Tell Pope Francis: Global Warming Is Not a Crisis!

[Last updated May 15, 2016]

NOTE: The Heartland Institute is not "funded by the Koch Brothers." See this link and this link for the truth.

Latest Heartland News Releases on Pope Francis and Global Warming

• September 23, 2015: Heartland Institute Experts Respond to Pope Francis’s Comments on the Climate at White House
• September 14, 2015: Heartland Institute Joins Coalition Challenging Pope Francis’s Views on Global Warming, Capitalism
• June 18, 2015: Members of Heartland's Contingent in Rome React to Pope Francis' Encyclical on the Environment

Latest Heartland Commentary on the Pope's Trip to the US

• September 23, 2015: James Taylor and Jim Lakely, Francis Misses the Mark on Economics (US News and World Report)
• September 23, 2015: Craig Idso, Pope Francis: Before One Can Know What is Moral, He Must Know What is True - Heartland Blog (CO2 Science)
• September 23, 2015: Gene Koprowski, White House Spokesman Compares President Obama To Pope Francis, Says They Are ‘Animated’ By The Same Values (Heartland Blog)
• September 22, 2015: Gene Koprowski, Energy Poverty is More of a Tragedy for the World Than ‘Theoretical Concepts’ of Climate Change, Marathon Petroleum CEO Tells Pope Francis (Heartland’s Blog)
• September 21, 2015: Gene Koprowski, The Climate Has Been Changing Since Genesis 1:1, So Why Is Pope Francis Suddenly So Concerned? (Heartland Blog)
• September 3, 2015: Gene Koprowski, Pope Francis Plans to Greet Crowd of 200,000 Eco-Liberals from Steps of the U.S. Capitol Building (Heartland’s Blog)
• August 17, 2015: Elizabeth Yore, Lay Catholics Responding Negatively to Pope’s Climate Change Push (Heartland Blog)
• July 23, 2015: Gene Koprowski, Gallup Poll: Climate Change Causes Pope’s Poll Numbers to Implode in U.S.(Heartland Blog) 

Presentations at Heartland's April 2015 Event in Rome

• E. Calvin Beisner, Ph.D., national spokesman for the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation (Powerpoint)
• Hal Doiron, former NASA Skylab and Space Shuttle engineer (Powerpoint)
• Richard Keen, Ph.D., meteorology instructor at the University of Colorado (Powerpoint)
• Christopher Monckton, chief policy advisor to the Science and Public Policy Institute (SPPI) (Powerpoint)
• Marc Morano, executive editor and chief correspondent, ClimateDepot.com (Powerpoint)
• Tom Sheahen, Ph.D., vice chairman of the Science and Environmental Policy Project Board of Directors (Powerpoint)
• Elizabeth Yore, J.D., former General Counsel at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Virginia (Powerpoint) (Statement)

Video from Heartland's April 2015 Event in Rome

Heartland's "prebuttal" press conference on Monday, April 27, 2015 at the Hotel Columbus in Rome:

Full presentations by the Heartland Institute contingent in Rome on Tuesday, April 28, 2015 at at the Palazzo Cardinal Cesi in Rome:

Heartland Travels to Rome to Advise Pope Francis on Climate Science

• News Release: Heartland Institute Sends Climate Experts to Rome (April 24, 2015)
• Monday Update: Press Conference a Success, Panel Planned for Tuesday (April 27, 2015)
• Tuesday Morning Update: Presentations and Lunch Planned (April 27, 2015)
• A Message From Joe Bast: Catholics Should Put Freedom Above Sustainability Fad (April 28, 2015)
• Environmental Statement by Vatican Does Not Meet Media Expectations (April 29, 2015)
• Wednesday Update: Podcast -Lord Christopher Monckton, Heartland Attacked by Name by Vatican Climate Conference (April 29, 2015)
• Wednesday Update from Rome: Heartland Echoes Behind Walls of Vatican (April 29, 2015)
• Heartland Replies (Again) to Media Matters (May 01, 2015)

