Opening Remarks at the 2008 International Conference on Climate Change

Good evening, and welcome to the 2008 International Conference on Climate Change. I am Joseph Bast, president of The Heartland Institute, and along with James Taylor, I will be your cohost tonight and for the next two days.

This dinner kicks off a truly historic event, the first international conference devoted to answering questions overlooked by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. We’re asking questions such as:

• how reliable are the data used to document the recent warming trend?

• how much of the modern warming is natural, and how much is likely the result of human activities?

• how reliable are the computer models used to forecast future climate conditions? and

• is reducing emissions the best or only response to possible climate change?

Obviously, these are important questions. Yet the IPCC pays little attention to them or hides the large amount of doubt and uncertainty surrounding them.