Climate Change Conference Rebuts Alarmism

Published May 1, 2009

The growing number of global warming skeptics around the world scored a major victory during the second International Conference on Climate Change, which confronted the issue, “Global warming: Was it every really a crisis?”

The answer, delivered over 2-1/2 days to an audience of 700 attendees—the largest-ever gathering of global warming skeptics—was a resounding “No.”

‘We Eventually Will Win’

More than 75 papers skeptical that human activity has raised global temperatures to crisis levels were delivered by some of the world’s leading scientists, climatologists, economists, policy makers, and opinion leaders.

Before the conference ended on March 10 in New York City, papers presented new data and analyses of climate change affecting global temperatures, severe weather patterns, species survival, integrity—or lack of it—in temperature and climate measurements, and the economic and business impact of global warming policies.

Referring to the United Nations’ steady beat of global warming alarms magnified by a pliant media, Richard Lindzen, professor of meteorology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, set the tone of the conference in his keynote address. Said Lindzen, “However grim things may appear, we eventually will win against anthropogenic global warming alarm, simply because we are right and they are wrong.”

Strong Accolades

Joseph Bast, president of The Heartland Institute, which produced the conference with 60 cosponsors, said he was told repeatedly by attendees that “this was the best conference they had ever attended. When I challenged them to show they weren’t exaggerating, all were willing to back it up.”

Charles Opalek, an attendee and president of Opalek Engineering Associates in New Jersey, said, “This was the best-run convention I have ever attended. The scientific presentations at the working sessions were well presented, interesting, and informative.”

Added Don Easterbrook, a presenter and emeritus professor of geology at Western Washington University, “I’ve been to many meetings, and this was one of the very best I’ve ever seen.”

Said Bast, “It was the result of a lot of preparation, experience, and hard work. The entire Heartland staff pitched in and created the perfect conference.”

Public Growing More Skeptical

Conference attendees received an unexpected psychological boost as the conference ended. A new Gallup poll showed that although a majority of Americans believe the seriousness of global warming is either correctly portrayed in the news or underestimated, a record-high 41 percent now say it is exaggerated. That’s the highest level of public skepticism about mainstream reporting on global warming seen in more than a decade of Gallup polling on the subject.


Dan Miller ([email protected]) is executive vice president and publisher for The Heartland Institute.