To The Heartland Institute

Dear Self-Proclaimed Experts,

Your recent diatribes regarding the Omnibus Spending and Tax Bill are laughable. Everyone knows that you are just shills for the fossil fuel industry and ultra-conservative right-wing "Christian" ideologues, not representative of the majority of decent American citizens. If you were really such an influential organization, then please explain to me why your trip to the Vatican had no impact on the release of Laudato Si, in fact, why you were unable to even secure an audience with the Pope. Also, please explain why your "Day of Examining the Data" had no impact on the COP-21 proceedings. Indeed, your keynote video speaker Senator Inhofe is one of the biggest imbeciles in Congress. I would assume that you are also fervent backers of the repugnant Donald Trump? You claim that your climate conference in Germany was also a success, but what has come of it? It was nothing more than a chance for you to mingle with your European denier counterparts, coming up with more of the same sad rhetoric that you already spew at every opportunity. A conference of climate deniers and skeptics is really sad in a day and age when the majority of the populace  as well as almost all credible scientists and faith leaders agree that climate change is happening, is human-caused, and is something we need to urgently address.

Why is your organization so hell-bent on putting the country and planet on a fast-track collision course with a death sentence? Your organization and those like you would take this country back to the dark ages if you had your way, back to an industrial age filled with smog and pollution, and high death rates. You are not visionary, you are people who look in the rear-view mirror and think you see the future. You long ago replaced the blood in your veins with oil, and became polluted by the greed of the fossil fuel industry and the right-wing lunatics who would love to see this country become one based on biblical law, a xenophobic land with no opportunity for a decent future. The RepubliCAN Party, which used to be a party concerned with the environment, has become the RepubliCANT Party, where the vision of the future is whatever the dirty money filling their pockets wants it to be. More environmental regulations were passed and environmental agencies created during Republican administrations than Democrat, yet the Republican Party of today would turn the planet into a cesspool of despair given their chance.

I for one am proud to be a registered Democrat, and pleased that I can see through the lies and disinformation that is being shouted out as the truth by your "experts" and those that you try to hold influence over in Congress. I would rather struggle to make ends meet and know that I was doing right for the planet than cave to the likes of you and have a more financially-secure future. I work 2 jobs 7 days a week to make ends meet, but still donate a portion of every paycheck-to the tune of thousands of dollars each year-to environmental and conservation organizations, because they have the vision and common sense to work towards a positive outcome for the planet and the species that it supports. I would not give one red cent to you or any of the organizations or people that you support or work with, even if you were destitute in the street begging for change. 

I can only hope that at some point as your outbursts become more and more outlandish that people will see them for what they are, a desperate attempt to appease those who fund you, and will not give them any credence. You do more harm than good, and should be ashamed of the dim and dismal future that you seek for all of us.

Sincerely,

Jeremy Taylor

My letter to Republicans

Updated - December 11th, 2015-

Here is the link to my letter on The Hill's Congress Blog, if anyone is interested....

http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/262866-concerned-citizen-to-republicans 

Lynn Braband

Senior Extension Associate, NYS IPM Program - Cornell University

Jul 23, 2009

1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?

Growing up in a rural environment with easy access to outdoor areas.

2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood? How about now??

Marshes, lakes, and woods in the county where my grandparents lived. The farmland creek near where I grew up. Currently, close by: several marshes and a railroad bed turned hiking trail; further away: the Adirondack backcountry

3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?

Siberian tiger. Top of the food chain predator.

4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?

Combination of human population growth and materialistic lifestyles.

5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?

Get to intimately know a natural area. You cannot love what you do not know.

An Open Letter to the Republican Party

This will be running on December 11th on The Hill's website, and they have asked me to take my blog post down. I will share the link once it is posted....

