We have had permission to reproduce this email report from both the author and the original recipient for about a week. Here it is. It needs no comment:
Preface
The following commentary is a summation of what I had heard at the Professional Engineers of Colorado's Symposium on Global Warming held on Feb. 22, 2008 in Denver Colorado. It is in answer to Paul Chesser's inquiry. Paul is the Director of Climate Strategies Watch headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Speakers at the symposium included:
Mr. Nate Dowden, Professional Engineer - RMG Engineers, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Ms Heidi Vangenderen, Sr. Advisor on Climate Change & Energy, Office of the Governor, Denver, Colorado
Dr. William Gray, Emeritus Professor of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
Dr. Howard Hayden, Emeritus Professor of Physics, University of Connecticut
Mr. James Taylor, Senior Fellow for Environmental Policy, The Heartland Institute, Chicago, Illinois
The subsequent series of following e-mails was in response to State Representative Kevin Lundberg's statement in the Denver Post that Governor Ritter's climate plan was based on junk science and several subsequent letters to the editor, one of which was from James Taylor, Senior Fellow for Environmental Policy at The Heartland Institute in Chicago , Illinois.
Paul,
Yep, I went and it was great. Dr. William Gray was one of the speakers and during the open question period, he said it was the best presentation of this kind he had ever attended and that it was an honor to meet his hero, James Taylor. In the "afterglow" conversations, James said that he was surprised by this statement because he was honored to have met Dr. Gray. Lots of platitudes.
Some years ago, I used to belong to the Professional Engineers of Colorado, but I quit. All they seemed to want to do was to sit around and be engineers and not be a leader in community issues. This was the absolute best program that PEC has ever presented. I heartily congratulated Nate Dowden, the organizer, for doing such a fine job.
Although the event was open to the public, I was disappointed that there were only about 40 attendees who were mostly engineers. I didn't notice any members of the press, although I had personally sent an e-mail to David Harsanyi, a reporter for the Denver Post, to encourage him to attend.
Heidi Van Genderen was a very able presenter. She has charm, wit and poise. Her presentation focused on Governor [ Bill ] Ritter's Energy Plan, and for the most part was received politely by an audience that was mostly filled with AGW skeptics. James' presentation focused on a line by line rebuttal of the Governor's plan, and unfortunately, Heidi was not in attendance at this point. James' presentation simply focused on verifiable facts quoted from recognized scientific journals, which I think is the best way to debate the AGW advocates. Heidi left after her presentation.
On the other hand, Dr.s Gray and Hayden stayed for the entire day in the true spirit of seeking scientific truth by listening to all sides of an issue. Dr. Gray offered a wager that in 5 to 10 years, we will see a cooling trend in the earth's climate and that there is current evidence that the cooling has already started. Dr. Gray expressed concern that the belief in anthropogenic global warming has become a religion. Dr. Gray has worked in the observational and theoretical aspects of tropical meteorological research for more than 40 years and is know for his annual forecasts on hurricanes. He commented that the rise in CO2 is related to shifts in ocean currents which is based on changes in salinity.
Dr. Gray put in a plug for Dr. Singer's book, "Unstoppable Global Warming". He said it is a very readable book that covers GW very well. Several weeks ago, I was about to buy it from Amazon. One of the reviews was rather negative, so I passed. Now, I think I'll go back and get it.
Nate Dowden had noted that there are 42 people in Colorado that had participated in the IPCC's report. He had contacted several of them to participate in this symposium, and they all declined to participate once they found out that there would be other participants who would be speaking to the AGW skeptic's point of view. Nate had emphasized to them that the forum would not be a debate, but that it would be an opportunity for them to relate their own role in how the IPCC came to their conclusions. Dr. Gray added that once the IPCC members find out that he, Dr. Gray, will be a part of a public discussion, they absolutely refuse to participate - they're afraid to debate.
Bill Schroeder, the lunch and keynote speaker, did an outstanding job of presenting the position that utilities are being put because of "green" legislation. Of course, the costs of generating electricity will go up, which means that consumer's utility bills will also go up. Mr. Schroeder is a former member of the Colorado State Legislature.
Dr. Hayden's presentation spoke to the issues surrounding solar and other renewable energy forms and offered a primer on CO2 and climate change. He specifically made the point that there is a correlation between CO2 and temperature rise. CO2 levels rose AFTER the temperature rose. When the temperature of the oceans rise, CO2 concentrations increase in a lagging fashion and when the ocean temperatures drop, CO2 concentrations decrease, also in a lagging fashion.
Dr. Hayden has written the following two books aimed towards a lay readership: "The Solar Fraud - Why Solar Energy Won't Run the World" and "A Primer on CO2 and Climate". Both books are available from Amazon.com. In his book on solar fraud, Dr. Hayden notes his connection to the energy industry, "...I once shoveled coal into gunnysacks for 5 cents per 100 pound sack. That was my dad's way of having me earn my own candy money. Nevertheless, the fifty cents I earned was all the money I ever received from the energy industry."
Several days before the symposium and after talking with Nate Dowden, I talked with Denver City Councilwoman Jeanne Faatz, about TV coverage by Channel 8, Denver's TV station. (Please note that TV coverage was her suggestion.) Since Nate had said that he wanted to avoid a debate, Councilwoman Faatz and I decided to pass on TV coverage. However, Councilwoman Faatz would be interested in organizing a debate in the future. However, given the reluctance of the IPCC members to engage in debate, this now doesn't seem to be a likely possibility.
Overall, this was an excellent event. Kudos to Nate Dowden and to all of the panelists.
In two more years, Nate will be the president of PEC. Under his leadership, I might consider re-joining the organization.
I'm very much looking forward to seeing what kind of media coverage comes out of the conference on climate change in New York next month. James said that there will be 100 speakers and that scientists are still applying to get a chance to speak at the conference. Wow.
Warmingly yours,
Dave B.
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