Two Cornwall Scholars to Receive Awards at International Conference on Climate Change

Dr. Roy W. Spencer, a Senior Fellow and Advisor of the Cornwall Alliance, and Dr. E. Calvin Beisner, Founder and National Spokesman, are among ten people who will receive awards for their contributions to debate over the science, economics, politics, and ethics of climate change and climate policy at the Ninth International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC-9) July 7–9.
 
The Heartland Institute, main sponsor of ICCC-9, announced the awards June 27.
 
Dr. Spencer will receive the “Outstanding Evangelical Climate Scientist Award” in recognition of his bold testimony that his Christian faith not only is compatible with but also provides a worldview context for his scientific work, and his courageous public opposition to global warming alarmism. Dr. Spencer is a former Senior Scientist for Climate Studies at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, where he and Dr. John Christy (also an evangelical Christian) received NASA’s Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal for their global temperature monitoring work with satellites. He is now a Principal Research Scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
 
On learning of his award, Dr. Spencer said, “I’m pleased to accept this award, and consider it a privilege to have been an advocate for sound science and energy policy that will help the poor. While the stand we take is unpopular with the wealthy and highly educated, I am called to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. In climate research, this means revealing the shaky foundations of current global warming theory, and the very real harm that will be done to millions of people who depend upon access to abundant and affordable energy from forced reliance on expensive and unreliable energy sources.”
 
Dr. Spencer’s work with NASA continues as the U.S. Science Team leader for the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer flying on NASA’s Aqua satellite. His diligent work on tracking the planet’s temperature provided a tamper-proof source of data with which to test predictions of man-made global warming. He has provided congressional testimony several times on the subject of global warming. The Cornwall Alliance nominated Dr. Spencer for this award, and other ICCC-9 co-sponsors agreed to it and have given the Cornwall Alliance the privilege of presenting it to him.
 
“Roy has been invaluable to the Cornwall Alliance from our very inception as lead author of the science sections in our first major paper on global warming, in 2005,our second, in 2006, and our third, the highly respected Renewed Call to Truth, Prudence, and Protection of the Poor: An Evangelical Examination of the Theology, Science, and Economics of Global Warming, in 2009,” said Dr. Beisner. “His two major books in the field, Climate Confusion and The Great Global Warming Blunder, are outstanding discussions of climate-change science, and he brings sound economic understanding into the picture as well. He is tremendously generous with his time, always ready to explain complex scientific issues to me and help me make them comprehensible to the general public. I’m privileged to present Roy’s award.”
 
The Heritage Foundation will present Dr. Beisner the award for “Outstanding Spokesperson on Faith, Science, and Stewardship” in recognition of his leadership in the Cornwall Alliance and his integration of Biblical worldview, theology, and ethics with science and economics in addressing the complex, multifaceted climate debate.
 
“I’m honored,” Dr. Beisner said, “but most of the credit should go to the nearly 60 scholars—theologians, scientists, economists, and others—who are advisors, adjuncts, and fellows of the Cornwall Alliance, who have given tremendously of their time and expertise over the last nine years helping us prepare our major documents and advising me, sometimes on a nearly daily basis. They, like me, do this work out of love for neighbor and love for God, and all the glory should go to our Lord Jesus Christ, apart from whom we could do nothing.”
 
A former associate professor of interdisciplinary studies at Covenant College and of historical theology and social ethics at Knox Theological Seminary, he founded the Cornwall Alliance in 2005. Because of his scholarly work, he has testified as an expert witness on the ethics, economics, and science of climate policy before committees of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, lectured on it for an international conference on global warming hosted by the Pontifical Council on Justice and Peace at the Vatican and at many Christian seminaries, colleges, churches, and conferences in North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
 
“Cynics say strong adherence to religious faith and science cannot mix,” Heartland Institute President Joseph Bast said. “Cal Beisner shows how that cannot be further from the truth. His scholarship, research, and communication about climate science and economics—especially the impact of government policies that needlessly raise energy costs, condemning the elderly and poor to pain and suffering and even risks of death—have made valuable contributions to public knowledge. Cal is, in every way, an outstanding spokesperson for faith, science, and stewardship.”
 
Eight others will also receive awards at ICCC-9:

• Dr. S. Fred Singer, receiving the “Lifetime Achievement in Climate Science” award from the Heartland Institute. Dr. Singer, an atmospheric and space physicist, founded the Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP) and the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC). He served as professor of environmental sciences at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA (1971–94); distinguished research professor at the Institute for Space Science and Technology, Gainesville, FL (1989–94); chief scientist, U.S. Department of Transportation (1987– 89); vice chairman of the National Advisory Committee for Oceans and Atmosphere (NACOA) (1981–86); deputy assistant administrator for policy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1970–71); deputy assistant secretary for water quality and research, U.S. Department of the Interior (1967– 70); founding dean of the School of Environmental and Planetary Sciences, University of Miami (1964–67); first director of the National Weather Satellite Service (1962–64); and director of the Center for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Maryland (1953–62). Dr. Singer was among the first scientists in the world to speak out against global warming alarmism and remains the most prominent. He is the author, coauthor, and editor of many books, including Climate Change Reconsidered (several volumes), a comprehensive critique of the assessment reports of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental International Panel on Climate Change.

