Eur Inst for Climate and Energy

<p>==

 </p>

</div>

<div>6/22/2015 Druckversion 'Science as the Enemy': The Traveling Salesmen of Climate Skepticism SPIEGEL ONLINE International</div>

<div>http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/scienceastheenemythetravelingsalesmenofclimateskepticisma721846druck.html 1/5</div>

</b></div>

<div><b>'Science as the Enemy'</b></div>

<div><b>The Traveling Salesmen of Climate Skepticism</b></div>

<div>By Cordula Meyer</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>A handful of US scientists have made names for themselves by casting doubt on global</div>

<div>warming research. In the past, the same people have also downplayed the dangers of passive</div>

<div>smoking, acid rain and the ozone hole. In all cases, the tactics are the same: Spread doubt and</div>

<div>claim it's too soon to take action.</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>With his sonorous voice, Fred Singer, 86, sounded like a grandfather explaining the obvious to a dimwitted</div>

<div>child. "Nature, not human activity, rules the climate," the American physicist told a discussion</div>

<div>attended by members of the German parliament for the businessfriendly Free Democratic Party (FDP)</div>

<div>three weeks ago.</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>MarieLuise Dött, the environmental policy spokeswoman for the parliamentary group of Angela Merkel's</div>

<div>centerright Christian Democratic Union (CDU), also attended Singer's presentation. She said afterwards</div>

<div>that it was "extremely illuminating." She later backpedaled, saying that her comments had been quoted</div>

<div>out of context, and that of course she supports an ambitious climate protection policy just like</div>

<div>Chancellor Merkel.</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>Merkel, as it happens, was precisely the person Singer was trying to reach. "Our problem is not the</div>

<div>climate. Our problem is politicians, who want to save the climate. They are the real problem," he says. "My</div>

<div>hope is that Merkel, who is not stupid, will see the light," says Singer, who has since left for Paris. Noting</div>

<div>that he liked the results of his talks, he adds: "I think I achieved something."</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>Salesman of Skepticism</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>Singer is a traveling salesman of sorts for those who question climate change. On this year's summer</div>

<div>tour, he gave speeches to politicians in Rome, Paris and the Israeli port city of Haifa. Paul Friedhoff, the</div>

<div>economic policy spokesman of the FDP's parliamentary group, had invited him to Berlin. Singer and the</div>

<div>FDP get along famously. The American scientist had already presented his contrary theories on the climate</div>

<div>to FDP politicians at the<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Institute for Free Enterprise, a Berlin-based freemarket think tank, last</span></div>

<div><span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">December.</span></div>

<div>

</div>

<div>Singer is one of the most influential deniers of climate change worldwide. In his world, respected</div>

<div>climatologists are vilified as liars, people who are masquerading as environmentalists while, in reality,</div>

<div>having only one goal in mind: to introduce socialism. Singer wants to save the world from this horror. For</div>

<div>some, the fact that he made a name for himself as a brilliant atmospheric physicist after World War II</div>

<div>lends weight to his words.</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>Born in Vienna, Singer fled to the United States in 1940 and soon became part of an elite group fighting</div>

<div>the Cold War on the science front. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Singer continued his struggle </div>

<div>mostly against environmentalists, and always against any form of regulation.</div>

<div>Whether it was the hole in the ozone layer, acid rain or climate change, Singer always had something</div>

<div>critical to say, and he always knew better than the experts in their respective fields. But in doing so he</div>

<div>strayed far away from the disciplines in which he himself was trained. For example, his testimony aided</div>

<div>the tobacco lobby in its battle with health policy experts.</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>'Science as the Enemy'</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>The Arlington, Virginiabased Marshall Institute took an approach very similar to Singer's. Founded in</div>

<div>1984, its initial mission was to champion then US President Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative</div>

<div>(SDI), better known as "Star Wars." After the fall of the Iron Curtain, the founders abruptly transformed</div>

