climate crisis”:

“The ocean is not rising significantly. The polar ice is increasing, not melting away. Polar Bears are increasing in number. Heat waves have actually diminished, not increased. There is not an uptick in the number or strength of storms (in fact storms are diminishing). I have studied this topic seriously for years. It has become a political and environment agenda item, but the science is not valid.”50Weather Channel Founder Challenges UCLA to Offer Balanced Climate Change Debate on Thursday,” Heartland Institute, October 20, 2014. Archived October 22, 2014. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/tjT6q

Coleman notes that he is “not a wacko flat-Earther,” nor is he “a ‘paid shill’ (as has been claimed) of the Koch Brothers,” concluding his letter with a link to Heartland’s Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC) website. Coleman’s open letter to UCLA was sent to numerous local television stations in the Los Angeles area, as well as the Los Angeles Times.51Weather Channel Founder Challenges UCLA to Offer Balanced Climate Change Debate on Thursday,” Heartland Institute, October 20, 2014. Archived October 22, 2014. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/tjT6q

October 9, 2014

John Coleman is quoted in the Heartland Institute‘s press release, “Heartland Institute Climate Experts Comment on 18 Straight Years of No Global Warming,” which states “the global mean surface temperature has not risen for 18 consecutive years. This extends the so-called ‘pause’ in global warming to a new record, one not predicted by the climate models of the United Nations’ International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).”52John Coleman. “Heartland Institute Climate Experts Comment on 18 Straight Years of No Global Warming,” Heartland Institute, October 9, 2014. Archived October 16, 2014. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/nuCrS

Coleman writes:

“Yes there has been no warming for 18 years, but The New York Times has just reactivated it’s environmental global warming/climate change coverage team to increase coverage of what they regard as the most serious issue of our time. At the Times Web site, where it announced this new climate team, I posted this comment:

‘There has not been any significant man-made global warming in the past, there is none now, and there is no reason to expect any in the future. The computer models that predicted the warming have failed to verify. There has been no warming in 18 years. The ice at the poles is stable. The polar bears are increasing. The oceans are not rising. The march in New York was a political event dominated by communists and socialists who are using climate change as a devise to raise anti-capitalism hell. This is a great distortion of science with a political agenda driven by huge federal tax dollar research grants. I strongly urge the reporter group at the Times to break the really big story and research and see it through: Global warming/climate change has become a politically driven folly without any verified scientific basis. The evidence to support what I have said is there for the looking. Start with the Nongovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the work of Patrick Moore, one of the founders of Greenpeace, and go from there. It can be the investigative story of your lifetimes. Go for it.’

“The facts are on the side of the skeptics, but the media remains totally committed to the ‘97 percent consensus’ lie.”53John Coleman. “Heartland Institute Climate Experts Comment on 18 Straight Years of No Global Warming,” Heartland Institute, October 9, 2014. Archived October 16, 2014. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/nuCrS

July 7–9, 2014

John Coleman was a speaker at the Heartland Institute’s Ninth International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC9) in Las Vegas, Nevada.54Return of Climate Denial-a-Palooza: Heartland Institute Hitches Anti-Science Wagon to Vegas FreedomFest,” DeSmog, July 7, 2014. Archived July 14, 2014.

He gave a keynote speech titled “How the Global Warming Frenzy Began” which can be viewed below.

DeSmog has done in-depth research on the other speakers and sponsors from Heartland’s ICCC9, which can be found here.55Return of Climate Denial-a-Palooza: Heartland Institute Hitches Anti-Science Wagon to Vegas FreedomFest,” DeSmog, July 7, 2014. Archived July 14, 2014.

March 12, 2014

KUSI News published a video of John Coleman where he claims that “There is no significant global warming.” As of June 2017, the video had more than 750,000 views on YouTube.56How the Global Warming Scare Began,” KUSI News, Mach 12, 2014. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

“You may think that I’m just a paid off shill for Big Oil or something of that sort,” Coleman begins. “No, no, no, no, no. They’ve never given me a nickel.”

Coleman, after detailing his credential as a television meteorologist, goes on to connect a single cold winter in 2013, 2014, with disbelief in global warming. “How could you tout global warming when it was the coldest, snowiest, bitterest winter in 30 years?” — note that the linking of a single temperature event to a lack of global warming is one of the most common “global warming and climate change myths” listed at SkepticalScience.57Does cold weather disprove global warming?SkepticalScience. Accessed June 14, 2017.

