“We knew we had an ever widening following in the U.K. but for our website to be monitored by folk in the States - does that mean we’ve really made it?”

This is incorrect.

The ICSC is not based in the United States but is a worldwide organization with its executives working out of Canada (two executives, me and Professor Patterson) and New Zealand (two executives). We also have one director based in the UK and one based in the US.

As detailed on http://tinyurl.com/552ve6 , the ICSC draws experts from ten countries (South Africa, United Kingdom, United States (just one, aside from our US based director), Germany, Canada, New Zealand, Netherlands, Australia, France and Sweden); the ICSC executive and advisory boards consist of 25 highly qualified scientists, 14 policy and/or economics advisors and two energy consultants. For more information on ICSC you can visit http://www.climatescienceinternational.org

Undeterred, the Eco Warrior continues, “Of course there will be those who disagree with the majority of the leading scientists of the world, and all the major governments who will be meeting at Copenhagen at the end othe year and debate is healthy.”

It makes no difference what the governments are saying about the science as they will simply say what is easiest from a political perspective. If those who believe climate change is primarily natural start to gain the lead from a public perception point of view, more and more political leaders will start to say what we are saying, not knowing whether what we say is correct or not, of course.

The statement about “majority of the leading scientists of the world” has no basis in fact for one simple reason - THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A COMPREHENSIVE WORLDWIDE POLL OF THE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF SCIENTISTS WHO RESEARCH THE CAUSES OF GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE.

Sorry for yelling but one cannot make any statement about what “the majority of the leading scientists of the world” think since no one knows (or could know, without a suitable poll)

Eco Warrior continues: “It’s sometimes useful to look deeply into the background of the disbelievers [note from Tom - what is a disbeliever? This is supposed to be science, not religion, and skepticism is what science is all about, not 'belief'] and discover who funds them.”

Yes, at times is is somewhat interesting to look into the funding sources of people active on both sides, when such information is available. The David Suzuki Foundation (classified as a tax except organization and so which must release its funders’ identities) is funded by some of Canada’s largest corporations, including oil and gas companies (check their annual reports). Al Gore has made many, may millions with his books, videos and personal appearances and stands to make an even more massive fortune since he sells carbon credits. Exxon, among others, is now funding the Standford University research program looking for low carbon dioxide energy sources to the tune of about ten times what we are told they gave in total to helping fund communications activities against Gore, Suzuki, et al’s point of view.

Most non-profits that do not have tax except status keep the identities of their funders confidential to protect their privacy. Greenpeace, the Sierra Club, and our group, the ICSC, fall into that category. But attacking those groups based on assumed funding sources is just guesswork and an ad hominem that does not further the debate. Debating what the various groups are saying is all that matters.

So, I ask again, what in the Manhattan Declaration on Climate Change, or anything else the ICSC asserts, do you disagree with? That is all that is worth discussing since nature cares not at all about who says what, who funds whom, who is left and who is right; it just does what it does and it is the job of all good scientists to ‘believe’ nothing, if we truly want to protect the environment, and to do our best to uncover how nature actually works.

Sincerely,

Tom Harris
Executive Director
International Climate Science Coalition (ICSC)
Canada

http://www.climatescienceinternational.org

Of course there will be those who disagree with the majority of the leading scientists of the world, and all the major governments who will be meeting at Copenhagen at the end othe year and debate is healthy.

It’s sometimes useful to look deeply into the background of the disbelievers and discover who funds them. When George Bush was in power the oil and coal lobby were very active. I leave readers to draw their own conclusions.