<div>6/22/2015 Druckversion 'Science as the Enemy': The Traveling Salesmen of Climate Skepticism SPIEGEL ONLINE International</div>

<div>http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/scienceastheenemythetravelingsalesmenofclimateskepticisma721846druck.html 2/5</div>

<div>their institute into a stronghold for deniers of environmental problems.</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>"The skeptics thought, if you give up economic freedom, it will lead to losing political freedom. That was</div>

<div>the underlying ideological current," says Naomi Oreskes, a historian of science at the University of</div>

<div>California, San Diego, who has studied Singer's methods. As scientists uncovered more and more</div>

<div>environmental problems, the skeptics "began to see science as the enemy."</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>Oreskes is referring to only a handful of scientists and lobbyists, and yet they have managed to convince</div>

<div>many ordinary people and even some US presidents that science is deeply divided over the causes of</div>

<div>climate change. Former President George H.W. Bush even referred to the physicists at the Marshall</div>

<div>Institute as "my scientists."</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>Whatever the issue, Singer and his cohorts have always used the same basic argument: that the scientific</div>

<div>community is still in disagreement and that scientists don't have enough information. For instance, they</div>

<div>say that genetics could be responsible for the cancers of people exposed to secondhand smoke, volcanoes</div>

<div>for the hole in the ozone layer and the sun for climate change.</div>

<div>Cruel Nature</div>

<div>It almost seems as if Singer were trying to disguise himself as one of the people he is fighting. With his</div>

<div>corduroy trousers, long white hair and a fish fossil hanging from a leather band around his neck, he comes</div>

<div>across as an amiable old environmentalist. But the image he paints of nature is not at all friendly. "Nature</div>

<div>is much to be feared, very cruel and very dangerous," he says.</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>At conferences, Singer likes to introduce himself as a representative of the Nongovernmental International</div>

<div>Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC). As impressive as this title sounds, the NIPCC is nothing but a collection</div>

<div>of likeminded scientists Singer has gathered around himself. A German meteorologist in the group, Gerd</div>

<div>Weber, has worked for the German Coal Association on and off for the last 25 years.</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>According to a US study, 97 percent of all climatologists worldwide assume that greenhouse gases</div>

<div>produced by humans are warming the Earth. Nevertheless, one third of Germans and 40 percent of</div>

<div>Americans doubt that the Earth is getting warmer. And many people are convinced that climatologists are</div>

<div>divided into two opposing camps on the issue which is untrue.</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>So how is it that people like Singer have been so effective in shaping public opinion?</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>Experience Gained Defending Big Tobacco</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>Many scientists do not sufficiently explain the results of their research. Some climatologists have also been</div>

<div>arrogant or have refused to turn over their data to critics. Some overlook inconsistencies or conjure up</div>

<div>exaggerated horror scenarios that are not always backed by science. For example, sloppy work was</div>

<div>responsible for a prediction in an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report that all</div>

<div>Himalayan glaciers would have melted by 2035. It was a grotesque mistake that plunged the IPCC into a</div>

<div>credibility crisis.</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>Singer and his fellow combatants take advantage of such mistakes and utilize their experiences defending</div>

<div>the tobacco industry. For decades, Big Tobacco managed to cast doubt on the idea that smoking kills. An</div>

<div>internal document produced by tobacco maker Brown & Williamson states: "Doubt is our product since it is</div>

<div>the best means of competing with the 'body of fact' that exists in the minds of the general public."</div>

<div>In 1993, tobacco executives handed around a document titled "Bad Science A Resource Book." In the</div>

<div>manual, PR professionals explain how to discredit inconvenient scientific results by labeling them "junk."</div>

<div>For example, the manual suggested pointing out that "too often science is manipulated to fulfill a political</div>

<div>agenda." According to the document: "Proposals that seek to improve indoor air quality by singling out</div>

<div>tobacco smoke only enable bad science to become a poor excuse for enacting new laws and jeopardizing</div>

