<
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/14/dc-conference-climate-deniers-trump-epa-chief>
"As scientists confirmed that March was the United States’ most abnormally hot
month in recorded history, dozens of climate deniers gathered to promote
misinformation and tout their newfound influence on federal policy.
At a conference hosted by the prominent science-denying thinktank the Heartland
Institute last week, a crowd of mostly middle-aged men in suits claimed the
world is finally waking up to the idea that the climate crisis does not exist.
“I feel wonderful,” James Taylor, the president of the Heartland Institute,
said in an interview. “The truth is winning out.”
The clearest sign of the crowd’s rising power was the gathering’s keynote
speaker: Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA), whom Donald Trump is also reportedly considering for attorney general.
“It is a day to celebrate vindication,” he said on Wednesday morning.
In previous administrations, Zeldin said, a “cabal” of elites promoted climate
science to further their agenda. Now, “we aren’t just following blind obedience
to whatever the dire, doom-and-gloom prediction of the day is,” he said.
There is scientific consensus that global warming is real and urgent, and
caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels.
As people entered the event, held in the basement of a hotel near the White
House, they were greeted by wares promoting climate denial.
“Good news,” read a banner outside the main ballroom, erected by the CO2
Coalition, a climate-denying non-profit that co-sponsored the conference.
“There is no climate crisis.”
A table overflowed with displays reading “CO2 is a lifesaver”, pamphlets titled
“Fossil fuels are the greenest energy source” and “Challenging ‘net zero’ with
science”, and children’s books falsely claiming the acceleration of sea level
rise is insignificant. Baskets held buttons proclaiming “Unashamed about my
carbon footprint”, as well as stress balls resembling tiny Earths that read:
“Don’t stress. There is no climate crisis.”
The event convened climate skeptics and outright deniers alike. While some
incorrectly claimed global warming did not exist, others conceded that it was
happening but falsely said it was not known to be human-caused – or an
emergency."
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
