Transcript to be taken seriously but not personally

Who Killed
Copenhagen?
A Coroner’s Report on
Science Disinformation,
Media Manipulation and an
Industry Bent on Denial
Richard Littlemore
January 28, 2010
Pop Quiz
A Remedial Test of
Climate Politics
Awareness
(to be taken seriously
but not personally)
Who said:
“The scientific basis for the greenhouse effect and the
potential impact of human emissions of greenhouse gases
such as CO2 on climate is well established and cannot be
denied.”
1.Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
1.Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
2.Dr. James Hansen, Director NASA Goddard
Institute for Space Studies
1.Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
2.Dr. James Hansen, Director NASA Goddard
Institute for Space Studies
3.Dr. David Suzuki, Canadian Environmental Icon
1.Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
2.Dr. James Hansen, Director NASA Goddard
Institute for Space Studies
3.Dr. David Suzuki, Canadian Environmental Icon
4.Leonard S. Bernstein, senior scientist (in 1995)
of Mobil Corporation (now Exxon Mobil)
1.Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
2.Dr. James Hansen, Director NASA Goddard
Institute for Space Studies
3.Dr. David Suzuki, Canadian Environmental Icon
4.Leonard S. Bernstein, senior scientist (in 1995)
of Mobil Corporation (now Exxon Mobil)
Who said:
“Those who think we are powerless to do anything about
the greenhouse effect forget about the ‘White House
effect.’ As president, I intend to do something about it.”
1. Bill Clinton, campaigning against
George H.W. Bush in 1992
1. Bill Clinton, campaigning against
George H.W. Bush in 1992
2. Al Gore, campaigning against George
W. Bush in 2000
1. Bill Clinton, campaigning against
George H.W. Bush in 1992
2. Al Gore, campaigning against George
W. Bush in 2000
3. Barack Obama, running against John
McCain in 2007
1. Bill Clinton, campaigning against
George H.W. Bush in 1992
2. Al Gore, campaigning against George
W. Bush in 2000
3. Barack Obama, running against John
McCain in 2007
4. George H.W. Bush, campaigning against
Michael Dukakis in 1988
1. Bill Clinton, campaigning against
George H.W. Bush in 1992
2. Al Gore, campaigning against George
W. Bush in 2000
3. Barack Obama, running against John
McCain in 2007
4. George H.W. Bush, campaigning against
Michael Dukakis in 1988
What corporation created The
Advancement of Sound Science
Coalition (TASSC) to:
“Encourage the public to question—from the
grassroots up—the validity of scientific studies.”
1. Monsanto Corporation – to protect
itself against lawsuits over the
danger of PCBs
1. Monsanto Corporation – to protect
itself against lawsuits over the
danger of PCBs
2. Philip Morris – to deflect U.S.
legislation against second-hand
smoke
1. Monsanto Corporation – to protect
itself against lawsuits over the
danger of PCBs
2. Philip Morris – to deflect U.S.
legislation against second-hand
smoke
3. General Electric – to safeguard its
nuclear energy investment
1. Monsanto Corporation – to protect
itself against lawsuits over the
danger of PCBs
2. Philip Morris – to deflect U.S.
legislation against second-hand
smoke
3. General Electric – to safeguard its
nuclear energy investment
4. ExxonMobil – to distract Americans
from thinking about climate change
1. Monsanto Corporation – to protect
itself against lawsuits over the
danger of PCBs
2. Philip Morris – ah ha! You thought
number 4 was always the right
answer
3. General Electric – to safeguard its
nuclear energy investment
4. ExxonMobil – to distract Americans
from thinking about climate change
Who did Philip Morris
solicit to join in in TASSC, to
help fight the fight for
“sound science”?
1. ExxonMobil
1. ExxonMobil
2. Monsanto Corporation
1. ExxonMobil
2. Monsanto Corporation
3. General Electric
1.
2.
3.
4.
