How did it happen and whos behind it . Tonight, climate of doubt. Frontlinis made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. And by the corporation for public broadcasting. Major funding is provided by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. Additional funding is provided by the park foundation, dedicated to heightening Public Awareness of critical issues. And by the frontline journalism fund. With grants from scott nathan and laura debonis, and millicent bell, through the millicent and eugene bell foundation. Major funding for this program is provided by the kendeda fund. Chicago is now under full National Security. A nofly zone is in effect, except for the World Leaders who are landing at ohare, as president barack obama and a number of World Leaders. Hockenberry it was a big weekend in chicago. Last spring, the president was in town, along with the leaders of nato, to discuss threats to Global Security and nuclear proliferation. At a huge convention center, the eyes of the world were watching. That demands glol solutions. We came to chicago. Police Whistle blows hockenberry but across town in a small hotel ballroom, the te of the world was also on the agenda. Everything will be revealed in the second term. Hockenberry the eyes of the world might have missed this gathering. Get ready for your al gore snow job. Hockenberry the message here is that manmade Global Climate change is a myth, a hoax. This conference is an annual pilgrimage for the key skeptics. We came here to understand how they have made their views a mainstream fact of american politics. applause they think of themselves as rebels, up against the biggest players in science, government and the media. Whole industries, wind and solar, are based on public fear of Global Warming, and the Mainstream Media has pretty much given up its role as an independent reporter on these things and has become an advocate. If you add up all of the resources of our side of the debate and all of the resources of the other side of the debate, this is a david vs. Goliath story. Hockenberry youre doing pretty well. There are holdouts among the urban bicoastal elite. But i think weve won the debate with the American People in the heartland, the people who get their hands dirty, people who dig up stuff, grow stuff and make stuff for a living, people who have a closer relationship to tangible reality, to stuff. We need to keep banging away on the science. Hockenberry myron ebell chairs a group called the cooler heads coalition, one of a team of skilled policy advocates driving a remarkable turnaround that has already changed the u. S. Political landscape. Warming isnt, in fact, accelerating. In fact, theres been none for 15 years. Hockenberry theres Christopher Monckton, a big draw at these meetings, who brings the skeptics to their feet every time. God bless america. Hockenberry republican congressman James Sensenbrenner of wisconsin, vice chairman of the use science committee. Paul krugman accused my colleagues and me of treason against the planet. laughter hockenberry theres chris horner from the competitive enterprise institute. Economic salvation. This is our way out. Hockenberry and james taylor, senior fellow at the Heartland Institute, organizer of this gathering. The debate indeed is over. In the years prior to 2007, the 2008 elections, we actually heard from many folks that we should tone it down on Global Warming, we should not talk about the issue, because the court of Public Opinion had already decided and we were on the losing end. But we believe that if we present the case to the American People and it resonates, if they get it, then thats going to work its way up the political stepladder. Hockenberry youve really changed the game on Global Warming. Oh, i certainly hope so. Hockenberry these political messengers rely on a small group of outspoken scientific contrarians, like climatologist pat michaels of the libertarian Cato Institute. Every paragraph can be contended. Hockenberry willie soon is an astrophysicist who studies the sun and stars. A mechanism to transport anything from the tropics to the arctic. They cannot fit Northern Hemisphere and southern hemisphere. Hockenberry and fred singer, the veteran scientist at these proceedings. Hes a retired physicist once responsible for government weather satellites, who tells people the climate needs no help from worried humans. Climate, to me, has become a nonissue. Its a phantom issue. Theres nothing wrong with climate. It will change no matter what we do. Itll get colder, itll get warmer. We just have to wait a little. Hockenberry singer says hes dedicated to explaining his theories about Global Warming. What keeps you going . Whats your motivation . Basically i like to see good science being done and protected. I think im fighting here for scientific truth. Thats important to me. Hockenberry do you think the science is being hyped on Global Warming . Oh, very definitely, yes. Hockenberry armed with that conviction, this team of skilled political messengers and contrarians has certainly changed the game. In just four years, the number of americans who agree Global Warming is manmade has dropped to about half. Its a message that is inspiring a new generation of skeptics. I would like to really listen to these scientists, who came and talk and have dedicated their lives to debunking this fallacy, so to speak. Hockenberry once upon a time, what these people call a fallacy had another name the truth. Youve heard of off the charts. Within less than 50 years, itll be here. Socalled skeptics. Hockenberry in 2006, the film an Inconvenient Truth told a disturbing story and galvanized Public Awareness