Heartland Takes their Skepticism North of the Border [1]
Submitted by Judith Siers-Poisson [2] on
CMD reported previously [3] on the Heartland Institute [4]'s climate change [5] skepticism, and its efforts to cast doubt on the overwhelming evidence of global warming [6]. The Chicago-based, ExxonMobil [7]-funded think tank [8] has taken its case north of the border, sending out "more than 11,000 brochures and DVDs to Canadian schools urging them to teach their students that scientists are exaggerating how human activity is the driving force behind global warming." While Heartland says that the outreach effort is an attempt to introduce "balance" into the discussion, the Sierra Club [9] of Canada disagrees. Spokesperson Emilie Moorhouse said, "It's alarming that an American think tank is distributing misinformation on the most important issue of our time in Canadian schools, to actually create an illusion that there is a scientific debate." Ignoring the consensus reached by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [10] that climate change is "unequivocal" and caused by human activities, "the brochure and DVD said that scientists were 'deeply divided' about 'the notion that climate change is mostly the result of human activities.'" Heartland also sent the information packets to 200 Canadian policymakers.