<div>individual liberties."</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>'Junk Science'</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>In 1993, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published what was then the most</div>

<div>comprehensive study on the effects of tobacco smoke on health, which stated that exposure to</div>

<div>secondhand smoke was responsible for about 3,000 deaths a year in the United States. Singer promptly</div>

<div>6/22/2015 Druckversion 'Science as the Enemy': The Traveling Salesmen of Climate Skepticism SPIEGEL ONLINE International</div>

<div>http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/scienceastheenemythetravelingsalesmenofclimateskepticisma721846druck.html 3/5</div>

<div>called it "junk science." He warned that the EPA scientists were secretly pursuing a communist agenda. "If</div>

<div>we do not carefully delineate the government's role in regulating ... dangers, there is essentially no limit to</div>

<div>how much government can ultimately control our lives," Singer wrote.</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>Reacting to the EPA study, the Philip Morris tobacco company spearheaded the establishment of "The</div>

<div>Advancement of Sound Science Coalition" (TASSC). Its goal was to raise doubts about the risks of passive</div>

<div>smoking and climate change, and its message was to be targeted at journalists but only those with</div>

<div>regional newspapers. Its express goal was "to avoid cynical reporters from major media."</div>

<div>Singer, Marshall Institute founder Fred Seitz and Patrick Michaels, who is now one of the best known</div>

<div>climate change skeptics, were all advisers to TASSC.</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>Not Proven</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>The Reagan administration also appointed Singer to a task force on acid rain. In that group, Singer insisted</div>

<div>that it was too early to take action and that it hadn't even been proven yet that sulfur emissions were in</div>

<div>fact the cause. He also said that some plants even benefited from acid rain.</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>After acid rain, Singer turned his attention to a new topic: the "ozone scare." Once again, he applied the</div>

<div>same argumentative pattern, noting that although it was correct that the ozone concentration in the</div>

<div>stratosphere was declining, the effect was only local. Besides, he added, it wasn't clear yet whether</div>

<div>chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) from aerosol cans were even responsible for ozone depletion.</div>

<div>As recently as 1994, Singer claimed that evidence "suggested that stratospheric chlorine comes mostly</div>

<div>from natural sources." Testifying before the US Congress in 1996, he said there was "no scientific</div>

<div>consensus on ozone depletion or its consequences" even though in 1995 the Nobel Prize had been</div>

<div>awarded to three chemists who had demonstrated the influence of CFCs on the ozone layer.</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>The Usual Suspects</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>Multinational oil companies also soon adopted the triedandtrue strategies of disinformation. Once again,</div>

<div>lobbying groups were formed that were designed to look as scientific as possible. First there was the Global</div>

<div>Climate Coalition, and then ExxonMobil established the Global Climate Science Team. One of its members</div>

<div>was lobbyist Myron Ebell. Another one was a veteran of the TASCC tobacco lobby who already knew the</div>

<div>ropes. According to a 1998 Global Climate Science Team memo: "Victory will be achieved when average</div>

<div>citizens 'understand' (recognize) uncertainties in climate science."</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>It soon looked as though there were a broad coalition opposing the science of climate change, supported</div>

<div>by organizations like the National Center for Policy Analysis, the Heartland Institute and the Center for</div>

<div>Science and Public Policy. In reality, these names were often little more than a front for the same handful</div>

<div>of questionable scientists and Exxon funded the whole illusion to the tune of millions of dollars.</div>

<div>It was an excellent investment.</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>In 2001, the administration of then President George W. Bush reneged on previous climate commitments.</div>

<div>After that, the head of the US delegation to the Kyoto negotiations met with the oil lobbyists from the</div>

<div>Global Climate Coalition to thank them for their expertise, saying that President Bush had "rejected Kyoto</div>

<div>in part based on input from you."</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>Singer's comradeinarms Patrick Michaels waged a particularly sharptongued campaign against the</div>