about the climate. To a new report on Global Warming from a Prestigious Panel of scientists convened by the un. A new grim report out today from. Hockenberry this comprehensive report in 2007 took it to another level. Scientists from 30 nations concluded that Global Warming is unequivocal and that human activity is mostly the cause. It is the definitive report on Global Warming, and its frightening. I call upon the peace prize laureate for 2007, al gore, to come forward. Hockenberry the un scientists and former Vice President al gore would share the nobel peace prize. The cause had a consensus and a credible leader. The skeptics would take on both. I think al gore was probably the best thing that could happen to Global Warming skeptics. From my perspective, al gore was the perfect proponent and leader of the Global Warming alarmists, because hes very politically divisive and controversial. I think it was his tone and manner. He did, at a certain point, come across as holier than thou. And thats another thing about americans. They are not really big on holierthanthou. Now that is a g2v aircraft. Hockenberry personalizing the attacks was part of an approach that was immediately embraced and amplified by friendly media. And that is the former Vice President getting off that plane and into a town car by the way, not a hybrid. He equates the failure to recycle aluminum cans with the holocaust. He wants to be a super hero action figure, and. Hockenberry myron ebell was acting on a broad strategy he helped create more than a decade ago. In this 1998 action plan, victory will be achieved, it said, when the public recognizes uncertainties in Climate Science. Today at the washington, d. C. , headquarters of the competitive enterprise institute, a free market think tank, you can see myron ebells philosophy proudly displayed on the walls. Theyre all cei authors. What were fighting is the expansion of government. And there are many pretexts for expanding government. Hockenberry opposing Government Action on Climate Change to defend American Freedom is a perfect fit. We felt that if you concede the science is settled and there is a consensus, you cannot. The moral high ground has been ceded to the alarmists. Hockenberry so you had to go to work and break down this consensu yes. And we did it because we believed that the consensus was phony. We believed that the socalled Global Warming consensus was not based on science but was a political consensus, which included a number of scientists. Hockenberry in 2009, agreement on Global Warming seemed part of the solid wave of enthusiasm that elected barack obama. With the changing of the guard in washington, there was a bipartisan call to action, a sense of inevitability. Madam speaker, the president of the United States. Hockenberry an idea that for years had struggled for attention in congress would get its moment of truth. So i ask this congress to send me legislation that places a marketbased cap on carbon pollution. Hockenberry the president backed the socalled capand trade approach, a system of regulations and financial incentives to eventually reduce the emission of carbon into the atmosphere. It seemed there s consensus on Climate Change. There was an uneasy consensus. But the people who have always objected to change had not yet really engaged. And because of the consensus, because there was a sense that there was going to be movement, that galvanized the action of the people who oppose it. The American People hadnt focused on these issues until it actually came to a vote in congress on a bill to implement these policies. Todays hearing is on. Hockenberry the soft consensus for taking action ran into the bitter partisan divisions in congress. Congressional hearings on capandtrade would become a stage where opposing views would get equal time. Professor schrag, you just heard. Hockenberry pro capand trade lawmakers would call leading climate scientists and policymakers to make the argument for action now. Its very clear from that estimate that in fact were in for bigger trouble. One of the things that weve already seen is many observed changes in the climate. Global Climate Change is a serious threat to our National Security. Hockenberry the skeptics had their own witnesses. They testified that nothing was settled and that Global Warming might actually be good for the planet. Say that again. Carbon dioxide is what . Is plant food. Its plant food yeah. Hockenberry the testimony of the skeptics argued for a time out. There was enough uncertainty, they said, to justify delay. The right response to the nonproblem of Global Warming first slide, please is to have the courage to do nothing. That the fear of catastrophic manmade Global Warming is mistaken. This demonstration shows that oftreported mantra in washington, quote, the science is settled, is not true at all. Hockenberry skeptics had found a seat at the table, but the Scientific Consensus still had the momentum. When capandtrade came up for a vote in the house in 2009, it passed, with eight republicans on board. The nays are 212. The bill is passed. The waxmanmarkey capand trade bill passed the house very narrly, 219 to 212. Thmembers of the senate who were going to take it up in july went home for the fourth of july recess. And they got an earful from their constituents. You dont trust me . audience shouting no lets talk about some of your other votes, such as capand trade. people cheer we are not for more government hockenberry the tea party saw a frightening expansion of government in the Health Care Plan and the push for capand trade. Youre a traitor, lindsey graham. Youve betrayed this nation and you betrayed the state. The people