2008-01-30 What if you held a conference

2008-01-30  RealClimate \2008 International Conference on Climate Change\The Heartland Institute http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2008/01/what-if-you-held-a-conference-and-no-real-scientists-came/ What if you held a conference, and no (real) scientists came? What if you held a conference  Over the past days, many of us have received invitations to a conference called "The 2008 International Conference on Climate Change" in New York. At first sight this may look like a scientific conference – especially to those who are not familiar with the activities of the Heartland Institute, a front group for the fossil fuel industry that is sponsoring the conference. You may remember them. They were the promoters of the Avery and Singer "Unstoppable" tour and purveyors of disinformation about numerous topics such as the demise of Kilimanjaro’s ice cap.

A number of things reveal that this is no ordinary scientific meeting: Summary of listed items:
 * The organizers openly state that this is a PR event aimed at generating news stories, not a scientific conference where ideas and data are discussed in order to advance understanding of reality
 * Scientists are not usually paid to attend conferences; Heartland offered $1000 per speaker
 * "At regular scientific conferences, an independent scientific committee selects the talks. Here, the financial sponsors get to select their favorite speakers."
 * "Heartland promises a free weekend at the Marriott Marquis in Manhattan, including travel costs, to all elected officials wanting to attend."

&ldquo;At first sight this may look like a scientific conference – especially to those who are not familiar with the activities of the Heartland Institute, a front group for the fossil fuel industry that is sponsoring the conference.&rdquo;   