<div>phalanx of climatologists. One of his books is called: "The Satanic Gases: Clearing the Air about Global</div>

<div>Warming." Michaels has managed to turn doubt into a lucrative business. The German Coal Association</div>

<div>paid him a hefty fee for a study in the 1990s, and a US electric utility once donated $100,000 to his PR</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>Inconsistent Arguments</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>Both Michaels and Ebell are members of the Cooler Heads Coalition. Unlike Singer and Seitz, they are not</div>

<div>anticommunist crusaders from the Cold War era, but smooth communicators. Ebell, a historian, argues</div>

<div>that life was not as comfortable for human beings in the Earth's cold phases than in the warm ones.</div>

<div>Besides, he adds, there are many indications that we are at the beginning of a cooling period.</div>

<div>6/22/2015 Druckversion 'Science as the Enemy': The Traveling Salesmen of Climate Skepticism SPIEGEL ONLINE International</div>

<div>http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/scienceastheenemythetravelingsalesmenofclimateskepticisma721846druck.html 4/5</div>

<div>The professional skeptics tend to use inconsistent arguments. Sometimes they say that there is no global</div>

<div>warming. At other times, they point out that while global warming does exist, it is not the result of human</div>

<div>activity. Some climate change deniers even concede that man could do something about the problem, but</div>

<div>that it isn't really much of a problem. There is only one common theme to all of their prognoses: Do</div>

<div>nothing. Wait. We need more research.</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>People like Ebell cannot simply be dismissed as cranks. He has been called to testify before Congress eight</div>

<div>times, and he unabashedly crows about his contacts at the White House, saying: "We knew whom to</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>Ebell faces more of an uphill battle in Europe. In his experience, he says, Europe is controlled by elites who</div>

<div>unlike ordinary people happen to believe in climate change.</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>Einstein on a Talk Show</div>

</div>

<div style=" margin-left: 20.0px;"><b>But Fred Singer is doing his best to change that. He has joined forces with the European Institute for</b></div>

<div style=" margin-left: 20.0px;"><b>Climate and Energy </b>(EIKE). The impressivesounding name, however, is little more than a P.O. box</div>

<div>address in the eastern German city of Jena. The group's president, Holger Thuss, is a local politician with</div>

<div>the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU).</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, director of the respected Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and</div>

<div>an adviser to Chancellor Merkel on climaterelated issues, says he has no objection to sharing ideas with</div>

<div>the EIKE, as long as its representatives can stick to the rules of scientific practice. But he refuses to join</div>

<div>EIKE representatives in a political panel discussion, noting that this is precisely what the group hopes to</div>

<div>achieve, namely to create the impression among laypeople that experts are discussing the issues on a</div>

<div>level playing field.</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>Ultimately, says Schellnhuber, science has become so complicated that large segments of the population</div>

<div>can no longer keep up. The climate skeptics, on the other hand, are satisfied with "a desire for simple</div>

<div>truths," Schellnhuber says.</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>This is precisely the secret of their success, according to Schellnhuber, and unfortunately no amount of</div>

<div>public debate can change that. "Imagine Einstein having to defend the theory of relativity on a German TV</div>

<div>talk show," he says. "He wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell."</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan</div>

<div>http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/scienceastheenemythetravelingsalesmenofclimateskepticisma721846.html</div>

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<div>Not Under My Backyard: One German Town's Fight against CO2 Capture Technology (08/20/2010)</div>

<div>http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/notundermybackyardonegermantownsfightagainstco2capturetechnologya710573.html</div>

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<div>SPIEGEL 360: Our Complete Climate Change Coverage</div>

<div>6/22/2015 Druckversion 'Science as the Enemy': The Traveling Salesmen of Climate Skepticism SPIEGEL ONLINE International</div>

<div>http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/scienceastheenemythetravelingsalesmenofclimateskepticisma721846druck.html 5/5</div>

