Environment

Free Market Think Tank Says Documents ‘Exposing’ Climate Change Denialism Were Stolen, Faked

  • On Tuesday, unconfirmed documents allegedly revealing budgets, strategy and fundraising for The Heartland Institute — a free-market think tank — were leaked.
  • These documents were analyzed by many to reveal what they considered evidence that The Heartland Institute was involved in a scheme to deny climate science that would support man-made global warming.
  • On Wednesday, The Heartland Institute responded stating that the documents were stolen and faked while others were altered. 
  • It believes the documents were taken, leaked and altered to “defame and discredit The Heartland Institute.”
  • The institute has said it considered the theft of the documents and reportage of the leak as constituting civil and potentially criminal offenses. 

Strategic and Fundraising Documents From The Heartland Institute That Some Referenced as Evidence of Climate Denialism Were Stolen and FakedYesterday, The Heartland Institute — a think tank seeking to promote free market ideals — was accused by many groups of “cast[ing] doubt on the settled science” and “discredit[ing] the established science on climate change” through leaked documents revealing some of the organization’s alleged strategic plans and sources of funding.

Today, The Heartland Institute has responded saying that some of the documents that have led to these accusations were stolen and others were completely faked or altered.

DeSmogBlog broke the original story on Tuesday writing the documents ”[exposed] the heart of the climate denial machine.” The Huffington Post’s Shawn Lawrence Otto explains in his post, “Climate Denial Bombshell,” that the leak of documents was both unauthorized and from an anonymous source who sent them from a Gmail account, which was immediately deleted after sending the documents to bloggers covering climate change.

Here are just a few alleged quotes — released in similar fashion to the Climategate scandals – from the documents, whose authenticity has not been confirmed by the institute (via DeSmogBlog):

  • “We will also pursue additional support from the Charles G. Koch Foundation. They returned as a Heartland donor in 2011 with a contribution of $200,000. We expect to push up their level of support in 2012 and gain access to their network of philanthropists, if our focus continues to align with their interests. Other contributions will be pursued for this work, especially from corporations whose interests are threatened by climate policies.”
  • “Efforts at places such as Forbes are especially important now that they have begun to allow high-profile climate scientists (such as Gleick) to post warmist science essays that counter our own. This influential audience has usually been reliably anti-climate and it is important to keep opposing voices out.”
  • “Efforts might also include cultivating more neutral voices with big audiences (such as Revkin at DotEarth/NYTimes, who has a well-known antipathy for some of the more extreme AGW communicators such as Romm, Trenberth, and Hansen) or Curry (who has become popular with our supporters).”

The Guardian writes that the documents confirm what environmental groups have suspected about the free-market think tank:

[...] that Heartland itself is a major source of funding to a network of experts and bloggers who have been prominent in the campaign to discredit established science.

However, The Heartland Institute wrote in a statement that the documents claimed to be the institute’s budget, fundraising information and other strategic plans were stolen, one was completely falsified and others may have been altered. The institute believes the falsifying of some of these documents was not anyone at Heartland and that whomever did it did so to “defame and discredit The Heartland Institute”.

Here’s more from the statement:

The stolen documents appear to have been written by Heartland’s president for a board meeting that took place on January 17. He was traveling at the time this story broke yesterday afternoon and still has not had the opportunity to read them all to see if they were altered. Therefore, the authenticity of those documents has not been confirmed.

Since then, the documents have been widely reposted on the Internet, again with no effort to confirm their authenticity.

[...]

The individuals who have commented so far on these documents did not wait for Heartland to confirm or deny the authenticity of the documents. We believe their actions constitute civil and possibly criminal offenses for which we plan to pursue charges and collect payment for damages, including damages to our reputation. We ask them in particular to immediately remove these documents and all statements about them from the blogs, Web sites, and publications, and to publish retractions.

The Heartland Institute then goes on to explain that some of the insider documents were taken “by an unknown person who fraudulently assumed the identity of a Heartland board member and persuaded a staff member here to ‘re-send’ board materials”.

