The Heartlander
The bimonthly membership newsletter for The Heartland Institute.
The Heartlander: April-May 2008
CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE INVIGORATES DEBATE
The 2008 International Conference on Climate Change, hosted by The Heartland Institute and more than 50 cosponsors, brought together more than 500 attendees and 100 expert speakers presenting the message that global warming is not a crisis.
Addresses by the Hon. Vaclav Klaus, president of the Czech Republic, John Stossel of ABC News, and leading scientists received thundering standing ovations from a capacity audience.
The Government Relations Department used the conference as an additional opportunity to engage state legislators on the issue of climate change. Invitations were sent to more than 1,000 legislators serving on environment and energy committees in legislatures across the U.S. Heartland sponsored nearly three dozen legislators to attend the event.
The three-day conference got off to a fast and successful start on March 2 with a capacity crowd at the opening dinner, featuring remarks by Heartland President Joseph Bast, comedian Tim Slagle, and climatologist Patrick Michaels. The room was packed with guests from at least 11 countries, including Australia, Canada, England, France, New Zealand, Poland, Puerto Rico, Russia, and Sweden. Klaus was a distinguished guest.
Clearly No Consensus
The conference resumed at 7:00 a.m. on March 3 with presentations by Dr. Robert Balling, professor of climatology at Arizona State University, and Dr. Ross McKitrick, associate professor of economics at the University of Guelph (Ontario). Both speakers vigorously critiqued the temperature records that purport to show unprecedented warming in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.
The breakfast speakers also began what would become a running debate over Michaels’ statements in the opening address the evening before, that a mild warming trend could be discerned from recent temperature data and that it was probably of anthropogenic origin.
This doubly confirmed an expected theme of the conference, that there is no consensus on the extent or causes of global warming. The “skeptics” not only disagree with the so-called “consensus,” but they also disagree among themselves, showing a healthy scientific habit of attempting to disprove all hypotheses, including one’s own.
Sixty expert speakers presented papers over the course of the day. People in the hallways buzzed about presentations by Christopher Monckton, a former policy advisor to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; Willie Soon of the Science and Public Policy Institute and Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics; Dr. George Taylor, past president of the American Association of State Climatologists; and Roy Innis, chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality.
Lunch presentations by Dr. Tim Ball, former professor of climatology at the University of Winnipeg, and Dr. S. Fred Singer, distinguished research professor at George Mason University, rocked the crowd. Singer announced the release of the Summary for Policymakers of the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), a systematic and authoritative rebuttal of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fourth Assessment Report.
There was a moment of sadness when the death of Dr. Frederick Seitz, on Sunday, was announced at the end of lunch. Seitz, a former president of the National Academy of Sciences and president emeritus of Rockefeller University in New York, was one of the most distinguished scientists of his generation and a noted global warming skeptic. He had contributed a preface to Singer’s NIPCC report.
Extensive Media Coverage
Press coverage was extensive, including television coverage by CBS, ABC, CNN, Fox, PBS, and BBC, and print coverage by AP, Reuters, Greenwire, The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, New York Sun, and countless other press outlets. Following is a sample of their coverage.
“Let’s hope Mr. Lomborg is wrong in his fear that the media are uninterested in showcasing a real debate on climate change. The proof may be found next week, when hundreds of scientists, economists and policy experts who dissent from the ‘consensus’ that climate change requires radical measures will meet in New York to discuss the latest scientific, economic and political research on climate change.”
The Wall Street Journal (circ. 2,011,882)
February 25
“Some scientists who strongly disagree with each other on the extent of warming coming in this century, and on what to do about it, agreed that it was important not to be tempted to overinterpret short-term swings in climate, either hot or cold.”
Andrew Revkin
The New York Times circ. 1,037,828)
March 2
“According to a host of climate experts, including some who question the extent and risks of global warming, it is mostly good old-fashioned weather, along with a cold kick from the tropical Pacific Ocean, which is in its La Niña phase for a few more months, a year after it was in the opposite, warm, El Niño pattern.“If anything else is afoot--like some cooling related to sunspot cycles or slow shifts in ocean and atmospheric patterns that can influence temperatures--an array of scientists who have staked out differing positions on the overall threat from global warming agree that there is no way to pinpoint whether such a new force is at work.”
