message from students re climate denier curriculum
Heartland Department of Education
The Heartland Institute's President and CEO just admitted that Heartland is writing a "global warming curriculum" that would say climate science isn't settled. Heartland would like to create the appearance of a scientific debate where there is none by having our teachers claim we just don't know if humans are changing our climate.
Dear Mr. Bast,
I'm Corey Husic, and I'm a high school student in Pennsylvania. It's come to my attention that you are prepared to spend a significant amount of money on a "global warming curriculum" to teach kids that climate change isn't real.
That's right. According to your own budget documents, you want to hand teachers a curriculum that says global warming is "a major scientific controversy" and that carbon dioxide might not even be a pollutant.
Please be advised: Your entire premise is false. The reality is that our climate is changing now and human activities are a primary cause. I’m just a high school student, so please don’t take my word for it. Just ask any National Academy of Science in the world or just about any actual climate scientist.
Given who pays your bills, your plan doesn’t come as a surprise. According to your own documents, your organization is funded by coal and oil companies with a financial stake in denying climate science — not to mention tobacco companies that tried to convince us smoking doesn't cause cancer.
My generation is already experiencing a very different climate from our parents and grandparents. We will be the ones responsible for making sure coastal cities are able to withstand rising sea levels. We are the ones who will have to protect ourselves from weather extremes like stronger hurricanes, longer droughts and hotter heat waves. Instead of trying to undermine the science that shows humans are causing climate change, we should be learning how those changes are going to affect us and what we can do about it. In other words, teach us something useful.
We respectfully demand that you cease and desist your effort to bring climate change denial into our schools.
Corey Husic
Age 17
Climate Presenter
Heartland Institute
Heartland considers global warming to be "not the first case of a widespread fear based on incomplete knowledge turned out to be false or at least greatly exaggerated." wow. they say this under "Scares and Hoaxes" on their "climate wiki" - just one of the ways that they promote climate denial, working against what they call "an ideological campaign called 'global warming.'" why do they do this? - to protect and generate more profits for their contributors, of course - if changes are made to address climate change (which is, in reality, scientifically accepted as a true and present danger to the entire ecosphere), corporations would be on the hot seat and their profits would be dented dramatically by them having to actually act responsibly.
The Heartland Institute is a conservative[2][3] and libertarian[4][5][6] public policy think tank based in Chicago, Illinois which advocates free market policies. The Institute is designated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit by the Internal Revenue Service and advised by a 15 member board of directors, which meets quarterly. As of 2011, it has a full-time staff of 40, including editors and senior fellows.[5] The Institute was founded in 1984 and conducts research and advocacy work on issues including government spending, taxation, healthcare, tobacco policy, global warming, information technology and free-market environmentalism.
In the 1990s, the group worked with the tobacco company Philip Morris to question the science linking secondhand smoke to health risks, and to lobby against government public health reforms.[7][8][9] More recently, the Institute has focused on questioning the science of climate change, has sponsored meetings of climate change skeptics,[10] and is now promoting public school curricula challenging the scientific consensus on climate change.[11]
The Heartland Institute - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
stated mission: "to discover, develop, and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems."
"Global warming is not the first case of a widespread fear based on incomplete knowledge turned out to be false or at least greatly exaggerated. Global warming has many of the characteristics of a popular delusion, an irrational fear or cause that is embraced by millions of people because, well, it is believed by millions of people!"
Scares and Hoaxes | Introduction to Global Warming - ClimateWiki
funded by contributors including AT&T, General Motors Foundation, Microsoft Corporation, Nucor Corporation (largest contributor, steel manufacturer), Pfizer, Reynolds American Inc., etc.
(see EXPOSED: 19 Corporations Funding Heartland Institute | ThinkProgress)
their response to critics -
The Heartland Institute often is the target of misinformation and even outright lies about its mission, funding and donors, and members and staff. These attacks come overwhelming from left-wing advocates who object to our principled stand in defense of individual liberty and limited government.
"Anonymity allows bloggers and other participants to post vicious, libelous statements without fear of recrimination. There is no pretext of objectivity in the blogosphere and no journalistic morality. Instead, it has evolved into a platform for hateful, offensive attacks on institutions and individuals from all corners of society."
-- 39th Trend/Forecasting Report, The Dilenschneider Group, September 2009
Reply to Our Critics | Heartland Institute
The Fakegate Gang | FakeGate: 'Here they are, a rogue’s gallery of organizations that are willing to invade people’s privacy in pursuit of an ideological campaign called “global warming.”'
Forecast the Facts | Tell General Motors: Stop Funding Climate Change Denial
General Motors, and all other corporations, should immediately pull their funding from the Heartland Institute in light of Heartland's ongoing and persistent support of climate change denial.
General Motors has been kept afloat by American taxpayers through a massive bailout. In the years since, GM has pursued a different path on global warming, using heavy investment in the Chevy Volt to power their comeback. So it's outrageous to learn that some of our tax dollars are literally ending up in the hands of the climate-denying Heartland Institute. - Leaked documents recently revealed that the Heartland Institute, a leading climate change denial "think tank," receives funding from General Motors and other major corporations. Denier weathercasters often cite Heartland's studies.
TAKE ACTION > Click here to tell GM: using taxpayer dollars to fund climate denial is wrong!
We began by focusing on stopping climate change denial among TV meteorologists. But when we found out that corporations like GM are backing the Heartland Institute, we knew we had to get involved, especially because many of the meteorologists who deny climate change use information directly from Heartland.
According to a recent national survey, more than half of TV weather reporters don’t believe in human-induced climate change. Meanwhile, their viewers are facing unprecedented, climate-change induced heat waves, droughts, and flooding.
Together, we can make sure that Americans hear the truth about climate change, the critical first step to addressing the climate crisis. Thanks again for taking action and being part of this effort.
see also
what next: climate deniers get my goat
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