January 2010

Coleman produced a special report for KUSI-TV, entitled Global Warming: The Other Side. The program suggests that Global Warming is a scam and presents what Coleman contended was evidence of a deliberate manipulation of world temperature data by NASA and other groups.58Global Warming: The Other Side – Segment 4,” San Diego, CA: KUSI – News, Weather and Sports. Archived March 24, 2010. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/8kbh6

The program describes “Climategate” as a “major climate scandal.” Reports have since exonerated the scientists of the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, finding “no evidence of any deliberate scientific malpractice.”59Andrew Moseman. “ClimateGate Inquiry: No Scientific Misconduct From “Squeaky Clean” Researchers,” Discover Magazine, April 15, 2010. Archived May 19, 2015. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/4fzgY

The Other Side was also supported by the Science and Public Policy Institute (SPPI). The SPPI is a global warming skeptics group founded by climate-change skeptic Robert Ferguson. It’s staff includes prominent climate change deniers like Christopher Monckton, listed as SPPI’s “Chief Policy Advisor,” and previously listed Willie Soon as ”Chief Science Advisor.”60SPPI Personnel 2016,” Science and Public Policy Institute. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/njG9h 61SPPI Personnel 2012,” Science & Public Policy Institute. Archived November 9, 2012. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/xZFe3

March 8 –10, 2009

Coleman was a speaker at the Heartland Institute‘s Second International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC2.)62“Second International Conference on Climate Change, Program” (PDF) Heartland Institute. Archived January 23, 2018.

His speech, titled “Dead Wrong about Global Warming: How Al Gore Got That Way” can be viewed below.

DeSmog researched the funding behind the conference and found that sponsor organizations had collectively received over $47 million from energy companies and right-wing foundations, with 78% of that total coming from the Scaife Family of foundations.

November 13, 2008

Coleman gave a presentation to the AWPA San Diego/Imperial Chapter titled “The Global Warming Scam is Wrecking America.”63Monthly Luncheon,” American Public Works Association. Archived May 19, 2015. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/uvqcq

Following is a description of the event:

“In the fall of 2007, Mr. Coleman described the current concern over global warming ‘a fictional, manufactured crisis, and a total scam.’ In 2008, Mr. Coleman gave a speech of the same tone before the San Diego Chamber of Commerce, blaming the ‘global warming scam’ and environmentalist lobby for raising gas and food prices. He also declared the scam ‘a threat to our economy and our civilization.’ His posting assessing the science behind global warming can be read at www.kusi.com.”64Monthly Luncheon,” American Public Works Association. Archived May 19, 2015. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/uvqcq

March 2008

Coleman was a speaker at the Heartland Institute‘s First International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC1), where he accused Al Gore of “financial fraud” and of obfuscating “legitimate debate.”65“First International Conference on Climate Change, Program” (PDF) Heartland Institute. Archived Feb 8, 2018, Archive.is URL: https://archive.li/p3f7V

His speech, titled “A Meteorological Perspective on Global Warming” can be viewed below.

The Conference describes itself as being created to “generate international media attention.” The Heartland Institute, organizer and funder of the conference, has received at least $676,500 from ExxonMobil.66Richard Littlemore. “Heartland Conference Celebrates Science for Sale,” Desmog, February 4, 2008. 67EXXONSECRETS FACTSHEET: HEARTLAND INSTITUTE, HEARTLAND. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/IDH03

March 2008

Coleman appeared on the Fox News “Red Eye” where he vowed to sue Al Gore for fraud. Coleman starts by announcing he has found 30,000 “scientists” in doubt of the consensus on global warming. Video below.68Weather Channel Founder: Sue Al Gore for Fraud,” Fox News, March 14, 2008. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/aByzX

Coleman’s list appears to have originated from the Oregon Petition which was debunked by numerous groups including The Skeptics Society. No lawsuit has yet emerged since Coleman’s threat.69“Global Warming Consensus?” Skeptic.com, November 12, 2008. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/CXmMN 70Jeremy Jacquot. “John Coleman: Still Waiting for that Lawsuit,” Desmog, January 12, 2009.

2008

Coleman gave a speech before the San Diego Chamber of Commerce, blaming the “global warming scam” and environmentalist lobby, for rising gas and food prices.

He also declared that action to prevent global warming is “a threat to our economy and our civilization.”71Global Warming and the Price of a Gallon of Gas,” ColeMan’s Corner. Archived April 5, 2010. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/QsuPk

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According to a search of Google Scholar, John Coleman has not published peer-reviewed research on climate change. The only article returned was published in the “RAAF Radschool Association Magazine” titled “The Amazing Story Behind the Global Warming Scam” (PDF).76“Global warming!!” (PDF), RAAF Radschool Association Magazine – Vol 27. Archived .pdf on file at Desmog. 77Search query “climate change” by author”John Coleman” at Google Scholar. Performed August 27, 2016.

Coleman previously published numerous articles calling global warming a “scam” on “Coleman’s Corner” on the KUSI News website. “Coleman’s Corner” appears to have since been removed from the KUSI website.78Top Stories: Coleman’s Corner,” KUSI News. Archived October 6, 2010. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/HjJRf

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