The International Herald Tribune (circ. 263,878)
March 2
“This will be one of the rare opportunities for the media to hear the other side of the story--for those old-fashioned journalists who still believe that their job is to inform the public rather than promote an agenda.”
The Evening Bulletin (circ. 150,000)
March 3
“It’s a good time, therefore, for some of the best climate scientists in the world to be gathering in New York City--setting for the Al Gore-promoted doomsday flick ‘The Day After Tomorrow’--for the 2008 International Conference on Climate Change hosted by The Heartland Institute.“More than 550 climate scientists, economists, and public policy experts are at the March 2-4 event, their very presence shattering Gore’s myth of a warming ‘consensus’ and a debate that is over. Yet because of the media’s embrace of Gore’s crusade, this may be one of the few places you read about the conference.”
Investor’s Business Daily (circ. 172,618)
March 3
“[Fred] Singer welcomed the chance to address a friendly audience for a change--‘This is a very nice, warm atmosphere,’ he observed--and Heartland Institute President Joseph L. Bast said he believes skeptics are now on the verge of overturning the idea that humans are driving climate change.“‘Yeah, I think we’re at a tipping point that’s going in exactly the opposite direction,’ Bast said. ‘That point of view has had its moment. That moment has passed.’”
Washington Post (circ. 635,087)
March 4
“The king taught his advisers ‘humility,’ Monckton said, by showing them that even he, a king, could not control nature. In the same way, he argues, modern-day politicians should not fool themselves into thinking that humanity is having a big impact on climate.”
San Francisco Chronicle (circ. 365,234)
March 5
“At the very least these were people unafraid of intellectual combat. The goodie bags at registration contained a copy of Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, for example, to allow attendees to familiarize themselves with the other side’s arguments before viewing the accompanying DVD The Great Global Warming Swindle. Try to imagine Al Gore encouraging the same level of rigorous pro- and con- study at one of his lectures. It’s unthinkable.”
The American Spectator (circ. 139,009)
March 6
“‘The alarmists in the global warming debate have had their say over and over again in every newspaper in the country every day,’ said conference host Joseph Bast of The Heartland Institute. ‘They’ve been seen in countless news reports and documentary films. They have totally dominated the media’s coverage of this issue. They have swayed the view of many people, and many of them have gotten very rich in the process.’“Bast pointed out many scientists appeared, despite the potential loss of research grants, tenure, and the ability to get published in the future. Many even dared to speak out vehemently against what they consider ‘the mass delusion of our time.’”
Times Record News (circ. 379,894)
March 7
March 6: Bast appeared on the US Informational Radio Network with John Loeffler.March 13: Heartland Senior Fellow James M. Taylor appeared on Rural Radio Network with Trent Loos.
March 15: Heartland Science Director Jay Lehr, Ph.D. appeared on The Simon Conway Radio Show on WHIM 1520AM.
March 18: Lehr appeared on The Jerry Hughes Talk Radio Show.
A steady stream of reporters and camera crews flowed through the registration and reception areas and utilized the three media suites for interviews.
By the end of the second conference day, more than a few speakers were hoarse from their repeated encounters with reporters, but all were delighted they were getting their messages out.
There is no question but that the media took note of this meeting, the largest gathering of global warming skeptics ever held. The truth was simply too big to remain hidden: There is no consensus on global warming.
Klaus Addresses Economics
The final day of the conference began with a keynote presentation by the Hon. Vaclav Klaus, president of the Czech Republic, who received a thunderous standing ovation from the attendees.
Klaus--who won reelection just two weeks before the conference--explained his strong opposition to claims that global warming is a “crisis” requiring rapid reductions in human greenhouse gas emissions.
An economist by training and author of a new book on environmentalism, Klaus pointed out the impossibility of meeting the ambitious emission reduction goals being endorsed by European countries, saying they would require lowering populations or widespread poverty.
Scientists Continue Discussions
Klaus was followed by Dr. William Gray, one of the country’s most preeminent hurricane forecasters and a pioneer in tropical meteorological research. Gray described what he called huge errors in the treatment of water vapor by computer models used to forecast future weather conditions. He also pointed out evidence showing the warming predicted by the models was not occurring at the altitudes and latitudes the models indicate they should.