<div>http://www.spiegel.de/international/topic/climate_change/</div>

<div>© SPIEGEL ONLINE 2010</div>

<div>Reproduction only allowed with the permission of SPIEGELnet GmbH</div>

</div>

<p>

</p>

<p style=" margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;">A US group called the <a href="http://desmogblog.com/heartland-institute" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">Heartland Institute</a> will be in <a href="http://climateconferences.heartland.org/" target="_blank" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">Munich, Germany this week</a> holding a conference that has become known as "Denial-a-palooza" where a small group of unqualified "experts" gets together to talk about their conspiracy theory that climate change is a "hoax." This year, Heartland Institute is partnering with the Germany-based <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/european-institute-climate-and-energy" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">European Institute for Climate and Energy (EIKE)</a> to host the "Eighth International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC8)" November 30 - December 1.</p>

<p>

Usually Heartland holds Denial-a-palooza in the United States, but I suspect the group is taking their event overseas where the media is less likely to know the long and sordid details of Heartland's other efforts to attack conventionally accepted scientific conclusions. Not to mention <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevezwick/2012/05/06/heartlands-unabomber-fiasco-is-par-for-the-course/" target="_blank" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">Heartland's offensive Unabomber billboard campaign</a> and a long list of other outrageous stunts. <br style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />

Perhaps the Heartland Institute is banking on the German media's failure to Google search for evidence of the group's long history of attacks on science and efforts to confuse the public about climate change and an array or other threats to public health and the planet.</p>

</div>

<div class="blogreadmore" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 15px 0px; font-size: 12px;">Read more: <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/2012/11/27/does-german-media-really-believe-there-no-link-between-cigarettes-and-lung-cancer" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">Denial-a-Palooza: Does German Media Really Believe There is No Link Between Cigarettes and Lung Cancer?</a></div>

</div>

<h2 style=" margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3em; font-size: 1.8em; font-weight: 300;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/horst-joachim-ludecke" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">Horst-Joachim Lüdecke</a></h2>

</div>

<h1 style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0.5em; line-height: 1.3em; font-size: 2.2em; font-weight: 300;">Horst-Joachim Lüdecke</h1>

<h2 style=" margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3em; font-size: 1.8em; font-weight: 300;">Credentials</h2>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Dr. Dipl.-Physiker (Physics). <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/11074#s1" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">[1]</a></li>

</ul>

<h2 style=" margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3em; font-size: 1.8em; font-weight: 300;">Background</h2>

<p style=" margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;">Horst-Joachim Lüdecke is a physicist and professor <b>emeritus of computer science, physics and operations research</b> at the <a href="http://www.htw-saarland.de/index_html-en/view?set_language=en" target="blank" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">University of Applied Sciences of the Saarland</a>. He is now retired<a href="http://www.schmanck.de/Rahmstorf.pdf" target="blank" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">(PDF)</a>.</p>

</div>

<div class="field-item even" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/11193" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">Horst-Joachim Lüdecke</a></div>

<div class="field-item odd" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/11194" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">Horst Joachim Lüdecke</a></div>

<div class="field-item even" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/11195" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">Horst Ludecke</a></div>

<div class="field-item odd" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/11073" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">Heartland ICCC8</a></div>

<div class="field-item even" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/11132" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">Heartland Eight International Conference on Climate Change</a></div>

<div class="field-item odd" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/5025" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">denial-a-palooza</a></div>

<div class="field-item odd" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/11074" class="active" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">European Institute for Climate and Energy (EIKE)</a></div>

<div class="field-item even" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/913" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">global warming</a></div>

<div class="field-item odd" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/939" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">climate change</a></div>

<div class="field-item even" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/6886" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">climate change skeptic</a></div>

<div class="field-item odd" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/3068" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">climate change denier</a></div>

<div class="field-item even" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/7705" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">climate denialism</a></div>

<div class="field-item odd" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/2654" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">denial industry</a></div>