of this country were really not concerned one way or the other on this issue until the economy started going south in 2008. Hockenberry was that an opportunity to push back on Climate Change, the recessio it sure was. Im tim phillips, president of americans for prosperity. Were here in billings, montana. Hockenberry what part did you play . We certainly did tv ads, radio ads, social media. We did rallies, events, we launched something we called hot air. And were sending a message to senator baucus and senator tester to vote no on this jobkilling, taxincreasing capandtrade. We got a hotair balloon, put a banner on the side of it that said, capandtrade means higher taxes, lost jobs, less freedom. And we went all over the country doing events and stirring up grassroots anger and frustration, concern. Capandtrade will slow the economy and cost american jobs. Hockenberry americans for prosperitys wellfinanced campaign was an aggressive one. Ads that went after capand trade policy. America cant afford the capandtrade tax. Hockenberry and said the science was a hoax. Congress should stop wasting our money and focus on real problems. Isnt it Time Congress listened to the rest of us . Hockenberry in the tea partys antitax, antibig government message, you could now hear the skeptic mantra, attacking Climate Science and capandtrade. Capandtrade and taxing americans. Hockenberry at some tea party events, Global Warming skeptics were a big draw. Gives me great pleasure to welcome lord monckton audience cheering hockenberry introduced like a professional wrestler, Christopher Monckton is a former british journalist who admits he has no scientific qualifications. Now we are met on a great battlefield of a new civil war. Hockenberry but here, whipping up the crowd is his indisputable expertise. Now i know that in american speak you have a word for Global Warming. Can someone tell me what it is . All together. Global warming is. Bull bleep hockenberry events like these fertilized the growing public doubt about Climate Change that was beginning to register with senators. With widespread anxiety over a shrinking economy, capandtrade was tabled in the senate. The momentum towards action on Global Warming was vanishing. I often say, if you ever wonder as an activist on our side, are you making a difference, just look at capandtrade. January of 09, we had a president with 60 votes in the senate. And then Speaker Pelosi with a 50plus seat majority. And capandtrade was at the top of their agenda. And in the end they were beaten. Hockenberry youve said, if we win the science argument, i think itsame, set and match. Mmhmm. Hockenberry why do you want to win the science argument . If the science argument is won, i do think it would, you know, pull out the final underpinning of this legislative effort and this regulatory effort the left is undertaking. Hockenberry diminish the credibility of the Scientific Consensus and action on Climate Change grinds to a halt. At a conference in long island, we witnessed how these skeptics build their message of doubt. We once again saw fred singer. This is a conference mainly for medical doctors. Hockenberry delivering his message to a group of physicians who seemed eager to hear it. Tell me that there hasnt been any perceptible trend. You essentially get no warming trend. In the last ten years, there hasnt been a warming. We dont know why that is. But one doesnt see any warming in the observations. There simply is no trend. Hockenberry no warming in the last ten years . No longterm trend . Climate scientists would say thats playing games with the data. You can, if you want, very carefully select the end points of your time series, the starting month and the ending month, and you can come up with. Maybe you can come up with something that shows no warming. Hockenberry in a sense, what dessler is saying is that you can do this at home. On a complex chart depending on the beginning points x and ending points y, you can select a trend line that does indeed show temperature going down. Hockenberry could i pick ten years of World History and show a climate cooling . Oh you could totally do that. In fact, you could take the entire climate history that we have in the instrumental record and you could find cooling trends every ten years. Hockenberry cooling trends between 1958 and 1969, 1969 and 1978, 1978 and 1987 and so on. Scientists have a name for this. They call it going down the up escalator. You pick the end points and you could find any particular year as part of a cooling year, but actually the whole thing has been moving up. If you look at all of the data, its quite clear that the warming is continuing. So the 2000s was the warmest decade on record, the 1990s was the waest decade before that, the 1980s bere that, and most of us in the field of Climate Science expect, but we cant be sure, we expect that the 2010s will be warmer than the 2000s. Hockenberry against the backdrop of all the pressure from skeptic groups, congress ordered a comprehensive review of Climate Change research by the National Academy of sciences. The findings came back Even Stronger on humancaused Climate Change, and a subsequent study showed 97 of active climate scientists agreed. Whats settled here on Climate Change . Virtually every place on earth is warming up, and people who have tried to go back and scrub the data like is there a mistake with the way they are making these measurements . Theyve all concluded, no, the people who are doing this work at the key places around the world are agreeing with each other. Hockenberry whats the bottom line, though, on humancaused Global Warming . I raise my hand in highschool science class and