The audience then split up to attend concurrent sessions on climatology, the impacts of climate change, and the economics and politics of the global warming debate. Eight panels took place featuring such noted experts as Richard S. Courtney, technical advisor to several UK MPs and one of 15 scientists invited to brief the U.S. Congress on climate change in 2000; Andreas Prokoph, a professor of earth sciences at the University of Ottawa; and Paul Waggoner, a distinguished scientist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven.
The group reconvened for a final lunch and plenary session featuring Dr. Roy Spencer, principal research scientist for the University of Alabama in Huntsville and the U.S. Science Team Leader on NASA’s Aqua satellite, and John Stossel, an ABC News correspondent and co-anchor of 20/20.
Spencer reported on his latest research documenting how background “noise” in climate systems creates temperature variations that are not random and tend to falsely predict warming, the size of which exceeds all of the warming attributed to human activity by the models. He further documented a major error in the way climate models deal with cloud cover and convection in the tropics.
Stossel Blasts Media
Stossel delivered a withering critique of the way the news media cover science and health issues.
While confessing to having been duped into covering alleged “crises” in the past, Stossel said he now recognizes that advocacy groups take advantage of the scientific illiteracy of journalists and their natural interest in stories of lurking or invisible threats that only government can protect people from.
Momentum to Continue
In his concluding remarks, Bast laid out an agenda for future collaboration.
Items on the follow-up agenda include expansion of the International Climate Science Coalition, completion and release of the report of the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change, publication of books and a new journal on climate science, posting of audio of all the presentations online, creation of a speakers bureau, and planning for a follow-up conference in 2009.
In the audience, parallels were being drawn between this conference and the first meeting of the Mont Pelerin Society in 1947--which led to the creation of an institution that played a key role in the resurrection of classical liberalism worldwide and the intellectual defeat of socialism.
“I have never attended a conference before, much less helped organize and host one, where so many people in the audience were so energized, engaged in the debate, and so obviously happy to be there,” Bast said.
“I saw friendships being created that I expect will last for lifetimes,” Bast noted. “The level of intellectual engagement was apparent from lively question-and-answer sessions and dueling presentations on several panels, the kind of free-spirited debate that is virtually absent from the global warming alarmist camp.
“It’s hard to imagine how this conference could have been more successful,” Bast added. “The pure quality of speakers and presentations, and the excitement and passion of the audience, is almost overwhelming. We thought we were just bringing together some scientists and other experts to make a point; we may have ended up launching an intellectual movement.”
Budget & Tax News
The March 2008 issue of Budget & Tax News reports on the effect of taxes on economic growth, Chicago’s bottled water tax, the Office of Management and Budget’s new spending transparency Web site, the Alternative Minimum Tax, unions, and more.
The April issue offers two contrasting approaches to property tax reform: in Florida, where a constitutional amendment aimed at reform may actually inhibit future reform efforts; and in British Columbia, where a major revamp of the property tax assessment system has streamlined the process and made assessments more efficient, professional, impartial, and uniform. The issue also covers toll roads in New Jersey, government-controlled health insurance in California, economic development in Kentucky, and more.
Flat Tax
Legislative Specialist Nick Baker wrote “The Flat Tax: Will it Be Coming to Your State?” a new Research & Commentary. Baker writes, “A state’s most-productive citizens are no longer penalized or discouraged by tax rates higher than rates paid by less-productive citizens.” Baker also pointed out with flat-tax systems, “Businesses are treated more fairly, as all are subject to the same tax rules, relegating preferences to the trash heap.” This R&C was sent by email to all legislators in Arizona, New Mexico, and South Carolina, who are considering adopting flat-tax systems this legislative session.
Responding to a research request from Legislative Forum member Tennessee state Rep. Susan Lynn, Baker worked with Research Fellow Steve Stanek and Senior Fellow Maureen Martin to write an analysis of House Bill 0046 currently before the legislature. The bill would force certain Tennessee manufacturers to start producing more “environmentally friendly” products by drastically reducing their energy consumption. Lynn calls it a “job-killer bill.” She distributed copies of the analysis to her fellow legislators and used Heartland’s material at committee meetings. The sponsor of the legislation has tabled any action on the bill since Lynn presented Heartland’s information to the committee.
Tobacco
Baker also compiled a Research & Commentary on smokeless tobacco. In “Smokeless Tobacco: Why Is Science Being Ignored?” Baker explained, “Smokeless tobacco is much less harmful than traditional smoking--according to some studies, 98 percent safer.” The R&C pointed to the February issue of the British Medical Journal (http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=22811), which includes research that confirms smokeless tobacco is less harmful than traditional smoking.
