(Chicago, Illinois – October 12, 2007) Early this morning (U.S. time), the Nobel Foundation announced its decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to former Vice President Albert Gore and to a United Nations’ agency called the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
The following comments on the decision may be attributed to Joseph Bast, president of The Heartland Institute, a national nonprofit research organization based in Chicago. He can also be reached by calling 312/377-4000 or by email at [email protected].
Additional people willing to comment on the award are identified at the end of this statement.
“The decision by the Nobel Foundation to award this year’s Peace Prize to Albert Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is very disappointing. Neither deserve this recognition.
“Mr. Gore is an environmental alarmist whose views have been repeatedly contradicted by scientists, economists, and policy experts. We can add to this list the British High Court, which earlier this week ruled his film, An Inconvenient Truth, is partisan propaganda and should only be shown in classrooms with suitable warnings. The judge in that case identified nine specific errors, exaggerations, or outright lies in the film. He could have named a dozen more.
“The IPCC, like other United Nations’ bureaucracies, also has difficulty telling the truth. While it claims to represent the ‘consensus’ of thousands of scientists, its reports reflect the views of a small cabal of ideologically driven government scientists. Actual surveys of scientists reveal the IPCC expresses the views of a minority of the scientific community.
“The IPCC’s peer review process is a pathetic joke, perhaps best demonstrated by the fact that its ‘summaries for policymakers’ are edited line by line by politicians and green activists and released before the full reports are finished. The IPCC’s political bosses then revise the reports to support the claims made in the summaries. Obviously, this is not how real science is conducted.
“The Heartland Institute, a 23-year-old national nonprofit organization, has been running ads for more than six months challenging Gore to debate some of his critics. They have been met with stony silence. These ads have run in The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Washington Times. They are funded by Heartland’s 1,600 donors; no money from energy companies has been used to pay for the ads.
“We decided to run these ads because Mr. Gore represents himself as an expert on climate change, yet refuses to respond to requests to debate his critics. Why does he refuse to debate? Is it because he is afraid of losing? Is it because agreeing to debate means admitting the debate over global warming is not over?
“We will continue to run these ads until Mr. Gore agrees to debate his many highly qualified critics. Perhaps now the Nobel Foundation will join us in urging Mr. Gore to debate his challengers. After all, it should be embarrassing to the Foundation for one of its award recipients to refuse to engage in open and honest debate over his ideas.
“The Nobel Foundation sullied its reputation by rewarding the politics of fear. This is a sad day for the millions of people who look upon the Nobel Prize as a reward for genuine service to humanity.”
The individuals who Al Gore refuses to debate include:
Lord Christopher Monckton
Carie, Rannoch, PH17 2QJ, Scotland
phone 011 44 1882 632341
[email protected]
Dennis T. Avery
Director
Center for Global Food Issues
phone 540/337-6354
[email protected]
Chris Horner
Senior Fellow
Competitive Enterprise Institute
phone 202/331-1010
[email protected]
The Heartland Institute’s experts on global warming include:
Jay Lehr, Ph.D.
Science Director
The Heartland Institute
phone 740/368-9393
[email protected]
James Taylor, J.D.
Managing Editor, Environment & Climate News
Senior Fellow
The Heartland Institute
phone 941-776-5690
[email protected]
Sandy Liddy Bourne
Vice President – Policy and Strategy
The Heartland Institute
phone 703/517-3585
[email protected]
Joseph Bast is a Senior Fellow at The Heartland Institute. He cofounded Heartland in 1984, serving as executive director then as president & CEO until January 2018. His research and writing focuses on climate change and energy policy.
