Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

Conferences

Skeptics to Gather in New York Again

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A highlight of my year so far is the climate change conference in New York in March.    It was a gathering of more than 500 skeptics, including many scientists, to discuss global warming. 

I was enthralled by a presentation from Stan Goldenberg from NOAA which included photographs taken inside the eye of hurricanes from flights within NOAA’s Hurricane Hunters – WP-3D Turbo Prop Aircraft.

Now there are plans to hold a second conference on March 8-10, 2009, once again in New York City.

According to the press release:

The 2009 International Conference on Climate Change will serve as a platform for scientists and policy analysts from around the world who question the theory of man-made climate change. This year’s theme, ‘Global Warming Crisis: Cancelled’, calls attention to new research findings that contradict the conclusions of the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report.

Hosting the conference for the second consecutive year will be The Heartland Institute, a 24-year-old national nonpartisan think tank based in Chicago. “All of the event’s expenses are being covered by individual and foundation donors to Heartland,” said Dan Miller, executive vice president of the institute. “No corporate dollars earmarked for the event were solicited or accepted.”

“Last March we proved that the skeptics in the debate over global warming constitute the center or mainstream of the scientific community, while the alarmists are on the fringe,” said Heartland President Joseph Bast. “In the past six months, the science has grown even more convincing that global warming is not a crisis. Opinion polls and political events, including the defeat of ‘cap-and-trade’ legislation in the U.S. Senate, also suggest this ‘crisis’ is over. It has been cancelled by sound science and common sense.”

For more information on next year’s conference visit: http://www.heartland.org/events/NewYork09/newyork09.html 

For more information on last year’s conference visit: http://www.heartland.org/NewYork08/proceedings.html

You can read my perspective on Day 1 of the conference last year here: https://jennifermarohasy.com.dev.internet-thinking.com.au/blog/archives/002809.html and Day 2 here: https://jennifermarohasy.com.dev.internet-thinking.com.au/blog/archives/002813.html  and Day 3 here: https://jennifermarohasy.com.dev.internet-thinking.com.au/blog/2008/03/climate-change-conference-new-york-%e2%80%93-day-3-in-review/

WWF and Greenpeace as Well-Funded Successful Modern Political Organisations

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I spent last weekend at The Annual Australian Environment Foundation (AEF) Conference at Rydges Hotel Lakeside in Canberra.  The conference theme was a ‘climate for change’.

But it wasn’t only about ‘climate change’, political analysis Graham Young spoke at the conference about the power of the internet, politics and lobbying and even mentioning this blog.  He suggested we were about “community”, “sharing information”, “understanding objections” and also “rehearsing arguments”. 

In the context of lobbying Mr Young made reference to the large environment groups’ Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund suggesting they are “successful modern political organisations”.  

Outspoken geologist and climate change sceptic, Bob Carter, also made mention of the same two organisations, explaining that Greenpeace with an annual budget of US$272 million  and WWF with a budget of US$487 million have more money to spend on lobbying than Australia’s major political parties during a federal election.

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There are photographs of some of the delegates and speakers at the AEF conference at the Community Web pages of this blog.
https://jennifermarohasy.com.dev.internet-thinking.com.au/blog/2008/10/aef-annual-conference/