Coverage of Heartland's April 2015 Trip to the Vatican

• Bastasch, Michael Vatican Paper: Ditch Capitalism To Stop Global Warming - Daily Caller (April 29, 2015)
• Bruinius, Harry Pope Francis and climate change: why Catholic skeptics are so alarmed - Christian Science Monitor (April 28, 2015)
• Burnett, H. Sterling Francis is Out of His Element - American Spectator (April 27)
• Bawden, Tom British climate change sceptics who travelled to the Vatican interrupted by 'papal heavies' half-way through making their point - The Independent (April 28, 2015)
• Caruba, Alan How Can So Many World Leaders Be So Wrong? - Warning Signs (May 10, 2015)
• Caruba, Alan Global Warming? The Pope is Wrong - Canada Free Press (April 27, 2015)
• Davenport, Coral and Goldstein, Laurie Pope Francis Steps Up Campaign on Climate Change, to Conservatives’ Alarm - New York Times (April 27, 2015)
• Delingpole, James Why God is Not a Warmist - Breitbart (April 27, 2015)
• Delingpole, James Climate Scientists Head to Rome on Urgent Mission to Save The Pope From Clutches of ManBearPig- Breitbart (April 27, 2015)
• Detrow, Scott Vatican Joins with U.N. to Make Moral Case for Climate Action - Scientific American (April 29, 2015)
• Driessen, Paul A Message for Pope Francis - Townhall.com (April 27, 2015)
• Foster, Peter The Greening of the Vatican - Financial Post (April 29, 2015)
• Kirchgaessner, Stephanie Conservative Think Tank Seeks to Change Pope Francis’s Mind on Climate Change - The Guardian (April 24, 2015)
• Matzuzzi, Matteo Tutte le frenesie per l’enciclica di Papa Francesco sull’ambiente (che ancora non c’è) - Formiche (April 29, 2015)
• McElwee, Joshua J. Ahead of Vatican climate change summit, skeptics issues strong, blunt warnings to Francis - National Catholic Reporter (April 27, 2015)
• Michaels, Patrick, J. The Climate Courage of Pope Francis - National Review (April 27, 2015)
• Monckton, Christopher Heartland Tells Ban Ki-Moon: ‘Climate Change is Not as Bad as You Think’ - The American Spectator (April 30, 2015)
• Mooney, Chris Why Pope Francis is about to make a dramatic wave in the climate debate - Washington Post (April 28, 2015)
• Osborne, Hannah Vatican calls for urgent action on climate change: Wealthiest have moral obligation to find solutions - International Business Times (April 28, 2015)
• Pentin, Edward Vatican Global Warming Conference Displays Climate Cooperation - National Catholic Register (April 30, 2015)
• Pullella, Philip Vatican and U.N. team up on climate change against skeptics - Reuters (April 28, 2015)
• Rice, Doyle Vatican, UN Join Forces Against Climate Change - USA Today (April 29, 2015)
• San Martín, Inés Climate change skeptics press their case to the Vatican - Crux Now [Boston Globe](April 27, 2015)
• Scammell, Rosie Cardinal George Pell takes a swing at Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical, July 17, 2015
• Squires, Nick Pope attacked by climate change sceptics - The Telegraph (April 28, 2015)
• Tosatti, Marco ‘Your Holiness, Do Not Listen to the Doom of Global Warming’ - Vatican Insider (April 27, 2015)
• Williams, Thomas D. Climate Change Skeptics Write Open Letter Urging Pope Francis to Rethink Global Warming - Breitbart (April 27, 2015)
• Winfield, Nicole UN, Vatican team up for climate change agenda - Associated Press (April 29, 2015)

About the April 28, 2015 Vatican Workshop on Global Warming

The Pontifical Academy of Sciences of the Roman Catholic Church held a workshop on global warming on April 28, 2015 at the Vatican. This website provides articles and links about global warming and the workshop, so you can tell Pope Francis: Global warming is not a crisis!

Many people of faith who are familiar with the science and economics of climate change are worried this event will become a platform for alarmism over a controversial scientific issue. Scientists are unsure how large the human impact on climate is and whether there is anything mankind can do to affect climate. There is no scientific “consensus” on whether there is any need to reduce mankind’s use of fossil fuels. But alarmists claim the “science is settled” and denounce anyone who disagrees as “deniers.” They call for drastic reductions in fossil fuel consumption, or even no consumption at all.

The Vatican workshop is already being presented by the liberal media as an endorsement by the Catholic Church of policies that are profoundly anti-poor and anti-life. Global warming alarmists invariably support population control to reduce human consumption of energy and natural resources. They want to make energy more expensive to discourage its use, even though this punishes the poor, women, and children who benefit most from affordable energy.

