Heartland continues to fight 'Fakegate'

To the Editor:

"Fakegate," as it has become to be known, was developed through the chicanery of one of the leading voices among global warming advocates, Dr. Peter H. Gleick, whose work in the the field of hydroclimatology catapulted him into the top ranks of the scientific community. Gleick was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2003, elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2011, and is currently president of the Pacific Institute located in California.

Recently, The Heartland Institute of Chicago, recognized as a climate change denier, became a target of climate alarmists. It was Heartland's worldwide recognition as a climate change denier of merit that Dr. Gleick found intolerable, which prompted him to allegedly impersonate a Heartland Institute board member as a means to acquire confidential budget and operations information and the donors' list.

In February, Dr. Gleick confessed to stealing electronic documents in an attempt to discredit Heartland for disagreeing with his views.

The Fakegate global warming scandal has not been put to rest with the confession of Dr. Gleick. The environmental propaganda spin machine is still in active pursuit to slander and discredit Heartland.

Recent Fakegate developments follow:

- Heartland issued a written response to attempts at discrediting the organization on April 14. The announcement read in part:

"For the past several weeks, a front-group calling itself 'Forecast the Facts' has been contacting donors demanding they publicly commit to withdrawing their financial support. The letters and emails being sent by this group contain false statements that are plainly meant to defame and harm the Heartland Institute."

"Key points about Forecast the Facts include:

"Forecast the Facts is a front group created by the same individuals responsible for politicizing the science and polarizing the debate over climate change.

"Forecast the Facts has no scientists on staff, no history of participating in the climate change debate, and no credibility.

"Forecast the Facts is promoting the results of a petition that is fraudulent, based on false claims contained in a forged memo. It is grossly misrepresenting The Heartland Institute's positions on climate change."

General Motors' spokesman, David Barthmuss, has already been bullied by Forecast the Facts into withdrawing all of its company's foundation support to Heartland.

- On May 1, a Heartland news release conveyed new evidence concluding that the two-page strategy memo leaked to the press by Dr. Gleick did not originate on the Heartland system. The memo was not present at the site prior to its Feb. 13 posting on line, and its source of origination was likely from the Pacific Institute over which Gleick presides.

- The "new" Fakegate evidence resulted from a computer forensics report commissioned by Heartland and conducted by Protek International.

Overseeing the forensics work was Protek's co-founder Daniel Bellich, a 27-year veteran of the FBI, and Keith G. Chval, former chief of the High Tech Crimes Bureau of the Illinois Attorney General's Office.

A month earlier Juola & Associates, a provider of expert analysis and testimony in the field of text and authorship, likewise found it was more likely than not that Dr. Gleick was in fact the author/compiler of the document entitled, "Confidential Memo: 2012 Heartland Climate Strategy."

A call was made by Heartland's CEO Joe Bast on May 1 for Dr. Gleick to make a full confession. Bast further asked Gleick's allies at the Pacific Institute to stop defending Dr. Gleick and his conduct.

Heartland does not deny that climate change is happening, but believes its scope is quite limited at the present time, if at all. Most importantly, global warming is not due to man's perceived transgressions against "Mother Earth."

As a world leader, The Heartland Institute is bringing together scientists and economists to study climate change from May 21 - 23 in Chicago for its Seventh International Conference on Climate Change.

Vaclav Klaus, the president of the Czech Republic, will deliver the first dinner speech on Monday, May 21.

Nancy Thorner
Lake Bluff, Ill.