ExxonMobil
Monsanto Corporation
General Electric
All of the above
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
ExxonMobil
Monsanto Corporation
General Electric
All of the above
All of the above, plus 20,000
other companies just like them
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
ExxonMobil
Monsanto Corporation
General Electric
All of the above
All of the above, plus 20,000
other companies just like them
What percentage of peerreviewed scientific journal
articles, written between
1993 and 2003 took issue
with the theory of global
warming?
1. 53 per cent
1. 53 per cent
2. 37 per cent
1. 53 per cent
2. 37 per cent
3. 16 per cent
1.
2.
3.
4.
53 per cent
37 per cent
16 per cent
0 (zero) per cent – which is to
say none, nada, not a single
frickin’ paper in 10 years.
1.
2.
3.
4.
53 per cent
37 per cent
16 per cent
0 (zero) per cent – I know! It’s
outrageous, isn’t it?
What percentage of
mainstream newspaper
articles during the same
period presented a more
“balanced” view, quoting
an “expert” on one side
and an “expert” on the
other?
1. 53 per cent
1. 53 per cent
2. 37 per cent
1. 53 per cent
2. 37 per cent
3. 16 per cent
1.
2.
3.
4.
53 per cent
37 per cent
16 per cent
0 (zero) per cent – be serious:
by now you must know that
these questions are a set up.
1.
2.
3.
4.
53 per cent
37 per cent
16 per cent
0 (zero) per cent – be serious:
by now you must know that
these questions are a set up.
Western Fuels Association
Information Council on the Environment
1991
“Some say the Earth is warming. Some also said the Earth was flat.”
“Who told you the Earth was warming? … Chicken Little?”
“How much are you willing to pay to solve a problem that may not
exist?”
“If the Earth is getting warmer, why is Minneapolis getting colder?”
“Doubt is our product, since it is
the best means of competing with
the ‘body of fact’ that exists in the
mind of the general public. It is
also the means of establishing a
controversy.”
Brown and Williamson
Tobacco Company memo
1960s
The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition
• Establish TAASC as a credible source for
reporters when questioning the validity of
scientific studies
• Encourage the public to question – from the
grassroots up – the validity of scientific studies
• Mobilize support for TAASC through alliances
with other organizations and third party allies
1992
American Petroleum Institute
Victory Will be Achieved When:
• Average citizens “understand” (recognize)
uncertainties in climate science; uncertainties
become part of the “conventional wisdom”
• Media “understands” (recognizes) uncertainties
in climate science
• Media coverage recognizes balance on climate
science and recognition of the validity of
viewpoints that challenge the current
“conventional wisdom”
1998
Number of scientific studies dealing with
“climate change” published in scientific
journals during the previous ten years:
Number disagreeing with the global
consensus that greenhouse gas pollution
has caused most of the warming of the
last 50 years:
Science, December 3, 2004 Vol. 306, Issue 5702,1686
Have they succeeded?
Peer-reviewed, scientific
articles:
Articles in the
popular press:
Percentage in doubt as
to cause:
Percentage in doubt as
to cause:
No wonder people are confused
Frank Luntz- Straight Talk 2002
• The Scientific Debate remains open. Voters
believe that there is no consensus about
global warming within the scientific
community. Should the public come to believe
that the scientific issues are settled, their
views about global warming will change
accordingly. Therefore you need to continue
to make the lack of scientific certainty a
primary issue in the debate, and defer to
scientists and other experts in the field.
Stolen Emails
• “I’ve just completed Mike’s Nature trick of
adding in the real temps to each series for the
last 20 years (ie from 1981 onwards) amd
from 1961 for Keith’s to hide the decline.”
Phil Jones
Director of the Climatic Research Unit
East Anglia University
Stolen Emails
ClimateGate: The final nail in the coffin of
“anthropgenic global warming”?
- The Telegraph
ClimateGate: Caught Green-Handed
- The SPPInstitute
ClimateGate and the elitist roots of global
warming alarmism
- Roy Spencer’s Global Warming blog
GlacierGate
First ClimateGate, now GlacierGate
- Lorne Gunter, the National Post
GlacierGate threatens Climate Change
- The Australian