youre the teacher. Are humans causing the Global Warming were seeing . Whats your answer . Mostly. Hockenberry yeah. Scientists are trying to shoot it down all the time, and years and years and years nobodys been able to. So at some point you have to say maybe its right. Hockenberry heres what the National Academy of sciences report actually says Climate Change is occurring and is largely caused by human activities and poses a significant risk for a broad range of human and natural systems. You say thats false. Yes. Hockenberry false. False. Hockenberry and if most of the climate scientists believe that statement, they are deluded . Yes. Hockenberry and youre seeing something theyre not seeing . Yes. Hockenberry so its 97 of them and one of you . Oh, well, you can put it that way if you like. But i dont think thats the way it works. Theres hundreds of us hundreds, thousands of us. Look, 31,000 scientists and engineers signed a statement to the contrary to what you just read. Hockenberry the oregon petition . Yes. Hockenberry the 14yearold petition is not exactly an exclusive club. A bachelor of science degree is all it takes to get you on the list. This document, skeptics claim, counters the Scientific Consensus on Global Warming. Now, are they all scientists . Yes. Onethird of them have ph. D. S. Look, they are not specialists in climate. Hockenberry well, some were celebrities and friends. Eh. Hockenberry its a time honored tactic by the skeptics authenticlooking documents and reports that dont stand up to independent scrutiny. Singer also signed the oregon petition. This is not his first time going up against accepted science. Hockenberry was the science around chlorofluorocarbons hyped, the science around Secondhand Smoke hyped, the science around the ozone layer hyped, going back ten, 15, 20 years . Im happy to discuss all of these, since ive been deeply involved in these topics that you mention. Let me start with Secondhand Smoke. Fred singer is, i think, a professional contrarian. When i was in graduate school, i worked on stratospheric ozone depletion. And fred would call me when i was in grad school and talk to me about how he didnt think humans were depleting ozone. And before that, he had real questions about whether humans were causing acid rain, and he didnt think that Nuclear Winter was a. Was sound science. And he really criticized the work that connected Secondhand Smoke to health impacts. And now he doesnt think Global Warming is an issue. So is Global Warming fact or fiction . Hockenberry but fred singers case was bolstered when, in november of 2009, the skeptics got a break that would put climate scientists on the defensive. They falsified results its the fraud, stupi to oversimplify it. Hockenberry an apparent scandal, and skeptics made the most of it. Some stolen emails. Hockenberry it epted out of more than a thousand hacked emails, which included scientists internal conversations about global temperature data. These people have already been revealed as not having any honor, now theyre being revealed as not having a sense of shame. Hockenberry a few suspiciousseeming emails, taken out of context, would become climategate. Even though nine subsequent investigations would find no tampering with data, the impact of these emails would live on. Even the lady in the supermarket has heard of the climategate emails that purport to show that scientists have fabricated data or manipulated data and that the whole idea of Global Warming has been proven to be a hoax. That is completely ridiculous. Continuing to use those emails as evidence that Global Warming is not real is inaccurate. By continuing to use those emails to slander the scientific reputation not only of those individual scientists, but of a field as a whole is irresponsible. As thousands of documents and internal emails come out. Hockenberry Katharine Hayhoe personally felt the effects of climategate. A climate scientist at texas tech in the panhandle, shes the lead author of a federal Research Report detailing the impact of Global Warming in the u. S. The emails are real. Read the associated press. Hockenberry she spends every sunday in the church where her husband preaches. I think the perception is often that climate scientists are godless, treehugging liberals, out to suck all the money out of the average person and use it all to fund all of this research. Hockenberry how much of this is a part of your worldview . My faith is integral to who i am. Thats what defines me, not what i do on a daytoday basis. And so when i study the planet, i feel as if im studying something that god created. Hockenberry after she wrote a chapter on Climate Change for a book on environmental policy, a private group suddenly requested her emails. Just before christmas, this past year, i got my first freedom of information act request. And it was a bit of a shock. Hockenberry the charge is that you used taxpayers money to engage in your personal activism about Climate Change. Every single professor, when invited to write a submitted chapter for an edited volume to be published by an Academic Press pro bono, would say, yes, thats part of our resume, thats part of what were asked at the end of each year, did you write any edited book chapters . So its part of our job to do that. Hockenberry to write stuff . Yes. American tradition institute, restoring science, accountability. Hockenberry the group requesting Katharine Hayhoes emails is the American Tradition Institute. Argument behind the Climate Movement that didnt withstand scrutiny. Hockenberry here is their chief lawyer, chris horner, who wrote the request. Chris horner would not speak with frontline on camera, but ati