The R&C on smokeless tobacco was sent by email to members of Congress and all members of Heartland’s Legislative Forum.
In the News
On March 6, USA Today (circ. 5,200,000) published a letter to the editor by Steve Stanek, research fellow and managing editor of Budget & Tax News, who noted, “USA TODAY has it right when it slams Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and others for bashing NAFTA. Huge gains in worker productivity have enabled companies to churn out more products with fewer workers. But there is another factor: government policies. The United States has the second-highest corporate tax rate among the 30 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.”
On March 7, the Chicago Tribune (circ. 559,404) published a letter to the editor by Stanek addressing property tax assessments in Chicago. “[Mayor Richard M.] Daley’s attack on property tax assessments is merely a ploy to obscure his responsibility for higher tax bills,” Stanek wrote.
On March 17, The Providence Journal (circ. 148,700) cited Heartland Policy Study No. 113, “Taxes and Fees on Communication Services,” noting: “The survey found that a typical monthly phone bill of a Providence telephone customer included $6.37 in taxes, accounting for about 14 percent of the total. The national average, according to the study, was $8.32, or about 17 percent of the total bill.”
The Property & Casualty Insurance Report, a joint project of The Heartland Institute and Competitive Enterprise Institute, can be downloaded in Adobe’s PDF format from Heartland’s Web site at http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=22907. Heartland donors and members at the $49 level and above may also request free printed copies by calling administrative assistant Cheryl Parker at 312/377-4000. |
Consumers in five states are paying higher premiums for homeowners insurance than necessary thanks to ill-advised regulation, according to a new report card jointly released by The Heartland Institute and Competitive Enterprise Institute.
Consumers in California, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, and North Carolina pay more for homeowners coverage that is inferior to states with positive insurance climates.
Homeowners in Idaho, Illinois, Utah, Vermont, and Wisconsin enjoy lower premiums for broader and more predictable coverage, and earned “A” grades on the Heartland/CEI report card.
“On balance,” writes Eli Lehrer, the report’s author, “states with less-regulated insurance markets provide more consumer choice, more predictable rates, and insurance premiums that better reflect actual risk than do states with heavily regulated markets.”
The Property & Casualty Insurance Report focuses on homeowners and automobile insurance, the two types of insurance Americans typically are required to purchase. State laws in 46 states mandate the purchase of auto insurance, and nearly all mortgage lenders require their clients to secure homeowners coverage.
The report rates states using nine variables, key among them the size of the state’s residual market, loss ratio stability, rate regulation, and territorial rating.
Vermont achieved the report card’s highest raw score, with a total of 27 points. “Although not typically known for its free-market policies,” noted Lehrer, “the state has become a hotbed of insurance innovation.” The remaining A-graded states earned raw scores between 13 (Wisconsin) and 23 (Idaho).
Massachusetts received the worst raw score, with -67 points. “Although its score will improve thanks to the end of state-created rates for automobile insurers, the state still has much work to do,” Lehrer writes. The remaining F-graded states earned raw scores between -27 (California) and -45 (North Carolina).
In addition to the main state-by-state analysis, the report includes case studies offering more detailed descriptions of the insurance environments in five states: Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Texas, and Vermont.
Nearly 2,000 copies of the report and/or its executive summary were distributed to members of the Legislative Forum, state insurance department heads, business reporters, oped page editors, talk radio show hosts, and Heartland donors and allies.
Legislative Specialist Matthew Glans traveled to Tallahassee, Florida on February 3-4 to release a summary of the report. Glans met with a number of Florida state legislators to discuss in detail issues surrounding the property and casualty insurance market in the state. Glans wrote the case study for the state of Illinois.
Payday Loans
Heartland has been tracking payday loan legislation in nine states: Arizona, Colorado (HB 1310), Illinois, Kentucky (HB 500), Minnesota, New Hampshire (HB 267), Ohio, South Carolina (SB 954), and Virginia (HB 189). Efforts in these states focus on three areas: caps on interest rates, the frequency of loans, and the fees charged by the lenders.
In a February 1 Research & Commentary, Glans wrote, “While payday loans are controversial, they serve an important purpose in the market: to provide short-term emergency loans when other sources of financing are unavailable. These loans clearly are more desirable than bounced checks and late fees, which only further damage a blemished credit history.”