Comments (48)

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  • EqualJustice
    Posted on February 16, 2012 at 10:07am

    RIGHT>….. now tax us some more, please.

    Report Post » EqualJustice  
  • 4xeverything
    Posted on February 16, 2012 at 7:57am

    I wonder if this thief was using AOL at an internet cafe, and if they paid cash for it.

    Report Post » 4xeverything  
  • ripvanwinkle
    Posted on February 16, 2012 at 1:14am

    Climate change arguments in favor of carbon tax is snake oil. Go look at Burt Rutan’s engineering analysis of the data. http://rps3.com/Pages/Burt_Rutan_on_Climate_Change.htm.

    Nobody argues that climate change happens. It happened before humans could influence the dynamics, and it will change after we are gone. The problem is that science has not convinced serious thinkers that their solution will have any impact other than routing billions more dollars to George Soros.

    Report Post » ripvanwinkle  
  • Ohello
    Posted on February 16, 2012 at 12:12am

    Hey Speaking of Carbon Tax and Cap and Trade, I heard an environmental Lawyer, (who actually helps corporations clean up so jobs are retained or created) say that Republicans should love cap and trade because it is market based. Of course he ignores that the foundational premise that carbon dioxide is a poison is false and any “Demand” to control carbon is false demand trumped up by big government and socialists, and any such response to a trumped up demand is inefficient and costly, and in and of itself will be environmentally unfriendly due to wasted effort and energy for a false demand.

    Report Post »  
    • wbalzley
      Posted on February 16, 2012 at 8:34am

      Ask your lawyer friend if he likes the idea of having to pay for every breath he takes…force everyone to pay an “Oxygen Usage Tax”–after all, air is a limited resource just like oil…

      Report Post »  
  • mr.goodvibe
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 10:31pm

    Settled Science is when you and 100 other idiots convince each other that something is true even if it can not be backed by fact, thus we have peer reviewed conclusions, we tortured the data until it looked like what we wanted and then stopped. It was 32 degrees here this morning at 6 am and at 2pm it was 64 degrees that is a one hundred percent increase. By this model it will be 96 degrees at 10 pm and by 4am the next morning it will be128 and tomorrow the seas will boil and it will too late. We must act now! Where is my Nobel Prize?

    Report Post » mr.goodvibe  
    • wbalzley
      Posted on February 16, 2012 at 8:21am

      SCIENCE 101: Nothing is ever “settled” science is the exploration of possibility and the elimination of falsehood. Everything in science is theory (guesswork) the best guesses are the ones that withstand intense scrutiny the longest. If a theory stands for a hundred years or so, it MIGHT earn the honor of being called a LAW, but even these have the possibility of being dis proven at a future date…

      Climate “Science” has taken on elements of a cult…blind faith, shutting down alternative theories, and attacking “unbelievers”, or “deniers”…Science is about challenging assumptions and disproving falsehood…These people are poor scientists…

      Report Post »  
  • Katydidnt
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 10:19pm

    Over in Europe, in the cold snap. They cannot use the windmills, no wind, plus the lubricant freezes in low temps. They cannot use solar panels, they are covered in snow and ice. Ethanol in gas also congeals at low temps, so they might not even be able to use their cars. Alternative fuels abandon you when you really need them. Coal, natural gas and oil do not.

    Report Post »  
  • KangarooJack
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 9:32pm

    Yawn, I still remember how in the 70′s we were headed for another Ice Age…

    Report Post » KangarooJack  
  • FNTM
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 9:20pm

    Settled Science? Hahahahahaha. Come on, climate is always changing. That was a joke, right?

    Report Post » FNTM  
  • South Philly Boy
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 8:59pm

    It’s ALL about MONEY

    Report Post » South Philly Boy  
  • Poggle The Stick
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 8:35pm

    From what I know, we’re actually getting BETTER at controlling pollution. Think back to the mid-20th century where cities were so dense with pollution that you could pretty easily get sick. Now, we can smell ice cream as we’re walking down the city streets.