•  Dr. Arthur Robinson, receiving the “Voice of Reason Award” from the Heartland Institute. Dr. Robinson is a distinguished chemist, cofounder of the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine (OISM), and editor of the influential newsletter Access to Energy. He received a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California at San Diego. Beginning in 1997, Dr. Robinson, along with his son Noah, Dr. Frederick Seitz, Dr. Sallie Baliunas, Dr. Willie Soon, and others, organized the Petition Project, a statement firmly rejecting global warming alarmism eventually signed by more than 31,000 U.S. scientists. Dr. Robinson updated and re-issued the petition in 2007 and continues to maintain it as the world’s largest directory of scientists who reject global warming alarmism.

• Dr. Sherwood B. Idso, receiving the “2014Frederick Seitz Memorial Award” from the Science and Environmental Policy Project. Dr. Idso is president of the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change. Prior to 2001 he was a Research Physicist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service at the U.S. Water Conservation Laboratory in Phoenix, Arizona, where he worked since 1967. He was also closely associated with Arizona State University over most of this period, serving as an Adjunct Professor in the Departments of Geology, Geography, and Botany and Microbiology. He is the author or co-author of more than 500 scientific publications including three influential books on carbon dioxide and global change. His research has demonstrated the huge benefit to plants, including agricultural crops, from increased atmospheric carbon dioxide.

• Dr. Patrick Moore, receiving the “Speaks Truth to Power Award” from the EarthFree Institute. Dr. Moore has been a leader of the international environmental movement for more than 40 years. A founding member of Greenpeace, President of Greenpeace Canada for nine years and a Director of Greenpeace International for seven years, he was a driving force shaping policy and direction while Greenpeace became the world’s largest environmental activist organization but left it in 1986 as he saw it becoming increasingly radicalized and diverting from scientific excellence. He was a member of the British Columbia government-appointed Round Table on the Environment and Economy from 1990 – 1994. In 1990, he founded and chaired the BC Carbon Project a to develop a common understanding of climate change. He is the co-founder, chair, and chief scientist of Greenspirit Strategies.

• Dr. Willie Soon, receiving the “Courage in Defense of Science Award” from the George C. Marshall Institute. Dr. Soon is an astrophysicist and geoscientist, is a leading authority on the relationship between solar phenomena and global climate. His discoveries challenge computer modelers and advocates who consistently underestimate solar influences on cloud formation, ocean currents, and wind that cause climate to change. Dr. Soon has faced and risen above unethical and often libelous attacks on his research and his character, becoming one of the world’s most respected and influential voices for climate realism. He received the IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society Graduate Scholastic Award in 1989 and the Rockwell Dennis Hunt Scholastic Award from the University of Southern California for “the most representative Ph.D. research thesis” of 1991. In 2003, he was invited to testify to the U.S. Senate and was recognized by the Smithsonian Institution with an award for “detailed scholarship on biogeological and climatic change over the past 1,000 years.” by the Smithsonian Institution.

• Dr. Alan Carlin, receiving the “Climate Science Whistleblower Award” from the Don’t Tread on My Business Foundation. Dr. Carlin, now retired, was a 37-year career environmental economist and scientist at the Environmental Protection Agency when he wrote a negative 100 page report reviewing the agency’s draft Endangerment Finding that purported to justify regulating greenhouse gases in June 2009. As a result, Dr. Carlin’s supervisor ordered him not to discuss climate change with anyone outside his group and to stop working on the issue. EPA’s attempt to silence Dr. Carlin became a highly publicized embarrassment to the Agency, especially given Administrator Lisa Jackson’s and President Obama’s announced commitment to transparency and scientific integrity. Since 2009, Dr. Carlin has been an active and influential writer and speaker on the climate change issue. He believes it is important to oppose EPA’s new proposed power plant regulations resulting from the 2009 Endangerment Finding since they would have adverse economic and environmental effects and are based on invalid science and an attempt by EPA to rewrite the Clean Air Act itself.

• Tom Harris, M.Eng., receiving the “Excellence in Climate Science and Policy Worldwide Award” from the Heartland Institute. Mr. Harris is executive director of the International Climate Science Coalition (ICSC), a non-partisan group of independent scientists, economists, and energy and policy experts formed in 2008 to promote better understanding of climate science and policy worldwide. The ICSC aims to help create an environment in which a more rational, open discussion about climate issues emerges, thereby moving the debate away from implementation of costly and ineffectual “climate control” measures. ICSC encourages assisting vulnerable peoples to adapt to climate variability and continuing scientific research into the causes and impacts of climate change.

For further information about ICCC-9 and to register to attend, go here.

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