told us they were just looking for insights into how scientists made their deliberations. Texas a m scientist Andrew Dessler is an expert on how clouds relate to Climate Change. He became a target of the American Tradition Institute after one quote in a frontpage new york timarticle. Dessler received a legal request for emails the next morning. And i actually had the first quote in the story. And within hours of that story coming out, the university received a foia request for my email. The goal of this was to try to find something in the emails that would be used to embarrass Climate Science. They were just rolling the dice. It was completely random. They had no reason to think that there was anything improper. But they were hoping to hit the jackpot like they did with climategate. Hockenberry as we began our reporting, ati requested emails climate scientists might have sent frontline. You know, i dont let it stop me. I fully expect that after this program airs, ill get another foia request for all of my emails with you. And you know, ill just deal with that. As a climate scientist, i think a lot about the future. It goes with the job. And i want to make sure that in 50 years or 100 years or 200 years, nobody can ever say we didnt warn them. Hockenberry this summer at the washington, d. C. , defending the dream summit for the Group Americans for prosperity, they have their own warning beware the leftist agenda that they believe underliethe Climate Change movement. Reducing emissions is cover for reducing freedom, they say. And they have the means to carry their free market message anywhere in the u. S. This is our sixth annual defending the American Dream summit. We launched these in the fall of 2007. Its a great way to bring activists together from around the country to kind of bond with the organization, and also its good to have a bunch of free market conservatives in d. C. Occasionally as well. Hockenberry how does free market conservatism relate to Climate Change and the scientific argument over Climate Change . It doesnt to the scientific side. It very much so relates to the policies that the left pushes in the name of Global Warming. Every once in a while ill make a statement about the science, but thats a tiny percentage of what we do and how we spend our money. Hockenberry oh, you win on the policy, you win on the science. I think so. I do. Hockenberry this is a community of skeptics. At the afp rally i ran into myron ebell, a supportive attendee and a speaker. So why are you here . Well, these are the grassroots that, you know, support our side. This is essentially a more organized form of a tea party group, right . A better funded. Hockenberry youve said weve made great headway. What it means for candidates in the republican side is if you buy into green energy or if you play footsie on this issue, you do so at your political peril. You do, absolutely. And thats a big change, and it is important. Again, i remember four, five or even three years ago, john, a lot of republicans, they would play games with this. Theyd say, okay, oh gosh, i think i need a green energy agenda. But i wont go all the way and support capandtrade. They did. They tried to walk down the middle and thats wrong. I think its philosophically inconsistent, but its also politically disadvantageous. And weve worked hard to make that so, by the way. The left has had the edge as long as i can remember. They march out to the towns, do whatever they are told to do. One thing weve changed with afp, is we now have an army too. And we can do calls and emails and letters and rallies, events, and pressure. And i think thats made a big difference. Our side didnt have that five or six years ago on this issue. We do now. I do think its a new day for that reason. applause hockenberry this new day has dramatically transformed the way lawmakers approach Global Warming on capitol hill. Suddenly the news was who wasnt talking about it. Fred upton, who is chairman of the house energy and commerce committee, hes charged with writing regulations that would control Climate Change emissions. And when i asked him this question, do you think Climate Change is causing the earth to become warmer . And he smiled, nice guy, and said, im sorry, im just not going to answer that. And he turned around and went on to the house floor, where as a reporter im not allowed to go. Hockenberry coral davenport reports on energy and Environmental Issues for the National Journal. For him to say, i dont want to talk about this is that like the chairman of the Armed Services committee saying, i dont want to talk about the pentagon . Absolutely, yes. But i should say, that does seem to be a change in chairman uptons views before he took on this leadership. Fred upton was, you know, has long been a moderate whos worked on this issue, whos reached across the aisle on these issues. Before he became chairman of the house energy and commerce committee, on his website, he had the phrase that Climate Change is a problem. That was deleted after he became chairman of the house energy committee. So, were definitely seeing a shift on this. Hockenberry chairman upton declined frontlines request for an interview. But the congressman wasnt the only one not talking. In 2011, the National Journal tried to poll all gop lawmakers on Climate Change. I came up with the idea to ask every republican member of congress three simple questions about Climate Change. They were very simple. They are basically, you know, do you think that Climate Change is causing the earth to become warmer . Hockenberry straightforward. How much, if any of that, do you think is attributable to human activity . And whats the appropriate