The R&C was sent to finance committee members in all states considering new legislation on payday loans. In Arizona, state Sen. Robert Blendu introduced legislation to extend the sunset provision to protect the payday loan market, after reading Glans’ R&C on the issue.
Subprime Loans
A letter to the editor by Glans, “Subprime loans have redeeming qualities, help home buyers,” was published on January 22 in USA Today (circ. 2,524,965). Glans warned against new government regulations on the subprime mortgage industry, noting, “Many of the new proposed laws make providing subprime loans undesirable for lenders. As a result of these well-intended reforms, thousands of lower- and middle-income Americans would be unable to afford a home.”
Glans wrote and emailed a Research & Commentary on subprime loans to California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, New York, and Ohio.
On the Road
On February 12, Heartland President Joseph Bast spoke on tobacco issues to about 60 people attending a meeting of Low Bob’s Discount Tobacco owner/operators licensees in Merrillville, Indiana. Everyone in attendance received copies of his book, Please Don’t Poop in my Salad.
Heartland Senior Fellow Wendell Cox spoke on February 22 to about 300 people at the University of California - Santa Barbara on transportation issues.
Environment & Climate News
The March 2008 issue of Environment & Climate News addresses nuclear power, wind turbines, new light bulbs, bedbugs, carbon dioxide regulation, bee colony collapse, gas taxes, hurricanes, carbon dioxide emissions, climate change, and organic farming.
The April issue notes January 2008 was below twentieth-century temperature averages worldwide. Moreover, despite a warming Southern Ocean, the amount of ice surrounding Antarctica is now at the highest level measured for this time of the year. Also in this issue: wetlands, wolf populations, proposed greenhouse gas taxes in San Francisco, redwoods vs. solar panels, coal, bottled water, aquatic herbicides, dry cleaning, the Great Lakes Compact, and more.
Visual Exhibits in Global Warming Debate
Heartland Policy Study No. 115, “Understanding Visual Exhibits in the Global Warming Debate,” can be downloaded in Adobe’s PDF format from Heartland’s Web site at http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=22829. Heartland donors and members at the $49 level and above may also request free printed copies by calling administrative assistant Cheryl Parker at 312/377-4000. |
On March 3, at the 2008 International Conference on Climate Change in New York, we released Heartland Policy Study No. 115, “Understanding Visual Exhibits in the Global Warming Debate.” The study reveals how graphs, charts, and other images can be accurate and still skew data to support a partisan view.
Author Ronald J. Rychlak notes, “Advocates have ‘packaged’ their evidence with charts, graphs, and other visual exhibits designed to have maximum impact with minimal effort on the part of the public. The manipulation of visuals--bar and line graphs, pie charts, even photographs--has proven to be a highly effective way to offer up scary scenarios ... and it is easily done.
“The differences in layout can render an exhibit either informative or misleading,” Rychlak writes. “For that reason, court proceedings subject exhibits to a determination of whether they are probative or merely prejudicial.” Rychlak is MDLA Professor of Law and associate dean for academic affairs at the University of Mississippi School of Law.
No similar standards govern the visuals used in the global warming debate. Climate change alarmists often misrepresent data, misleading the public and describing a “reality” unsupported by science. Visuals have been used, for example, to make minuscule increases in temperature or greenhouse gas emissions look dramatic, or to make polar bears appear “stranded” on ice floes. Such tactics do little to further the process of honest inquiry.
“If we are to make wise decisions, we have to understand the evidence,” said Rychlak. “However, as words can be misused by an advocate, charts, graphs and even photos can be misused by their creators. This can lead to confusion in a time when clarity is essential.”
Nearly 10,000 copies of the report and/or its executive summary were distributed, including more than 4,600 to high school debate coaches nationwide. The 2008-09 national high school debate topic is “Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase alternative energy incentives in the United States.”
NIPCC Report Shows Climate Change Science Not Settled
The Summary for Policymakers of the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC) can be downloaded in Adobe’s PDF format from Heartland’s Web site at http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=22835. Heartland donors and members at the $49 level and above may also request free printed copies by calling administrative assistant Cheryl Parker at 312/377-4000. |
The Summary for Policymakers of the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC) was officially released on March 3 at the 2008 International Conference on Climate Change in New York City. Editor Dr. S. Fred Singer, president of the Science and Environmental Policy Project, delivered a keynote address announcing the report’s release; he and nearly a dozen scientists who contributed to the report were available for media interviews after the keynote.