What We All Want: Good Stewardship of the Environment

Most people agree that safeguarding creation — and being a good steward of the environment — is a high moral obligation. If human activity posed a genuine threat to the world’s climate, then some action would be appropriate. But global warming alarmists wave off any evidence that the threat is small or even nonexistent, and they call for policies that would shut down virtually all economic activity around the world. These unnecessary policies would cause the suffering, and even death, of billions of people. All people of faith should rise up in opposition to such policies.

Certain persons who spoke at the workshop, including UN General Secretary Ban Ki Moon and Jeffrey Sachs, director of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, are outspoken advocates of the man-made global warming hypothesis. They and other climate alarmists have misrepresented the facts, concocted false data, perpetuated hysteria, and tried to shut down a reasonable, scientific debate on the issue of climate change. This conduct violates the Eighth Commandment: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

What You Can Do: Act and Be Heard! 

Contact Pope Francis by mail, at

His Holiness, Pope Francis PP.
00120 Via del Pellegrino
Citta del Vaticano

Or e-mail him in care of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, at cdf@cfaith.va, and copy Jim Lakely at The Heartland Institute (jlakely@heartland.org) and he will post your message on this site.

Become more informed about the issue. Don’t just “believe” in global warming, truly understand it. A great way to learn the real science of climate change is to read the summaries for policymakers of the Climate Change Reconsidered series:

• Climate Change Reconsidered (2008)
• Climate Change Reconsidered II: Physical Science (2013)
• Climate Change Reconsidered II: Biological Impacts (2014)

Talk to your minister, priest, or spiritual leader. Tell him or her you’ve studied the global warming issue and believe Pope Francis is being misled about the science and economics of the issue. Refer him or her to this website.

Talk to your friends, neighbors, and fellow worshipers.

Write about the Pope’s misinformed statements about the climate on your blog. Engage in discussion on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites. Write a letter to the editor to your local newspaper or to your religious institution’s newsletter. Use every possible outlet to warn Pope Francis that he is being misled on the science and economics of global warming, and that global warming is not a crisis!

Best Research and Commentary

• Associated Press Pope Francis' stand on climate change deepens distrust among US conservatives (Jan. 19, 2015)
• Beisner, E. Calvin An Open Letter to Pope Francis on Climate Change - Cornwall Alliance (April 27, 2015)
• Bowman, Joshua Robert Bellarmine and Global Warming - Catholic Vote (Sept. 17, 2015)
• Burnett, Sterling H. Francis is Out of His Element - American Spectator (April 27, 2015)
• Burnett, Sterling H. Pope takes on climate change - Human Events (Jan. 22, 2015)
• Burnett, H. Sterling Pope’s Mistaken Moral Calculus on Global Warming - Human Events (Jan. 5, 2015)
• Burnett, Sterling H. Using coal, oil, and gas, the moral choice - Human Events (Nov. 21, 2015)
• Burnett, H. Sterling and E. Calvin Beisner Interview: E. Calvin Beisner Discusses the Ongoing Work of the Cornwall Alliance - Heartlander (Nov. 11, 2014)
• Doiron, Hal The Right Climate Stuff - Letter to Pope Francis (June 1, 2015)
• Driessen, Paul Perverse Climate 'Morality' - Townhall.com (April 4, 2015)
• Driessen, Paul Divesting People of Better Living Standards - Townhall.com (Feb. 7, 2015)
• Driessen, Paul Protect the Poor – From Climate Change Policies  - Townhall.com (Sept. 25, 2014)
• Fischer, Bryan Evangelicals Who Jumped on the "Global Warming" Bandwagon Looking Silly - Heartland Institute (Sept. 20, 2010)
• Haskins, Justin On climate change, the pope could use a lesson in science - Washington Examiner (Jan. 9, 2015)
• Heartland Daily Podcast: Isaac Orr on Energy Poverty - (May 13, 2014)
• Isbell, Gary Where is the Separation of Church and State in Global Warming? - TFP (Feb. 5, 2015)
• Legates, David R. and van Kooten, G. Cornelis A Call to Truth, Prudence, and Protection of the Poor 2014: The Case against Harmful Climate Policies Gets Stronger - Cornwall Alliance (Sep. 2014)
• Moore, Stephen Greens against the poor - Washington Times (April 19, 2015)
• Moore, Patrick Why I am a Climate Change Skeptic - Heartlander (March 20, 2015)
• McGurn, William The Pope, the Poor and Climate Change - Wall Street Journal (April 20, 2015)
• Mullarkey, Maureen Francis & Political Illusion - First Things (Jan. 5)
• Mullarkey, Maureen Pope Francis Betrays Christianity By Romanticizing Poverty - The Federalist (May 16, 2016)
• O'Grady, Mary Anastasia Behind the Pope’s Embrace of Castro - Wall Street Journal (May 18, 2015)
• Orr, Isaac The Preventable Tragedy of Energy Poverty - Heartlander (June 5, 2014)
• Pell, Cardinal George One Christian Perspective on Climate Change (Oct. 2011)
• Pell, Cardinal George Global Warming Threats Exaggerated (Feb. 19, 2007)
• Prager, Dennis Pope Francis, the Climate and Leftism - Townhall.com (Jan. 6, 2015)
• Peters, Thomas Rumbling and Blundering About Papal Climate Change - Catholic Vote (Jan. 12, 2015)
• Roewe, Brian Conservative corners have tepid take on Pope Francis' environment encyclical - National Catholic Reporter (April 21, 2015)
• Siegel, Fred Fracking, Poverty and the New Liberal Gentry, Wall Street Journal (Nov. 3, 2015)
• Smith, Congr. Lamar The Climate-Change Religion, Wall Street Journal (April 23, 2015)
• Smith, Taylor Research & Commentary: Energy Poverty - Heartland Institute (July 24, 2014)
• Taylor, James M. Is It Morally Evil to Question Climate Alarmism? - Heartlander (Nov. 13, 2013)
• Taylor, James M. Mann Attacks Scientist’s Religion in Excuse Not to Debate - Heartlander (March 25, 2013)
• Taylor, James M. Fight Global Warming or You're to Blame for Christ's Death - Heartland Institute (April 22, 2011)
• Taylor, James M. Leftists Mixing Science with Religion - Heartland Institute (Sept. 20, 2010)
• Walker, Bruce Edward Religious Left Preps ‘Grassroots’ Strategy for Pope Francis’ Environmental Encyclical - Acton Institute (March 10, 2015)

