Ron Boyer believes climate change skeptics have gotten a raw deal — in some academic circles, in Congress and certainly in the press.That's why Boyer, a member of the Missouri Air Conservation Commission, is sponsoring a meeting Thursday in Springfield that he says "will highlight the fallacy of anthropogenic global warming proponents' apocalyptic dogma.""The more I looked into this, I found more empirical evidence that the Earth is actually cooling," said Boyer, who runs an environmental and agricultural consulting firm in Fair Grove, Mo.The conference, sponsored by Boyer's group, Scientists for Truth, has lured a veritable who's who of climate change skeptics and contrarians as guest speakers. Among them: Dennis T. Avery, co-author of "Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1500 Years"; Joseph D'Aleo, former director of meteorology for the Weather Channel; and Marc Morano, the former spokesman for U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., the former chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Boyer said the conference is a result of his decision to push back against those he considers "global warming alarmists" and give skeptics a much-needed public platform."I think the case for this side is so much stronger, but you don't see much about it in the paper and television," Boyer said.
Most scientists believe that Earth is warming due to the buildup of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere. Consequently, many have predicted the world will experience more flooding, droughts and other cataclysmic events unless greenhouse gas emissions are reduced. Two years ago, members of the Nobel Prize-winning United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded with near certainty that Earth's most recent warming cycle was the result of human activities.While there is disagreement among scientists about the extent and pace of climate change and what to do about it, many have backed the IPCC's conclusions."There's not much debate within the majority of the scientific community," said Don Wuebbles, an atmospheric scientist with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who served on the IPCC and wrote some of its early assessments. "Sure, an interesting point will come up and we'll poke at it, but that's our life."Some skeptics, however, continue to challenge the basic science, often pointing to solar activity or swings in ocean cycles as the likely culprits behind current climate shifts.They are vehemently opposed to the climate change legislation that's expected to go to the Senate for a vote this fall that would place limits on greenhouse gas emissions.Dan Lashoff, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's Climate Center, said political ideology — not science — seems to be the common thread among the Springfield conference speakers, some of whom are slated to talk about climate change legislation."I think most opponents of this legislation have moved past the debate over science," Lashoff said. "Most of the organized opposition is focusing on the economics. But some of these guys, I guess, just won't give up."One of the key voices in the skeptic community who doesn't seem remotely ready to give up is Morano, who runs ClimateDepot.com, a skeptic website and news service.He is perhaps best known for compiling a Senate committee report that contains the names of more than 700 international scientists he describes as climate change dissenters. Environmental advocates have questioned the credentials of some of the people on that list.During his speech in Springfield, Morano says, he'll challenge the notion that there's a consensus among scientists about climate change. Instead, the number of skeptics — among scientists and the general public — "is skyrocketing," he said."This is a grass-roots rebellion, and the Springfield conference is a great example," Morano said. Boyer said last week that about 120 people have signed up for the conference, and he's hoping about double that number show up. He said he has been contacted by several area teachers planning to bring students to the event being held at the Ramada Oasis Hotel.The conference is a test of sorts. If there's a good turnout and the Senate fails to take up the legislation, Boyer said, he might organize additional conferences, with Dallas likely being the next host city.Boyer emphasized that his consulting company is paying for the conference and that his views about climate change shouldn't be construed as a position of the state Air Conservation Commission, which develops Missouri's clean air policies. Three members of the air commission either declined to discuss their personal views about climate change or didn't return phone calls. Another, Jack Baker, said he was undecided about what to do about climate change. "I guess we really need to be careful when it comes to the environment," he said. "We don't want to destroy it, but we don't want to hurt our economy, either."Boyer, a former top official in the Springfield-Greene County Health Department, was appointed to the commission by former Gov. Matt Blunt in March 2008. Last fall, he rankled some environmentalists when he made a presentation at a commission meeting that laid out a case for why the state's odor regulations shouldn't be changed. Boyer argued that animal agriculture was under attack and that "animal rights activists, anti-capitalists, radical environmentalists, activist judges, vegetarians, vegans and locavores had piled on."Nonetheless, Boyer says he invites members of Missouri's environmental groups to attend the conference, which he says welcomes dissenting opinions.Kathleen Logan Smith, director of the Missouri Coalition for the Environment, said she was not aware of any coalition members planning to attend the conference."When Missouri is trying to position itself with the science and technology sector, it doesn't help to have anti-science folks in such prominent positions," Smith said of Boyer. "It doesn't do much for our reputation."
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