    Besides, I’m not against decreasing pollution, but these things don’t work:

    SOLAR PANELS – Maybe I‘ll see the day when modern technology doesn’t require much energy. But right now, I honestly don’t want 2 dozen solar panels on my roof. Those things are meant for space travel/probes (That NASA can’t afford anyway).

    WIND ENERGY – They cut up birds, and they’re expensive to manage. And I HATE the fact that they kill God’s creatures; besides, I would think enviornmentalists would care about the birds enough to get rid of these things anyway.

    ELECTRIC ENERGY – Cool Concept, but not enviornmentally friendly. Learn how these ‘harmless’ batteries are made, and all the steam that is released into the atmosphere as a result. Besides, no one has time to put ‘charging stations’ everywhere for cars. Not enough people use electrical cars for this to occur.

    Report Post » Poggle The Stick  
    • wbalzley
      Posted on February 16, 2012 at 8:46am

      No sir, you are wrong these technologies DO work, and they work reasonably well. Also, ignoring WIND power, the technology is improving at a VERY rapid pace, doubling in efficiency every two years or so.

      Solar will be ready to compete with fossil fuels head-on (without subsidy) in just two more cycles of development. Capacity is increasing, while cost is decreasing.

      Using Nano-antennas, solar is also being expanded to convert other forms of radiation (infared, microwaves, radio) allowing it to harvest power even at night.

      All these technologies are being developed right here in America…you can read about them on MIT Technology Review: http://www.technologyreview.com/

      Report Post »  
    • jhrusky
      Posted on February 16, 2012 at 4:01pm

      @WBALZLEY

      Thank you for posting this link … I have been looking for information on these new “solar” style technologies for some time. I would like to purchase a few items to place in my homebrew faraday(sp?) box so once the EMP happens I can still generate enough electricity to run my refrigerator and my water well (I love indoor plumbing!). I figure a couple thousand bucks should get me setup and prepared for what I believe is pretty much inevitable.

      Report Post » jhrusky  
    • jhrusky
      Posted on February 16, 2012 at 4:10pm

      Well, crap. That link didn’t have the info you mentioned :(

      Report Post » jhrusky  
    • wbalzley
      Posted on February 16, 2012 at 5:23pm

      @ Jhrusky: Use the search feature in the upper right hand corner, look for “Solar Antenna”, you will get lots of articles…

      SNARK: Glenn Beck should love this technology…it uses GOLD!

      Report Post »  
  • hugo65hsv
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 8:10pm

    Heartland “Think Tank”.. Did they figure out conclusively that the sun rises each day? Or are they still thinking about it.. No tax dollars for what they think.. What I say…

    Report Post »  
  • lukerw
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 7:59pm

    Soros propaganda!

    Report Post » lukerw  
  • babylonvi
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 7:45pm

    ‘The Globalists are getting desperate for without the “Carbon Tax’ the will have to impose a quick hard tyranny to finish bankrupting the world while would likely result in wide spread revolution with citizens going after the Globalist Bildergergers and their enablers DIRECTLY.

    Report Post » babylonvi  
  • sasquatch08
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 7:15pm

    For the 20 billionth time. It’s NOT A SCIENCE.

    Report Post »  
    • wbalzley
      Posted on February 16, 2012 at 8:25am

      You are correct sir…science welcomes questions and seeks to disprove its own theories…this is a CULT…

      Report Post »  
  • weneedrubio
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 6:51pm

    The economoics of Keynesianism has been debunked by virtually every economist in the world yet these leftists, including Obama, preach it like Catholics on abortion. Climate change happens and it has nothing to do with humans. Worse is that if we allow these egotistical, hamfisted, overly educated idiots, in need of government money, to try to change the weather themselves that could really blow up in our faces. Stupid, arrogant scientists/politicians are the worst kind.

