The Heartland Institute sponsored an international conference to obtain the signatures of 500 scientists with documented doubts about climate change. They published the results and claimed it was 'proof' that climate change doesn't exist. There were just a few problems:
1. The list included at least 45 scientists who neither knew of their inclusion as "coauthors" of the article, nor agreed with its claims regarding global warming. The scientists asked the Heartland Institute to remove their names from the list; for instance, Gregory Cutter of Old Dominion University wrote, "I have NO doubts... the recent changes in global climate ARE man-induced. I insist that you immediately remove my name from this list since I did not give you permission to put it there." Dr. Robert Whittaker, Professor of Biogeography, University of Oxford wrote "Please remove my name. What you have done is totally unethical!"
2. The only requirement for inclusion on this list of 'experts' was a 4-year college degree. A scientific background was not required. As a result many of the expert opinions came from people with a degree in history or literature. There were also several dead people on the list.
When confronted with these allegations the Heartland Institute refused to remove any names from the list. It quoted Dennis Avery saying “Not all of these researchers would describe themselves as global warming skeptics,” said Avery, “but the evidence in their studies is there for all to see.” Heartland’s president, Joseph Bast, wrote “They have no right -- legally or ethically -- to demand that their names be removed from a bibliography composed by researchers with whom they disagree.