Jeremy

Running in the Wrong Direction

Time and time again, I wonder if the Republican Party has ever been taught how to use a compass, or can even grasp the concept of a GPS unit, as they are clearly running in the wrong direction. From their attempts to dismantle the environmental policies that protect our natural resources, and indeed our health and well-being, to their attempts to undermine the upcoming COP21 Climate Conference in Paris, they are hell-bent on dragging the country down the path to never-never land that they seem to be following. Granted, most of them are in the pockets of the fossil fuel industry, polluters, and any number of special interest groups looking to profit at the expense of our environment and health, so I suppose it is to be expected, but it is still appalling. 

Following the recent tragedy in Paris, the Republicans have really shown how backwards their views are, and how closed-minded their leadership is. Never mind the fact that the bombings in Beirut and the continual attacks by Boko Haram on the Nigerian people largely go unreported, the fact that the Republican party seized upon this tragedy to try and block all Syrian refugees from entering this country is outrageous. Even more repugnant was the suggestion by some that only Christian refugees be allowed into the country. There are many flaws with the "logic" of the Republican Party (although using both words in the same sentence really feels like an oxymoron)…

For starters, the idea that letting Syrian (i.e. Muslim) refugees into the country makes us more vulnerable to terrorist attacks is laughable. The refugees entering this country already go through more intense scrutiny than people entering the country on work, student, or tourist visas, yet they have been the majority of perpetrators of terrorist attacks and threats in the country. Also, does the name Timothy McVeigh not mean anything? One of the worst terrorist attacks this country has seen outside of 9/11 was the bombing in Oklahoma City, which was masterminded and carried out by white male citizens of the United States, not refugees seeking shelter from terrorists themselves… Unabomber, Eric Rudolph, the list goes on…. Home-grown, white male terrorists, often doing their terror in the name of Christianity.

The offensive suggestion that only letting Christian refugees in would be acceptable is just as preposterous, as if being Christian makes you immune to being a threat to anyone. More than 1 million people died during the Crusades, and thousands died during the Inquisition. Both of these were done in the name of Christianity. The torture tens of thousands faced during the Inquisition rivaled that used by many modern terrorists, but again, it was done in the name of Christianity. There are countless examples throughout history of Christianity usurping the cultures and customs of other peoples in order to better force them to assimilate, and when they resisted, they were done away with.

I am not saying that all Republicans are of this mindset, or that there are not Democrats who are delusional in their views as well, but as a whole, the Republican Party, and not the Syrian refugees, is one of the biggest threats our country currently faces.  

Oil in Their Veins

Jeremy Taylor

September 24, 2015

In their typical fashion, the self-proclaimed experts of The Heartland Institute have once again come out in opposition to Pope Francis (Heartland Institute, 2015) and his views on climate change. After their trip to Rome (Heartland, 2015-2) in April failed to change his mind prior to the release of his encyclical Laudato Si, you would think they would think better about trying again. I am not really surprised by their latest diatribe though, as they are really nothing more than shills for Big Oil, Dirty Old King Coal, and the Koch Brothers. Thankfully however, just like E. Calvin Beisner of the Cornwall Alliance, the talking heads at Faux News, and the far out in right field members of the Republican Party like Senators James Inhofe and Ted Cruz, Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, and Donald “The Spectacle” Trump (unfortunately, among many others), they don’t represent the views of most people.

Peoples' Climate March. © 2014, Jeremy Taylor

It was just one year ago this week that more than 400,000 people marched through the streets of New York City (Visser, 2014) for the Peoples’ Climate March, demanding action on climate change. I was one of them, marching alongside members of the interfaith contingent. In solidarity, thousands of people around the globe marched in similar events in more than 150 countries (Davey, et. al, 2014).  A recent poll shows that 69 percent of the American public believes that climate change is real and caused by human activity, with 62 percent believe that it presents a clear and present danger (Biggins, 2015). In a study conducted in 2014, there was 90 percent agreement among nearly 700 scientists from nonclimate disciplines that human activity has contributed to the rise in global temperatures (van Hoose, 2015). Between 97 and 99.99 percent of climate scientists agree that humans are causing global climate change (Hill, 2015).  Even the U.S. Military considers climate change to be a major threat to national and in fact global security in the not so distant future, and have already begun taking steps to address it (Schlanger, 2014 and Jahner, 2015). NASA just released information showing that much of their launch infrastructure around the United States is threatened by sea level rise as a result of climate change (Kiger, 2015).