NIPCC is an international panel of nongovernmental scientists and scholars who have come together to understand the causes and consequences of climate change.
The Summary for Policymakers, titled “Nature, Not Human Activity, Rules the Climate,” is a concise digest of more than a dozen technical papers being edited for publication as part of the complete NIPCC report. Heartland worked with Singer to compile the summary and prepare it for publication.
“Our imperfect understanding of the causes and consequences of climate change means the science is far from settled,” Singer noted. “This, in turn, means proposed efforts to mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions are premature and misguided. Any attempt to influence global temperatures by reducing such emissions would be both futile and expensive.”
On the Road
Heartland Science Director Jay Lehr, Vice President Sandy Bourne, and Senior Fellow James M. Taylor made more than a dozen appearances across the country in February and March. Here’s a sampling of their itineraries:
February 1 - Lehr addressed an audience of roughly 100 at a meeting of the Portland, Oregon Potato Growers and scientists from Oregon State University. He addressed world trade, nutrition, genetic modification of crops, global positioning systems in farming, and the effects of climate change on farming in Oregon.
February 5 - Lehr discussed the importance of fruit in the diet at a meeting of the Washington Fruit Growers, about 200 in attendance.
Also on February 5, Lehr spoke to 450 people at a meeting of the Washington Potato Growers. He discussed the importance of the potato in our diet and the future of genetically modified potatoes.
February 9 - Bourne spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on the politics of energy and the environment.
February 12 - Lehr spoke in Boston to the Northeast Agriculture and Feed Association. Roughly 200 people attended. Lehr discussed the high cost of feed resulting from ethanol demand on corn and its effect on meat prices.
February 20-21 - Lehr gave two talks, attended by 30 people each, to the Manitoba Specialty Crops Symposium. One talk focused on genetic modification, especially with respect to sunflowers, canola, and sorghum, and attitudes about GM in Canada. His second presentation focused on global warming.
February 22 - Taylor spoke at the annual meeting of the Professional Engineers of Colorado, attended by 40 people. He spoke about the Colorado Climate Action Plan, showing how it ignored scientific and economic reality.
February 26 - Lehr spoke in Tampa, Florida to 100 environmental and safety professionals at The Mozaic Co. He discussed the facts and fictions of various environmental concerns and the importance of every employee buying into safe practices, as it takes only a single rotten apple to spoil a company’s safety record.
March 3 - Lehr spoke to 500 bankers at a meeting of the Orlando Independent Community Bankers of America. He gave two talks on global warming and also addressed the future of agriculture subsidies in the U.S.
March 6 - Lehr spoke in Las Vegas to 400 sales and marketing professionals of the American Feed Industry Association. He discussed the importance of finding ways to explain to the public that U.S. farmers are farming sustainably, protecting sensitive environments, reducing fuel use, reducing chemical inputs, and ensuring food safety.
March 11 - Taylor spoke at the Wisconsin Public Service Corporation’s annual conference for energy wholesalers, with approximately 100 people in attendance. Ten speakers, including Taylor, gave presentations about the state’s future energy profile and the governor’s desire to develop more renewable power sources in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In the News, On the Air
On February 7, Bourne appeared on the G. Gordon Liddy Show to discuss climate change.
On February 8, Taylor appeared on the Freedom Works radio show with Paul Molloy in Tampa, Florida to discuss polar ice caps.
On February 8, the Daily Herald (circ. 151,190) published a letter to the editor by Ralph Conner, Heartland’s local legislation manager, defending plastic grocery bags. Conner notes, “[F]rom a cost perspective, plastic bags are better: A standard plastic grocery bag costs about a penny to produce, compared with 4 to 5 cents for a paper bag.”
On February 12, the Los Angeles Times (circ. 779,682) published a letter to the editor by Taylor, who wrote, “The rush to do something about global warming has led government to pass laws giving massive subsidies to biofuel producers and requiring consumers to buy expensive biofuels. Now we know that this is only making matters worse.”
On February 15, Lehr appeared on WWWI AM radio to discuss climate change and polar bears.