<div class="field-item even" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/7706" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">denial database</a></div>

<div class="field-item odd" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/2560" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">global warming blog</a></div>

<div class="field-item even" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/2540" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">desmogblog</a></div>

<div class="field-item odd" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/4046" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">global warming research</a></div>

<div class="field-item even" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/4047" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">climate misinformation</a></div>

<div class="field-item odd" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/5721" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">smogger</a></div>

</div>

<div class="blogreadmore" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 15px 0px; font-size: 12px;">Read more: <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/horst-joachim-ludecke" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">Horst-Joachim Lüdecke</a></div>

</div>

<h2 style=" margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3em; font-size: 1.8em; font-weight: 300;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/gernot-patzelt" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">Gernot Patzelt</a></h2>

</div>

<h1 style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0.5em; line-height: 1.3em; font-size: 2.2em; font-weight: 300;">Gernot Patzelt</h1>

<h2 style=" margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3em; font-size: 1.8em; font-weight: 300;">Credentials</h2>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">PhD in Geography from the University of Innsbruck. <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/11074#s1" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">[1]</a></li>

</ul>

<h2 style=" margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3em; font-size: 1.8em; font-weight: 300;">Background</h2>

<p style=" margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;">Gernot Patzelt is an Austrian <b>glaciologis</b>t.</p>

</div>

<div class="field-item even" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/11192" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">Gernot Patzelt</a></div>

</div>

<div class="blogreadmore" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 15px 0px; font-size: 12px;">Read more: <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/gernot-patzelt" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">Gernot Patzelt</a></div>

</div>

<h2 style=" margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3em; font-size: 1.8em; font-weight: 300;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/gunter-ederer" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">Gunter Ederer</a></h2>

</div>

<h1 style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0.5em; line-height: 1.3em; font-size: 2.2em; font-weight: 300;">Gunter Ederer</h1>

<h2 style=" margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3em; font-size: 1.8em; font-weight: 300;">Credentials</h2>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Background in Business Journalism. <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/11074#s1" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">[1]</a></li>

</ul>

<h2 style=" margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3em; font-size: 1.8em; font-weight: 300;">Background</h2>

<p style=" margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;">Gunter Ederer is a<b> film producer and business journalist</b> in Germany. He worked with ZDF (Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen), a German television broadcaster based in Mainz, as well as at Far East SDF from 1984 to 1990. He now works independently, and published seven books between 1991 and 2001, as well as a number of movies. <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/11074#s1" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">[1]</a></p>

</div>

<div class="field-item even" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/11185" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">Gunter Ederer</a></div>

<div class="field-item odd" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/8918" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">agenda journalist</a></div>

<div class="field-item even" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/8884" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">agenda journalists</a></div>

<div class="field-item even" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/11074" class="active" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">European Institute for Climate and Energy (EIKE)</a></div>

<div class="field-item odd" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/913" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">global warming</a></div>

<div class="field-item even" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/939" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">climate change</a></div>

<div class="field-item odd" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/6886" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">climate change skeptic</a></div>

<div class="field-item even" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/3068" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">climate change denier</a></div>

<div class="field-item odd" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/7705" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">climate denialism</a></div>

<div class="field-item even" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/2654" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">denial industry</a></div>

<div class="field-item odd" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/7706" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">denial database</a></div>

<div class="field-item even" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/2560" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">global warming blog</a></div>

<div class="field-item odd" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/2540" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">desmogblog</a></div>

<div class="field-item even" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/4046" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">global warming research</a></div>

<div class="field-item odd" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/4047" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">climate misinformation</a></div>

<div class="field-item even" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/5721" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">smogger</a></div>

</div>

<div class="blogreadmore" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 15px 0px; font-size: 12px;">Read more: <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/gunter-ederer" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">Gunter Ederer</a></div>

</div>

<h2 style=" margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3em; font-size: 1.8em; font-weight: 300;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/josef-reichholf" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">Josef Reichholf</a></h2>

