who killed copenhagen?

Who Killed Copenhagen?

A Coroner’s Report on Science Disinformation, Media Manipulation and an Industry Bent on Denial

Richard Littlemore January 28, 2010

Pop Quiz

A Remedial Test of Climate Politics Awareness

(to be taken seriouslybut not personally)

“The scientific basis for the greenhouse effect and the potential impact of human emissions of greenhouse gases such as CO2 on climate is well established and cannot be denied.”

Who said:

1.Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

1.Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

2.Dr. James Hansen, Director NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies

1.Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

2.Dr. James Hansen, Director NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies

3.Dr. David Suzuki, Canadian Environmental Icon

1.Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

2.Dr. James Hansen, Director NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies

3.Dr. David Suzuki, Canadian Environmental Icon4.Leonard S. Bernstein, senior scientist (in 1995)

of Mobil Corporation (now Exxon Mobil)

1.Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

2.Dr. James Hansen, Director NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies

3.Dr. David Suzuki, Canadian Environmental Icon4.Leonard S. Bernstein, senior scientist (in 1995)

of Mobil Corporation (now Exxon Mobil)

“Those who think we are powerless to do anything about the greenhouse effect forget about the ‘White House effect.’ As president, I intend to do something about it.”

Who said:

1. Bill Clinton, campaigning against George H.W. Bush in 1992

1. Bill Clinton, campaigning against George H.W. Bush in 1992

2. Al Gore, campaigning against George W. Bush in 2000

1. Bill Clinton, campaigning against George H.W. Bush in 1992

2. Al Gore, campaigning against George W. Bush in 2000

3. Barack Obama, running against John McCain in 2007

1. Bill Clinton, campaigning against George H.W. Bush in 1992

2. Al Gore, campaigning against George W. Bush in 2000

3. Barack Obama, running against John McCain in 2007

4. George H.W. Bush, campaigning against Michael Dukakis in 1988

1. Bill Clinton, campaigning against George H.W. Bush in 1992

2. Al Gore, campaigning against George W. Bush in 2000

3. Barack Obama, running against John McCain in 2007

4. George H.W. Bush, campaigning against Michael Dukakis in 1988

“Encourage the public to question—from the grassroots up—the validity of scientific studies.”

What corporation created The Advancement of Sound

Science Coalition (TASSC) to:

1. Monsanto Corporation – to protect itself against lawsuits over the danger of PCBs

1. Monsanto Corporation – to protect itself against lawsuits over the danger of PCBs

2. Philip Morris – to deflect U.S. legislation against second-hand smoke

1. Monsanto Corporation – to protect itself against lawsuits over the danger of PCBs

2. Philip Morris – to deflect U.S. legislation against second-hand smoke

3. General Electric – to safeguard its nuclear energy investment

1. Monsanto Corporation – to protect itself against lawsuits over the danger of PCBs

2. Philip Morris – to deflect U.S. legislation against second-hand smoke

3. General Electric – to safeguard its nuclear energy investment

4. ExxonMobil – to distract Americans from thinking about climate change

1. Monsanto Corporation – to protect itself against lawsuits over the danger of PCBs

2. Philip Morris – ah ha! You thought number 4 was always the right answer

3. General Electric – to safeguard its nuclear energy investment

4. ExxonMobil – to distract Americans from thinking about climate change

Who did Philip Morris solicit to join in in TASSC, to help fight the fight for

“sound science”?

1. ExxonMobil

1. ExxonMobil2. Monsanto Corporation

1. ExxonMobil2. Monsanto Corporation3. General Electric

1. ExxonMobil2. Monsanto Corporation3. General Electric4. All of the above

1. ExxonMobil2. Monsanto Corporation3. General Electric4. All of the above5. All of the above, plus 20,000

other companies just like them

1. ExxonMobil2. Monsanto Corporation3. General Electric4. All of the above5. All of the above, plus 20,000

other companies just like them

What percentage of peer-reviewed scientific journal articles, written between 1993 and 2003 took issue with the theory of global

warming?

1. 53 per cent

1. 53 per cent2. 37 per cent

1. 53 per cent2. 37 per cent3. 16 per cent

1. 53 per cent2. 37 per cent3. 16 per cent4. 0 (zero) per cent – which is to

say none, nada, not a single frickin’ paper in 10 years.

1. 53 per cent2. 37 per cent3. 16 per cent4. 0 (zero) per cent – I know! It’s

outrageous, isn’t it?

What percentage of mainstream newspaper articles during the same period presented a more “balanced” view, quoting an “expert” on one side and an “expert” on the other?

1. 53 per cent

1. 53 per cent2. 37 per cent

1. 53 per cent2. 37 per cent3. 16 per cent

1. 53 per cent2. 37 per cent3. 16 per cent4. 0 (zero) per cent – be serious:

by now you must know that these questions are a set up.

1. 53 per cent2. 37 per cent3. 16 per cent4. 0 (zero) per cent – be serious:

by now you must know that these questions are a set up.

“Some say the Earth is warming. Some also said the Earth was flat.”“Who told you the Earth was warming? … Chicken Little?”“How much are you willing to pay to solve a problem that may not exist?”

“If the Earth is getting warmer, why is Minneapolis getting colder?”

Western Fuels AssociationInformation Council on the Environment

1991

“Doubt is our product, since it is the best means of competing with the ‘body of fact’ that exists in the

mind of the general public. It is also the means of establishing a

controversy.”

Brown and WilliamsonTobacco Company memo1960s

The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition

• Establish TAASC as a credible source for reporters when questioning the validity of scientific studies

• Encourage the public to question – from the grassroots up – the validity of scientific studies

• Mobilize support for TAASC through alliances with other organizations and third party allies

1992

American Petroleum Institute

Victory Will be Achieved When:• Average citizens “understand” (recognize)

uncertainties in climate science; uncertainties become part of the “conventional wisdom”

• Media “understands” (recognizes) uncertainties in climate science

• Media coverage recognizes balance on climate science and recognition of the validity of viewpoints that challenge the current “conventional wisdom”

1998

Number disagreeing with the global consensus that greenhouse gas pollution has caused most of the warming of the last 50 years:

Science, December 3, 2004 Vol. 306, Issue 5702,1686

Number of scientific studies dealing with “climate change” published in scientific journals during the previous ten years:

Articles in the popular press:

Peer-reviewed, scientific articles:

Have they succeeded?

No wonder people are confused

Percentage in doubt as to cause:

Percentage in doubt as to cause:

Frank Luntz- Straight Talk 2002

• The Scientific Debate remains open. Voters believe that there is no consensus about global warming within the scientific community. Should the public come to believe that the scientific issues are settled, their views about global warming will change accordingly. Therefore you need to continue to make the lack of scientific certainty a primary issue in the debate, and defer to scientists and other experts in the field.

Stolen Emails• “I’ve just completed Mike’s Nature trick of

adding in the real temps to each series for the last 20 years (ie from 1981 onwards) amd from 1961 for Keith’s to hide the decline.”

Phil JonesDirector of the Climatic Research Unit

East Anglia University

Stolen EmailsClimateGate: The final nail in the coffin of

“anthropgenic global warming”? - The Telegraph

ClimateGate: Caught Green-Handed- The SPPInstitute

ClimateGate and the elitist roots of global warming alarmism

- Roy Spencer’s Global Warming blog

GlacierGateFirst ClimateGate, now GlacierGate

- Lorne Gunter, the National Post GlacierGate threatens Climate Change

- The Australian