Insert an authoritative sounding title behind a person’s name, and their opinion takes the shape of fact.
In his essay on the myths of global warming (Voice, Dec. 3), Joseph Bast, president of The Heartland Institute, reveals the truth about an imagined phenomenon with learned, unbiased science. A further inquiry into The Heartland Institute, however, raises questions as to just how objective Mr. Bast really is.
The organization’s home page proudly boasts that it is “genuinely independent” and “is not affiliated with any political party, business or foundation.” Yet the board of directors hails from General Motors, Amoco, Procter & Gamble and Philip Morris, among others. These companies are also principal contributors. One would be naive in thinking this gallery has no hidden agenda. The Board of Policy Advisors is stocked with bankers, investors, economists and business school faculty–a sandal-less lot hardly known to embrace environmental concerns.
One cannot judge The Heartland Institute on one finding alone. Environment News, a newsletter endorsed by a readership of Heartland supporters, contains such eco-friendly articles as “Popular parks can and should pay their way.” Another summarizes that “recycling mandates are costly, inflexible and just don’t work” and hints that some instances of recycling can be wasteful.
The real force behind Mr. Bast’s writing lies in the article titled “Climate treaty will devastate U.S. industries,” which proclaims that “proposed greenhouse gas emission curbs would all but destroy U.S. industries” and presumably The Heartland Institute’s funding.
With negligible regulation, Big Business contributes to the international concern for global warming. Instead of admitting to the problem and taking steps to diminish continued degradation of the ozone layer, it uses a puppet think tank to deny that the problem exists in the first place.
