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Heartland Institute documents leaked

Koch-up or konspiracy?

Gifted amateurs and interested activists the world over are poring over documents published on the Desmog blog and elsewhere, which appear to detail the US think-tank the Heartland Institute’s budget and anti-climate-change strategy.

A list of the documents can be found on Skeptical Science, here (I am referring to this list rather than others now available because some sites, such as ThinkProgress, appear to be suffering occasional DoS-by-popularity).

If, as they are described, these are genuine Heartland internal documents, the leak is at least as good as the “climategate” e-mails.

The 2012 action plan by the institute includes curriculum development designed, as the documents put it, to “show that the topic of climate change is controversial and uncertain – two key points that are effective at dissuading teachers from teaching science.”

The Heartland memo says the materials are to be developed by a DoE consultant, Dr David Wojick. An anonymous donor has, the document says, pledged $US100,000 to have 12 course modules developed.

The institute expects to raise $US7 million this year, to put into its various campaigns.

The leaked document also, apparently, reveal Heartland Institute funding to “key individuals” for countering the “alarmist AGW message”, identifying Craig Isdo (the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change), the University of Virginia’s Fred Singer, and Australian Robert Carter as receiving Heartland funding.

Climate skeptic blogger Anthony Watts, it appears, received $US90,000 to relaunch his Website. The Desmog blog entry is here.

With nine documents to work through, The Register would expect this story has a few days to run yet. ®

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