Global Warming Skeptics Prepare for International Conference

Hundreds of the world’s leading “skeptics” of the theory of man-made global warming will meet in New York City March 2-4, 2008 to present their case and discuss the latest scientific, economic and political research on climate change.

The conference is being organized by The Heartland Institute and a growing list of cosponsors, including Cascade Policy Institute, the International Climate Science Coalition, and the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine.

“The purpose of the conference is to provide a platform for the hundreds of scientists, economists, and policy experts who dissent from the so-called “˜consensus’ on global warming,” said Heartland President Joseph Bast.

“Hundreds of scientists, many of them with distinguished careers and many appearances in the peer-reviewed literature, believe the Modern Warming is natural and moderate,” Bast noted. “They are being censored by the press and demonized by environmental advocacy groups.

“This is their chance to speak out,” said Bast. “If 400 or 500 “˜skeptics’ from around the world assemble in New York City, it will be difficult for policymakers and journalists to ignore us.”

Plans for the conference include five keynote presentations and 25 panels of scientists discussing a wide variety of global warming-related issues. Approximately 100 experts will give formal presentations at the conference, with several hundred others expected to attend and share information in a more informal manner.

Five tracks of panels will address paleoclimatology, climatology, global warming impacts, the economics of global warming and political factors. Each track will consist of four or five panels composed of experts on some aspect of the general topic. Cascade’s President and CEO John A. Charles, Jr. is tentatively scheduled to speak.

Many of the presenters will provide written papers to supplement their presentations, which will be collected and edited for publication following the event. Other follow-up activities include planning for a follow-up conference in London in 2009, the launch of a scholarly journal and publication of a rebuttal to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s recently released Fourth Assessment Report.

The Heartland Institute is providing travel scholarships to qualified scientists, economists and policy experts willing to speak at the event. A limited number of scholarships also will be available to elected officials and government officials interested in attending.

Registration for the event is $625 before February 15 and $720 after that date. Media and students may attend at the special rate of $312 before February 15 and $360 after that date.

For more information, visit the conference website or contact Heartland Senior Fellow James M. Taylor.

Based in Portland, Cascade Policy Institute is Oregon’s free market think tank.