More Climate Resources from The Heartland Institute

The Heartland Institute has an extensive collection of research and commentary on climate change available online on several websites:

Climate Change Reconsidered
Climate Change Reconsidered is the title of a series of scientific reports produced by the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC) and published by The Heartland Institute. NIPCC is an international panel of nongovernment scientists and scholars who have come together to present a comprehensive, authoritative, and realistic assessment of the science and economics of global warming. Because it is not a government agency, and because its members are not predisposed to believe climate change is caused by human greenhouse gas emissions, NIPCC is able to offer an independent “second opinion” of the evidence reviewed – or not reviewed – by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on the issue of global warming. 

Heatland's Archive of Climate Conferences
The Heartland Institute has organized and hosted nine International Conferences on Climate Change since 2008, events that attracted extensive international attention to the debate taking place in the scientific community over the causes, extent, and consequences of climate change. Videos from all the speakers can be viewed on this site.

PolicyBot
PolicyBot is a free online database and search engine that provides fast and easy access to the best research and commentary from the nation’s free-market think tanks and advocacy groups. It contains full texts, brief summaries, and source citations for more than 30,000 reports, articles, policy briefs, podcasts, and videos. Search the database for “climate change” or more narrow topics in the global warming debate and discover hundreds of articles.

Heartland in Paris for COP-21
One of the most important battles in the history of the global warming debate was fought November 30 - December 12, 2015 at a United Nations climate conference in Paris known as COP-21, or the twenty-first "Conference of the Parties." The Heartland Institute worked with other leading think tanks and advocacy groups — such as the Cooler Heads Coalition, Heritage Foundation, CFACT, Competitive Enterprise Institute, NIPCC and allied groups in Europe to oppose the agreement. Our voice was heard, and it ensured that energy consumers and taxpyers were represented on the ground in Paris — and that sound science and economics was part of the global discussion.

Join The Heartland Institute

The Heartland Institute is “the world’s most prominent think tank promoting skepticism about man-made climate change” [The Economist, May 26, 2012]. Heartland is a 32-year-old national think tank based in Chicago. We address a wide range of topics (not just global warming) from a free-market perspective. Our work is supported by more than 5,000 donors. Interested in becoming a contributor? Visit the homepage of our Website or go to our donor page.