Oregon petition

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The Oregon petition is the common name for a statement against the Kyoto Protocol as part of climate protection policy issued by the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine (OISM) in 1999. The letter was drawn up by OISM chairman Frederick Seitz , a co-founder of the conservative think tank George C. Marshall Institute , who is also counted among the most important scientists in the US who deny man-made global warming .

The petition is viewed as a political disinformation campaign aimed at confusing the public about the findings of climate research and the scientific consensus on global warming . The Oregon petition is often cited by climate skeptics, and in particular the organized climate change denial industry , as an example of an allegedly great uncertainty in science about the human impact on global warming . In fact, the signatures come almost exclusively from non-specialists; only about 0.5% of the signatories have a scientific background in atmospheric science or climatology . Therefore, the Oregon petition is a typical example of the strategy first used by the tobacco industry since the 1970s to cite false experts for selfish purposes.

Origin and signatures

The petition was led by Frederick Seitz and was later reviewed by Arthur B. Robinson, neither of whom are climate researchers. It was then disseminated by the Robinsons Institute of Science and Medicine and the Heartland Institute . Attached to the petition was an "information summary" written by Arthur B. Robinson, Noah E. Robinson and Willie Soon , which was deliberately designed to resemble a technical article in the high-ranking journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Frederick Seitz added this optically deliberately misleading supplement to the petition and, at the same time, encouraged further signatures with his name and his previous role as President of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). The action was condemned by the NAS, which in an unprecedented response accused its former chairman of willful deception and stressed that Seitz's opinion was very different from the position of science. In addition, due to the numerous inquiries, the Academy expressly states that it was not involved in the petition and that it completely contradicts the content. Author Brian Angliss has also pointed out that, according to the OISM website, "anyone who holds a bachelor's, master's or doctor's degree in a science-related subject is considered a scientist". Since the 1970/71 school year alone, there have been around 10.6 million graduates in the US who meet the criteria of the Oregon petition for scientists.

According to the OISM, the petition was signed around 31,000 times. In addition to numerous original endorsements, this also includes duplicate entries, names of people who cannot remember a signature, as well as obvious joke entries. Among other things, some names have been included in the signature list with fraudulent intent . Examples include the Spice Girls , Charles Darwin , who died in 1882, and fictional characters from the M * A * S * H and Star Wars series .

In a fact check in 2018, the climate portal Klimafakten.de determined that of the around 31,000 signatories, only 39 people are actively involved in climate research. As early as 2006, Scientific American magazine tried to find out how many climate scientists actually signed the petition based on an unrepresentative sample of 30 of the 1,400 signatories who did their doctorates in a subject related to climate research. 11 of these 30 said they still support the petition, while 6 would not give their support today and the rest either couldn't remember the petition, could not be found, or had died. From this, the magazine estimated that roughly only 200 signatories of the petition were people involved in climate research.

The content of the Oregon petition was rejected by climate researchers. In an opinion piece for the New York Times , for example, the physicist John Holdren and the ecologist George Woodwell criticized the dubious authenticity of the signatures, as well as the fact that the 8-page abstract on the allegedly latest research that accompanied the petition was full of errors and distortions, and Frederick Seitz has no expertise in climate issues.

text

The original text of the appeal:

"Global Warming Petition

We urge the United States government to reject the global warming agreement that was written in Kyoto, Japan in December, 1997, and any other similar proposals. The proposed limits on greenhouse gases would harm the environment, hinder the advance of science and technology, and damage the health and welfare of mankind.

There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gasses is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth's atmosphere and disruption of the Earth's climate. Moreover, there is substantial scientific evidence that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide produce many beneficial effects upon the natural plant and animal environments of the Earth. "

Translation:

"Global Warming Petition (declaration on global warming)

We urge the United States Government not to sign the 1997 Kyoto Accords and any similar declaration. The proposed limits on greenhouse gas emissions would harm the environment, stunt progress in science and technology, and harm the health and well-being of mankind.

There is no convincing scientific evidence that man-made CO 2 , methane or other greenhouse gases cause catastrophic warming of the earth's atmosphere and upheaval in the earth's climate now or in the foreseeable future. In addition, it has been scientifically proven that an increase in CO 2 in the atmosphere has many positive effects on natural flora and fauna. "

Media dissemination

Climate change deniers still cite the petition today as supposed "evidence" that there is no consensus among climate researchers about the existence of man-made global warming. Although it originated in 1999, the Oregon petition is repeatedly picked up by online platforms and then widely disseminated via social media . For example , a fake news article from YourNewsWire.com that appeared in September 2016, citing the Oregon petition as evidence that man-made climate change was a hoax, was shared over 600,000 times on Facebook within six months . Despite this false claim on social media, this article was one of the most popular climate articles of 2016. The petition also serves as an example for other similar actions.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Naomi Oreskes , Erik M. Conway : Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming . Bloomsbury Press, 2010.
  2. ↑ a b Sander van der Linden et al .: Inoculating the Public against Misinformation about Climate Change . In: Global Challenges . tape 1 , 2017, doi : 10.1002 / gch2.201600008 .
  3. ^ Riley E. Dunlap, Aaron M. McCright: Climate change denial: Sources, actors and strategies . In: Constance Lever-Tracy (Ed.): The Routledge Handbook of Climate Change and Society . Routledge 2010, 240-259, p. 255.
  4. ↑ a b Stephan Lewandowsky et al .: Beyond Misinformation: Understanding and Coping with the “Post-Truth” Era . In: Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition . tape 6 , 2017, p. 353-369 , doi : 10.1016 / j.jarmac.2017.07.008 .
  5. ^ A b Haydn Washington, John Cook: Climate Change Denial. Heads in the sand . Earthscan 2011, p. 76.
  6. ↑ a b Michael E. Mann , Tom Toles: The madhouse effect. How climate change denial threatens our planet, destroys our politics and drives us insane . Erlangen 2018, pp. 84f.
  7. ↑ Press release of the National Academy of Sciences , April 20, 1998
  8. ↑ a b klimafakten.de Facts instead of allegations August 2010, updated June 2018
  9. ^ Todd Shelly (2005): Bashing the Scientific Consensus on Global Warming , in: HawaiiReporter, online
  10. ^ Josef Hebert (1998): Jokers Add Fake Names To Warming Petition , in: Seattle Times, online
  11. ↑ New fact check: The so-called "Oregon Petition" - a clever game with false experts . In: klimafakten.de , April 24, 2018. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  12. ↑ Scientific American article ( Memento of August 23, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
  13. ^ John P. Holdren and George M. Woodwell: Climate-Change Skeptics Are Wrong , in: The New York Times , November 14, 1998
  14. ↑ a b Michael Brüggemann : The media and the climate lie. False skepticism and real denial , in: Volker Lilienthal , Irene Neverla (eds.), "Lügenpresse": Anatomy of a political battle term . Cologne 2017, pp. 137–157, here pp. 141f.