</div>

<h1 style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0.5em; line-height: 1.3em; font-size: 2.2em; font-weight: 300;">Josef H. Reichholf</h1>

<h2 style=" margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3em; font-size: 1.8em; font-weight: 300;">Credentials</h2>

<li style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Dr. rer.nat. (Doctorate of Science), Ludwig-Maximilians University (1969). <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/11074#s1" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">[1]</a></li>

</ul>

<h2 style=" margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.3em; font-size: 1.8em; font-weight: 300;">Background</h2>

<p style=" margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;">Josef H (Helmut) Reicholf is a German<b> zoologist, evolutionary biologist and ecologist</b>. He was an Honorary Professor at the Technical University of Munich from 1974 to 2010, has headed the State Zoological Collection in Munich, and is a past board member of <b>WWF</b> Germany.</p>

</div>

<div class="field-item even" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/11075" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">Josef H Reichholf</a></div>

<div class="field-item even" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/5025" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">denial-a-palooza</a></div>

<div class="field-item odd" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/9029" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">Heartland Institute International Conference on Climate Change</a></div>

</div>

<div class="blogreadmore" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 15px 0px; font-size: 12px;">Read more: <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/josef-reichholf" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none;">Josef Reichholf</a></div>

<div class="blogreadmore" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 15px 0px; font-size: 12px;">reality check</div>

<h2 class="date-header" style=" margin: 1.5em 0px 0.5em; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10.399999618530273px; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.4em; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.2em; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">16 OCTOBER 2010</h2>

<h3 class="post-title entry-title" style=" margin: 0.25em 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 4px; font-size: 18.399999618530273px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.4em; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><a href="http://wah-realitycheck.blogspot.com/2010/10/german-sceptics.html" style=" color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration: none; display: block;">The German Sceptics</a></h3>

<div class="post-body entry-content" style=" margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; line-height: 1.6em;">I recently went through a little clash with the German climate sceptics scene, which was quite interesting. It may be difficult to follow the details for those who do not speak German, but you may still get a taste of the current "climate" in Germany.

The starting point were an <a href="http://www.eike-klima-energie.eu/uploads/media/Interview_BNN.pdf" style=" color: rgb(61, 129, 238); text-decoration: none;">article of and interview with</a> <span id="0_templelem_Seite_nurText">Horst-Joachim</span>Luedecke in a regional newspaper in southwestern Germany (<a href="http://www.bnn.de/" style=" color: rgb(61, 129, 238); text-decoration: none;">Badische Neueste Nachrichten</a>) in August. The tone of these contributions was that anthropogenic climate change is, if at all real, not significant and does not justify any expensive counter measures. Such opinions are not new, but what annoyed us at the <a href="http://www.iup.uni-heidelberg.de/en/" style=" color: rgb(61, 129, 238); text-decoration: none;">Institute of Environmental Physics</a> in Heidelberg was that the characterisation of Luedecke as a "retired physics professor from Heidelberg" suggested a link to our department. Luedecke is a retired professor and lives in Heidelberg, but has nothing to do with us. Hence we issued a <a href="http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/presse/meldungen/2010/m20100830_klimawandel.html" style=" color: rgb(61, 129, 238); text-decoration: none;">public statement</a> through the PR-office of the university, stating that the anthropogenic influence on climate was real and offering our expertise to the press and public as a more reliable source of information on climate change.