    Report Post »  
    • wbalzley
      Posted on February 16, 2012 at 8:30am

      OPINION: So…there is a “consensus” among economists that Keynesian Economic Theory is wrong? Without more evidence methinks you are just as bigoted in your viewpoint as they are in theirs…

      Report Post »  
  • TROONORTH
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 6:39pm

    Man made global warming is nothing more than a thinly veiled political agenda being championed by the radical left.

    Report Post » TROONORTH  
  • dmerwin
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 6:39pm

    Stop arguing with us or we’ll report you to the “truth teams”.

    Report Post » dmerwin  
  • Rayblue
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 6:36pm

    When will “Global Lukewarming” be the hazard with a pocket to fill ?

    Report Post » Rayblue  
  • Montereyzman
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 6:30pm

    Junk Science is the proper term …. agreed it’s junk science not settled science : )

    Report Post »  
  • DD313
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 6:25pm

    Think tank, huh, whoda thunk it? Papers faked, so you can’t debunk it!

    Report Post » DD313  
  • cookcountypatriot
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 6:15pm

    one pc of settled science is…progressives are idiots…thats settled.thats fact….

    Report Post » cookcountypatriot  
  • wifezilla
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 6:15pm

    Talk to the families of the 650 dead Europeans who recently died in cold snap about the “settled science of global warmin”. http://news.yahoo.com/cold-snap-eastern-europe-kills-more-650-190324022.html

    Report Post » wifezilla  
  • dmerwin
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 6:12pm

    Our president really supports greening of the world, right?
    The corresponding figures (same sources) for a Boeing 747-400 (used for long distance international flights) are:
    Distance: 5556 km
    Fuel used: 59.6 tonnes
    I got this info from the net at “Carbon Independent Aviation sources”
    http://www.carbonindependent.org/sources_aviation.htm
    So our Pres, on the vacay to Hawaii, sends the wife and kids out first and has the jet come back to the country and pick him up. Basically double the mileage DC to Honolulu and we get an estimate of 240 TONS of jet fuel. 480,000 pounds of fuel for one vacay for the pres. 60,000 gallons of gas will power my Escape for a very long time.
    I’m tired of hearing this crap while watching his actions.

    Report Post » dmerwin  
  • dmerwin
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 6:07pm

    It is called cyclical climate change how else do you explain Redwood fossils 400 miles from the North Pole, Ice ages and the Vikings ability to farm in Greenland.

    Report Post » dmerwin  
    • Baddoggy
      Posted on February 15, 2012 at 7:03pm

      No…it’s called who is going to pay a tax based on my beliefs….That is all in the world it is. A reason to tax us into bankruptcy.

      Report Post » Baddoggy  
    • dmerwin
      Posted on February 15, 2012 at 7:18pm

      My point is this, I do not believe in man made climate change therefore see no need for any adjustment to anything based on that argument. I am now waiting for LUMBAR SPINE to tell me what an unenlightened cretin I am.

      Report Post » dmerwin  
  • @leftfighter
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 5:52pm

    Established science?

    First we were cooling, then we were warming, then cooling again, then warming again, now, cooling again.

    The only settled science here is that the climate changes, not that man has anything to do with it.

    Report Post » @leftfighter  
    • @leftfighter
      Posted on February 15, 2012 at 6:01pm

      Ldies and Gents, I give you 121 years of failed “climate change” predictions.

      …all settled science, of course…

      http://www.lowerwolfjaw.com/agw/quotes.htm

      Report Post » @leftfighter  
    • @leftfighter
      Posted on February 15, 2012 at 6:04pm

      Wanna see something really funny?

      Page down to 1969/1970, where the Earth was alternately so warm we were doomed and then so cold we were doomed, within a year.

      Report Post » @leftfighter  
    • chips1
      Posted on February 15, 2012 at 6:30pm

      If it wasn’t for the warnings, I would have freezed to death. OR was it, burned to death? I can’t remember which diaster it was. There have been so many in the last 60 years.

      Report Post »  
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