Unstoppable Global Warming
“You’re not alone [in hearing criticism of your position on global warming]. I hear it a lot here in the office, but thanks to your publication, I am able to show proof in print. I have converted several to understanding what is real and what is fiction. My daughter’s high school earth science teacher borrowed the [Unstoppable Solar Cycles] DVD to show to his class. He loved it and I am happy to know my daughter is receiving a balanced education.” |
Heartland’s initial print run of 120,000 copies of the second edition of Unstoppable Global Warming - Every 1,500 Years, by Dennis Avery and S. Fred Singer, has been completely distributed!
Every state legislator received a copy--many of them with “Dear Colleague” letters written by a member of their own legislatures--as did every member of Congress. We also sent copies to nearly 46,500 environmental professionals, 27,000 high school principals, 9,000 university trustees, 900 environment journalists, the CEOs of the Fortune 500 companies, and state Farm Bureau presidents (with a cover letter from Kansas Farm Bureau President Steve Baccus).
A new print run is under consideration.
April was a scheduled “skip month” for Health Care News. |
Health Care News
The March 2008 issue of Health Care News features several articles on telemedicine and other efforts to make health care less expensive, more convenient, and more effective for patients. The issue also reports on California’s proposed health insurance mandate, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, specialty hospitals, walk-in clinics, “play or pay” in San Francisco, transparency, low-dose radiation, cancer treatment, and more.
Healthy Amendment
Legislative Specialist Kate Campaigne sent Legislative Forum members information about a healthy initiative taking place in Arizona. In response, Wisconsin state Rep. Leah Vukmir, chair of the Wisconsin GOP, and state Sen. Ted Kanavas submitted the same wording as a proposed amendment to the Wisconsin constitution. The proposal reads: “The people have the right to enter into private contracts with health care providers for health care services and to purchase private health care coverage. The legislature may not require any person to participate in any state-sponsored health care system or plan.”
Health Care Clinics
Campaigne wrote a letter to the editor of The New York Times (circ. 1,037,828) in response to “Wal-Mart Will Expand In-Store Medical Clinics,” which described a positive and consumer-driven approach to health care. Campaigne noted, “Medical clinics offer a convenient alternative to the doctor’s office and give patients quicker access to health care.” She continued, “Clinics also provide transparency about costs and available services. They spur competition, which drives innovation, lowers costs, and pushes care-givers to find new and better ways to serve the patient.”
In the News
On February 20, the American Spectator (circ. 139,009) published an op-ed by Jeff Emanuel, research fellow and managing editor of Health Care News. He wrote, “Oxymoronically, the plan whose formal title includes the term ‘choice’ is built around what is known as an ‘individual mandate’--a government requirement that all Americans, regardless of income or choice, possess at least a (government-established) minimal level of health insurance.”
A letter to the editor by Campaigne was published in the San Jose Mercury News (circ. 251,666) on February 21. Campaigne outlined, “If Medi-Cal decides to reduce reimbursement payments to doctors, many California doctors will have to stop treating Medi-Cal patients to make up for the cuts.”
At the Podium
Heartland Policy Advisor John Garven spoke at a health care forum hosted by Americans for Prosperity and the National Federation of Independent Business. Held March 18 in Aurora, Illinois, the forum focused on Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s proposals for increased government intervention in health care. Garven also did a radio interview March 17 on AM 1280 (WBIG in Aurora) to promote the meeting.
School Reform News
The March 2008 issue of School Reform News highlights a May 12 rally that brought more than 1,100 students, parents, and educators to the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison in support of the state’s virtual schools. The issue also reports on a three-year-old challenge to Arizona’s individual tax credit scholarship program, the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program, reform of New Jersey’s state education funding formula, No Child Left Behind, redistricting in Maine, school spending in New Mexico, charter schools in Michigan and Philadelphia, special-needs scholarships in Ohio, and the Bush State of the Union address.
The April issue reports on experiments in Baltimore and Atlanta with merit pay for students; a proposal to limit the number of students allowed to enroll in Wisconsin’s virtual charter schools; a proposed tuition tax credit program targeted to special-needs students in Missouri; proposed changes to an open-enrollment policy in Eugene, Oregon; school voucher programs in the District of Columbia, Milwaukee, and Ohio; a new charter school for autistic kids in Minneapolis; and higher education, teacher pay, curriculum standards, and more.