government response . And normally lawmakers love to answer questions, they love to opine. This was amazing. Members of congress did not want to answer the question. In some cases they just said straight up, im not going to answer that. In some cases what was really amazing is they literally ran into an elevator and the elevator closed when i asked. Hockenberry with their majority in the house, gop lawmakers took steps to keep the issue from coming up at all, including dissolving the official House Committee on Global Warming. Why did you reach out only to republicans on this . Its rare to find a democrat who will outright flatly question or deny the basic scientific precepts of Climate Change. Hockenberry this new political environment has been an opportunity for lawmakers like republican James Sensenbrenner of wisconsin to claim they are the new mainstream view on Global Warming. Do you believe Global Warming is caused by the activity of human beings . Partially, but not completely. Hockenberry percentage . Cant predict that. Hockenberry 30 , 50 . Well, i know its not zero and i know its not a hundred. I cant tell you what number it is in between. Hockenberry if 97 of Scientists Say it is mostly or significantly caused by human activity, what do you say to that . They are entitled to their opinion. But they are going to have to. Hockenberry do you think this will ever be settled scientifically if 97 consensus doesnt settle it for you . Well, i. You know, i think that its up to the scientists and their supporters to convince the public that this is the right thing to do. And the supporters of that side of the argument in the congress have been a huge flop. Hockenberry i visited one of the key democrats on this issue, massachusetts senator john kerry. What had happened to all the momentum of four years ago . Well, american politics is being completely defined by huge sums of money. We had really a very Broad Coalition of people who believed that we ought to move forward and do something. But as the campaign of fear built up, people began to retreat. They spent huge sums of money in a campaign of major disinformation that had an impact, had a profound impact. And it has now made many people in public life very gunshy, because theyre afraid of having those amounts of money spent against them. Hockenberry this is what they fear what happened in 2010 to sixterm South Carolina congressman bob inglis, a republican who once thought he was a safe incumbent in his solidly red state. You know, im a pretty conservative fella. I got 93 American Conservative Union rating, 100 christian coalition, 100 national right to life, a with the nra. Zero with the ada, americans for democratic action, a liberal group. And 23 by some mistake with the aflcio. I demand a recount. I wanted a zero. Hockenberry but inglis does accept the Scientific Consensus on Global Warming and favors legislation to curb the effects of co2 in the atmosphere. He faced a Tea Party Rebellion in his primary. I had a big tent gathering in spartanburg county, a bunch of republicans underneath a very big tent. Comes a question to me yes or no, do you believe in human causation on Climate Change . I had a bad habit of answering questions, so i said yes. Boo, hiss comes the crowd. I was blasted out from underneath the tent. I mean, there are a couple of hundred, 300 people there. I mean, it was intense. Hockenberry he was pounded in commercials and on talk radio. It became an oftrepeated theme on talk radio, and that is a major source of information, of course, for republican primary voters. They were hearing, inglis has left the reservation, he is over there somewhere with al gore. So how are things around here . Theyre slow, how the economy is way off. When you get the financial collapse going, thats what made it possible for some wellspent money to blow doubt into the science, because, you know, the bankers failed us, the federal government is failing us, its spending too much money, and these scientists who are funded by that federal government, they are probably in it too, and besides, theyre godless liberals. Hockenberry inglis was defeated. Bob inglis was defeated in a republican primary, 79 to 21 . Now, how many times has an incumbent who isnt in prison or facing a prison sentence lost his own primary by 79 to 21 . This was overwhelming. But, whats happened is. Hockenberry the smile on your face suggests, man, we won one. Of course we won one. Were on the record and our grandchildren, our greatgrandchildren are gonna read. Hockenberry this climate hearing in the Lame Duck Congress was ingliss last. Your child is sick. 98 doctors say treat him this way, two say no, this other is the way to go. Ill go with the two. Youre taking a big risk with those kids. That was a very key factor in ten to 15 congressional districts in the 2010 election, where strong supporters of Climate Change legislation ended up being defeated. And there is nothing like a loss in an election to promote fear in the survivors. And thats exactly what happened in the United States congress. Hockenberry beyond washington, in wave after wave, the skeptic tactic of fighting scientific warnings with doubt and delay was finding success. Tennessee passed a law allowing the views of Climate Change skeptics to be taught in schools. A Virginia State legislator cut the words Sea Level Rise from an official request to study coastal communities, calling it a leftwing term. Here in North Carolina, a warning from scientists on Sea Level Rise would cause politicians to try and legislate Climate Change out of existence. Theyre here to try to protect these houses. Hockenberry in 2010, 19 scientists on a state commission warned of a possible Sea Level Rise by the end of the century. Here you get an idea of the nature of these dunes. Hockenberry geologist Stanley Riggs was one of the scientists. What we were asked to do is to develop. What is the history of Sea Level Rise and what can North Carolina expect 25 years from now, 50 years from now, a hundred years from now. Hockenberry the report said to expect a 39inch ocean rise, an estimate in the middle of a range consistent with other predictions for the region. 