Of course, this statement did not fail to raise angry reactions by other German climate sceptics and I went through some rather fruitless e-mail exchanges. Luedecke issued <a href="http://www.eike-klima-energie.eu/klima-anzeige/das-institut-fuer-umweltphysik-der-universitaet-heidelberg-iup-kommentiert-ein-interview-der-badischen-neuesten-nachrichten-bnn-mit-eike-pressesprecher-prof-horst-joachim-luedecke/?tx_ttnews[pointer]=1" style=" color: rgb(61, 129, 238); text-decoration: none;">a reply</a> on "his" <a href="http://www.eike-klima-energie.eu/" style=" color: rgb(61, 129, 238); text-decoration: none;">EIKE</a>-website (see below), which contains all the original documents. The final result is that I gained a better impression of the German sceptics scene, which I'd like to share here. Luedecke is a speaker of the so called "European Institute for Climate and Energy" (<a href="http://www.eike-klima-energie.eu/" style=" color: rgb(61, 129, 238); text-decoration: none;">EIKE</a>), founded in 2007. Sounds good but it is just an association of German sceptics. As Luedecke explained to me, EIKE is very open-minded in terms of views of its members - as long as they fight the theory of anthropogenic climate change and oppose measures of climate protection.

As a result, EIKE publishes a wide spectrum of climate sceptic views on its website. Luedecke himself is quite moderate and argues on a scientific level. He has a little <a href="http://www.eike-klima-energie.eu/news-anzeige/der-treibhauseffekt-wie-funktioniert-er/" style=" color: rgb(61, 129, 238); text-decoration: none;">paper on the physical basis of the greenhouse effect</a> buried somewhere on the EIKE site, which is quite good except for the last part, where he selects only those few studies (e.g. by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindzen" style=" color: rgb(61, 129, 238); text-decoration: none;">Richard Lindzen</a>) that suggest a negative rather than a positive feedback on the CO2-effect, thus denying a significant anthropogenic influence on climate. Luedecke has also published a book on "<a href="http://www.amazon.de/CO2-Klimaschutz-Fakten-Irrt%C3%BCmer-Politik/dp/3416031245" style=" color: rgb(61, 129, 238); text-decoration: none;">CO2 and climate protection</a>". I haven't read that so I can't comment.

However, there is also lots of highly dubious material on the EIKE site. If you follow the publications link on the page you find contributions by some interesting German climate sceptics, such as the recently deceased <a href="http://www.esowatch.com/ge/index.php?title=Ernst_Georg_Beck" style=" color: rgb(61, 129, 238); text-decoration: none;">Ernst-Georg Beck</a>, who essentially disputes that there is an anthropogenic CO2 increase, or <a href="http://gerhard.stehlik-online.de/" style=" color: rgb(61, 129, 238); text-decoration: none;">Gerhard Stehlik</a>, wo has weird theories on his own on the greenhouse effect. Unfortunately, his paper on this matter which he sent me some years ago is not available on his website anymore (dead link). And you find of course the quite widely known <a href="http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/0707/0707.1161v4.pdf" style=" color: rgb(61, 129, 238); text-decoration: none;">paper of Gerlich and Tscheuschner</a>, who maintain that the greenhouse theory violates the second law of thermodynamics and who have been <a href="http://www.realclimate.org/wiki/index.php?title=G.Gerlich_and_R.D._Tscheuschner" style=" color: rgb(61, 129, 238); text-decoration: none;">refuted many times</a> (also see<a href="http://globalklima.blogspot.com/2009/03/wenn-die-fachbegutachtung-scheitert.html" style=" color: rgb(61, 129, 238); text-decoration: none;">Globalklima</a>). And in its advisory board, EIKE has among others <a href="http://wah-realitycheck.blogspot.com/2008/10/viscount-moncktons-rebuttal-of-my.html" style=" color: rgb(61, 129, 238); text-decoration: none;">my old critic</a>Lord <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Monckton_of_Brenchley" style=" color: rgb(61, 129, 238); text-decoration: none;">Christopher Monckton</a> Viscount of Brenchley. I'm impressed!

The <a href="http://www.eike-klima-energie.eu/" style=" color: rgb(61, 129, 238); text-decoration: none;">EIKE site</a> is a caleidoscope of climate scepticism from the German perspective. If you understand German and are interested in the unplumbed depths of the human mind, enjoy!</div>

</div>