In the News
On February 6, the Asbury Park Press (circ. 145,508) published an essay by Senior Fellow Robert Holland. The essay is excerpted on page 2 of this Heartlander.
SCHOOL CHOICE REPORT CARD
The School Choice Report Card can be downloaded in Adobe’s PDF format from Heartland’s Web site at http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=22914. Heartland donors and members at the $49 level and above may also request free printed copies by calling administrative assistant Cheryl Parker at 312/377-4000. |
Parents hoping to wrest control of their children’s futures away from education bureaucrats and politicians should consider moving to Arizona or Florida, a new “report card” from The Heartland Institute suggests. They should avoid Montana or Washington State.
Choice & Education Across the States ranks state efforts to increase accountability and improve student achievement with four kinds of school choice: vouchers, charters, tax credits, and public school choice.
“School choice programs give parents the power to decide where their children are schooled,” notes author Michael Van Winkle. “School choice is accountability. When parents have the power to remove their children from a school that is failing them, without financial penalty, they and their children are better served.”
With 23 being the highest possible score on Van Winkle’s evaluation, the median score was just five points. Arizona and Florida achieved scores of 15 and 14, respectively--grades of A in Van Winkle’s curved grading system--while Washington and Montana scored just one point each.
Arizona and Florida offer parents strong voucher, charter school, and scholarship tax credit programs. All of the other top-ranking states--Wisconsin, Ohio, Utah, Minnesota, and Georgia--offer vouchers and charters, but none offers scholarship tax credits as well.
About 4,500 copies of the report were distributed to legislators nationwide with a special interest in education issues, education journalists, and Heartland allies.
Infotech & Telecom News
The April 2008 issue of Infotech & Telecom News features a special report on the wireless industry, which is critically important to consumers and the U.S. economy but nevertheless bears an unusually high tax burden. The issue also covers a proposed “bill of rights” for Arizona cell phone users, a new tax on VoIP phone calls in Los Angeles, cloud computing, video games, net neutrality, Universal Service Fund reform, digital television, the proposed Microsoft-Yahoo! merger, and public safety communications.
Research and Commentary
In response to legislative activity on information technology and telecommunication issues, Assistant Director of Government Relations Brian Costin sent a trio of Research & Commentaries to members of state legislatures, U.S. Congress, and Legislative Forum members.
On net neutrality, Costin wrote, “When it comes to property rights and a free market, net neutrality is not ‘neutral’ in any sense of the word. Net neutrality infringes upon the Constitutional rights and economic viability of Internet service providers.” (http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=23001)
On regulation of the wireless industry, Costin noted, “Such regulations raise the cost of doing business for companies ... and in the long run, that means higher prices for consumers. Regulations also threaten to stifle investment in innovation in the name of “consumer protection.” (http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=22817)
And on a la carte cable pricing, Costin provides background on the economic and legal problems created by proposals to mandate such pricing. He explained, “... government interference in the way cable companies price their services will have unintended negative consequences, ultimately forcing consumers to pay higher prices for fewer choices.” (http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=22822)
In an oped distributed to media outlets and elected officials in Minnesota, Heartland Senior Fellow Tom Lipscomb warned the state legislature against becoming the first of 50 states to impose restrictive legislation regulating wireless service. In “’First Do No Harm’: Why HF 635/SF 833 Merits Another Hard Look,” Lipscomb asks, “Are there distinct advantages for the citizens of Minnesota that will accrue from the passage of this bill that will offset the handicaps they and their state may experience in the highly competitive national wireless market?” The essay is available online at http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=22814.
On February 7, Heartland Vice President Sandy Liddy Bourne was interviewed by Reuters Television about presidential politics and economic policy.
On February 8, Lee Walker, Heartland senior fellow for urban affairs, appeared on WVON Radio with Santita Jackson to discuss Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s decision to drop out of the race.
On February 9, Walker appeared on Up Front with Jesse Jackson on WORD TV to discuss Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s prospects among black voters.
On February 9, Heartland President Joseph Bast spoke on the topic “How Liberals Are Criminalizing Free Enterprise” at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, DC.
On February 12, Walker appeared on the Roland Martin Show to discuss the Democratic presidential campaign.
On July 17-20, Walker will participate in a Liberty Fund colloquium in Indianapolis, Indiana about the writings and life of Zora Neal Hurston (1891-1960).