39 inches if that comes to pass here, everything wed see. This town would be underwater. Hockenberry the commissions warning was seen as a threat by a Coastal Economic development group, nc20. Now you add the flood from a storm, hurricane, whatever. Hockenberry tom thompson is the groups chairman. They had a draft policy which mandated that everything be designed and constructed to a 39inch Sea Level Rise. People that recommended we plan immediately for 39 inches did not understand the economic consequences. Hockenberry thompson is a skeptic himself and fears scientists and their warnings more than he fears any Climate Change. Youre not worried. I dont believe were going to have a Sea Level Rise anywhere close to that. I think there are credible scientists out there that are saying its beginning to decelerate and i think it will. Hockenberry nc20s website contains a familiar archive of skeptic information. Theres the oregon petition and a host of sources for people looking to doubt the Scientific Consensus, people like North Carolina state representative bill cook. Well, who do you rely on . I rely on whatever science makes good sense. Hockenberry you want to show me . Sure. Hockenberry so this here is one of the sources . Yes, this is a book by fred singer and dennis t. Avery. Hockenberry right. And what about this book really was meaningful to you . Well, its very factual. It tells all the studies and gives you a complete bibliography on who did what kind of study and where it was done, and when it was done and how it was done. This book made better sense to me than what ive seen from other sources. Co2 is a gas that is used by all these beautiful trees, grass. Hockenberry its a good thing. Its a good thing. Hockenberry cook cosponsored a bill to compel North Carolina to disregard scientific warnings about Climate Change. It was written by state senator david rouzer. Well, you know, i dont necessarily listen to any one person and i cant, you know, tick off a whole list of scientists that are pro Sea Level Rise and a whole list of scientists that arent. Im just coming at it from a common sense standpoint. The earth has been warming and cooling since day one. And, you know, the effect on sea level change, what do we know about it . Hockenberry the bill would limit authorities to considering Historical Data in their sea level projections. The future could only be based on the past. The problem is. I mean, North Carolina beachfronts are very close to sea level. Youre very close and youre vulnerable because of hurricane effects, because of storm surges, and youre vulnerable because of high tides. Those vulnerabilities dont go away because you just legislate them away. Hockenberry when the bill hit the beaches of North Carolina, it had become so controversial that the provision disregarding Global Warming was dropped. But the science was put on hold for four years. There would have to be a new coastline study, and skeptic views would need to be considered. Well, youre winning. Well, we won this one. This was a home run. And were going to be involved, i hope, in picking some of the scientists that come in to redo this thing, because they definitely were onesided. The real estate people, and they have a lot to lose if we have to change. What theyre saying is that we have to include all the naysayers and all the people who say Climate Change isnt happening, that sea level isnt rising. So its got to be. Hockenberry which makes it look like you are just one opinion . Yeah. Hockenberry which means youve lost . Well, for the moment. Theres the tester right there. That ocean will dictate what happens. The oceans going to win. Hockenberry but for now, back at the heartland conference in chicago, they feel theyre winning. Their campaign of alternative scientific studies, opinion pieces, books and advertising, charts and presentations has been building for years. Its been money well spent. In the early days, much of it came from fossil fuel interests. Heartland presenter willie soon has received money from exxonmobil. Chris horner was formerly a registered lobbyist for oil, gas and chemical companies. Climatologist pat michaels of the Cato Institute has estimated 40 of his funding has come from fossil fuel interests. Of politics getting into science. Hockenberry exxon at one time was one of heartlands most generous donors. There were a lot of corporations, including oil companies, that objected to the kyoto accords in 1997. But most of them lobbied against the treaty on economic and fairness grounds. But exxon did something that i think was fairly radical, which was that they chose to go after the science. And as for carbon dioxide, it isnt smog or smoke; its what we breathe out and plants breathe in. Hockenberry borrowing tactics used on behalf of the tobacco industry, advocacy groups were enlisted to confuse the issue and shut down new federal regulations. They call it pollution, we call it life. A lot of these groups were run by economists, litigators, lawyers and Public Policy specialists people who specialized in getting a message out. Hockenberry this group may not have been scientists, but they were really good at this sort of