Peoples' Climate March. © 2014, Jeremy Taylor

  Not only is the United States government and many of  its citizens taking the threat seriously, so is much of the business world, even if it might impact their profitability in the short-term. Many Fortune 500 companies have a plan for dealing with climate change in place, with more than 36 joining the organization RE100, formed at the 2014 Climate Week held in NYC. New members of RE100 (focused on converting to 100% renewable energy) include Johnson & Johnson, Starbucks, and Walmart (Gillis & St. Fleur, 2015 and Mazzoni, 2015).  Companies including Google, Yahoo, Facebook, and even energy giant Royal Dutch Shell have left the conservative non-profit (and KOCH funded) business organization ALEC over their denials of climate change (Page, 2015), and recently discovered internal documents from ExxonMobil (then Exxon) show that the company believed global warming as it was then called to be a threat as far back as 1982 (Song, et. al., 2015).  Many mayors and city officials from the U.S. and around the world have joined the fight against climate change. To date, 165 have become members of the Compact of Mayors (Compact of Mayors, 2015), and during the recent 2015 U.S.-China Climate Leaders Summit, numerous U.S. and Chinese cities made a variety of pledges (Shank, 2015) regarding carbon emissions, renewable energy, and other climate related initiatives.

Climate change and environmental stewardship is an important concern of almost every faith group and organization, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Evangelical Environmental Network, the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, GreenFaith, and others. Muslim leaders recently issued the Islamic Declaration on Climate Change (Al Hussein, 2015), as did more than 400 rabbis (Waskow, 2015) and members of many different Pagan organizations (Halstead, 2015).  The head of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople is often referred to as the Green Patriarch for his strong feelings regarding protecting the environment. 

Peoples' Climate March. © 2014, Jeremy Taylor

Recently, some members of the Republican Party showed that the entire party does not have an addiction to Koch; 11 members of the U.S. House of Representatives broke ranks with their party, offering a resolution calling for action on climate change (Pandey, 2015). Even George W. Bush called global warming “an issue that we need to take very seriously” (Issues2000, 2000), and in 2005, during his Presidency, admitted that human activity is causing global warming (NRDC, n.d.). Former Florida Governor and current Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush has made all sorts of statements over the years about climate change and global warming, recently saying that humans are indeed causing it, although rejecting the need for government action (Kerr, 2015).

The tide seems to be turning on climate change, yet there are some who much like our coastlines if too little is done too late are standing on the beach with their heads in the sand, waiting to get washed out to sea.

 **The views expressed herein are mine alone, and not to be seen as representative of any organization or person that I am affiliated with. Permission is granted to distribute these comments in their entirety, as long as credit is given and I am notified at jeremyjtaylor@yahoo.com.

References

Al Hussein, N. (2015). Islam, Faith, and Climate Change. Retrieved from 

         https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/islam-faith-climate-change-by-noor-al-hussein-2015-09.

Biggins, K. (2015). Whether GOP likes it, climate change part of presidential debate. Retrieved from               http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/09/whether_gop_likes_it_climate_change_part_of_presid.html.

Compact of Mayors. (2015). Ten Global Cities Present Climate Action Plans Ahead of Paris COP21. Retrieved from http://www.compactofmayors.org/press/ten-global-cities-present-climate-action-plans-ahead-of-paris-cop21/

Davey, M., Holpuch, A., and Vaughan, A. (2014). People's Climate March: thousands demand action around the world - as it happened. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/environment/live/2014/sep/21/peoples-climate-march-live

Gillis, J., and St. Fleur, N. (2015). Global Companies Joining Climate Change Efforts. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/23/science/global-companies-joining-climate-change-efforts.html.

Halstead, J. (2015).  Pagans Around the World Join the Pope in Calling for Environmental Action. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-halstead/pagans-around-the-world-join-the-pope-in-calling-for_b_7618326.html.

Heartland Institute. (2015). Heartland Institute Experts Respond to Pope Francis’s Comments on the Climate at White House. Retrieved from https://www.heartland.org/press-releases/2015/09/23/heartland-institute-experts-respond-pope-franciss-comments-climate-white-h

Heartland Institute. (2015). Tell Pope Francis: Global Warming Is Not a Crisis! Retrieved from https://www.heartland.org/Vatican-Environment-Workshop

Hill, T. (2015). The 97 Percent Scientific Consensus on Climate Change Is Wrong—It’s Even Higher. Retrieved from http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/07/09/climate-consensus-deniers-97-percent-is-wrong.

Issues2000. (2000). George W. Bush on Environment. Retrieved from http://www.ontheissues.org/George_W__Bush_Environment.htm.

Jahner, K. (2015). Climate change is major threat to readiness, expert says. ArmyTimes. Retrieved from http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/2015/09/23/climate-change-major-threat-readiness-expert-says/72682246/.

Kerr, J. (2015). Jeb Bush Now Says Humans Contribute To Climate Change. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jeb-bush-climate-change_55ba4fcde4b095423d0e13e1.

Kiger, P. (2015). Climate Change Threatens NASA's Launch Sites. Retrieved from http://news.discovery.com/earth/global-warming/climate-change-threatens-nasas-launch-sites-150923.htm.

Mazzoni, M. (2015). Fortune 500 Companies Pledge to Go 100 Percent Renewable. Retrieved from http://www.triplepundit.com/special/climate-week-nyc-2015/fortune-500-companies-pledge-to-go-100-percent-renewable/.

NRDC. (n.d.). NRDC: The Bush Record - Global Warming. Retrieved from http://www.nrdc.org/bushrecord/airenergy_warming.asp.

Page, S. (2015). Shell Just Broke Up With ALEC Over Climate-Change Denials. Climate Progress. Retrieved from http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/08/07/3689364/shell-no-to-alec-yes-to-arctic/

Pandey, A. (2015). Climate Change: 11 House Republicans Call For 'Environmental Stewardship' In A New Resolution. International Business Times. Retrieved from http://www.ibtimes.com/climate-change-11-house-republicans-call-environmental-stewardship-new-resolution-2103277

Schlanger, Z. (2014). Pentagon Report: U.S. Military Considers Climate Change a 'Threat Multiplier' That Could Exacerbate Terrorism. Newsweek. Retrieved from http://www.newsweek.com/pentagon-report-us-military-considers-climate-change-immediate-threat-could-277155.

Shank, M. (2015). Why US and Chinese cities will make or break any global climate deal. The Conversation. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/why-us-and-chinese-cities-will-make-or-break-any-global-climate-deal-47672

Song, L., Banerjee, N., and Hasemyer, D. (2015). Exxon Confirmed Global Warming Consensus in 1982 with In-House Climate Models. Inside Climate News. Retrieved from http://insideclimatenews.org/news/18092015/exxon-confirmed-global-warming-consensus-in-1982-with-in-house-climate-models

van Hoose, N. (2015). Purdue study: Climate change consensus extends beyond climate scientists. Retrieved from http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2015/Q3/purdue-study-climate-change-consensus-extends-beyond-climate-scientists.html.

Visser, N. (2014). Hundreds Of Thousands Turn Out For People's Climate March In New York City. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/21/peoples-climate-march_n_5857902.html

Waskow, A. (2015). Torah, Pope, & Crisis Inspire 400+ Rabbis to Call for Vigorous Climate Action. Retrieved from https://theshalomcenter.org/torah-pope-crisis-inspire-400-rabbis-call-vigorous-climate-action.

Copyright 2015 Jeremy Taylor, All Rights Reserved