thing. Well, some of them actually came out of campaigning on behalf of the tobacco industry. The explicit goal that was written down as part of this campaign was, lets create doubt, create a sense of a balanced debate and make sure that these lines of skepticism and dissent become routinely a part of public discussion about Climate Science. And, in fact, they succeeded at that. chanting expose exxon expose exxon hockenberry exxons millions for skeptic groups made it a public target, which would eventually be a problem for a publicly traded company. Exxon, enough hockenberry when did this become a pr problem on some level for exxon . Well, environmental groups, scientists and, later, members of congress became aware of this campaigning, because it was right out in the open. At exxonmobil shareholder meetings, some of these activists and dissenters started turning up to protest exxonmobils funding of such groups. Hockenberry in 2006, new leadership at exxonmobil decided to reassess this fight the science strategy. They reviewed some of these free market groups that they had been funding, and they cut funding to the most radical among them, especially the smaller, sort of purposebuilt groups that were just concentrating on attacking Climate Science. Hockenberry exxon stopped funding this heartland conference and its sponsors five years ago, but that didnt stop the Broader Mission of defending the free market. To close the deficit and ultimately pay off the national debt. Hockenberry if dealing with Global Warming did not involve intervention in the economy, would Heartland Institute be involved in this . Thats a theoretical question. We believe in limited government and free markets. We believe in identifying and implementing soundscience Free Market Solutions to societal problems. Hockenberry and that message has generated solid Financial Support for activist groups like americans for prosperity. We have over 80,000 activists and donors across the country who fund afp. Hockenberry some big donors . Sure, you bet. We are glad to have big donors, absolutely. Hockenberry exxon . I wish we had more Corporate Support laughing . They dont tend to want to give to afp very often. They think, frankly, that we are too out there on the free market front. Hockenberry the Koch Brothers . David koch is the chairman of our afp foundation. We are glad to have his support. We dont disclose the level of contributions. But we are very proud to have their support. Americans for prosperity. Were blessed with just such a leader in our chairman, david koch. Hockenberry with money from their oil and gas holdings, david koch and his brother charles, along with other powerful family foundations, have quietly become the venture capitalists of this free market ideology. American dream of Free Enterprise, capitalism is alive and well. The major funders of the climate countermovement are ideologically driven foundations that are very much concerned about conservative values and world views. Hockenberry sociologist and stanford fellow Robert Brulle is studying the funding patterns of these groups. In fact, hes noticed a new benefactor, an entity called donorstrust. Hockenberry whos donorstrust . Donorstrust, i think, is a c4 or c3 thats given to us, absolutely. Hockenberry we discovered that nearly half of americans for prosperitys support comes from donorstrust. And do you know who is behind it . I think their board is publicly listed. Im pretty sure. Hockenberry their directors are listed, but the donors arent. From this office on an unassuming street in alexandria, virginia, according to public records, donorstrust has become the number one supporter of the groups that lead this movement. We dont know a lot about donorsust. It is a black box with a few little clues coming out here and there but no real image can be formed yet. Hockenberry donorstrust supports limited government and Free Enterprise with a promise of anonymity, their website says, for donors who wish to safeguard their charitable intent. So you see this shift from attributable funding to anonymous funding, which insulates the giver from any kind of political fallout from their giving. Is that people were organizing around, oh, evil exxonmobil. Oh, evil Koch Brothers. Now its donorstrust, donors capital. Who are they . They get money, they give it out. Hockenberry and that quiet money buys a platform for people like christopher monkton. The scientists who are pushing this have a political agenda. Its a marxist agenda. Of course they wouldnt call themselves that. They call themselves environmentalist. Green is the new red, if you like. Hockenberry amidst all of the conspiratorial language and arguable claims by the skeptics, the idea of doing something about Climate Change has gotten lost. This is not just an economic issue or an environmental concern, this is a National Security crisis. Hockenberry the National Call to action from just four years ago has vanished. The facts of Global Warming demand our urgent attention. I think the risks of Climate Change are real and that youre seeing Climate Change. I think human activity is contributing to it. We dont always see eye to eye, do we, newt . No, but we do agree our country must take action to address Climate Change. Why would you ever do a commercial with nancy pelosi . I was really stupid. Do you believe Global Warming, manmade Global Warming is real . I believe we dont know. We dont know whats causing Climate Change. There is no such thing as Global Warming. The science is not settled on this. Hockenberry even for president obama, action on Climate Change has been only a passing reference in a close election campaign. Denying Climate Change wont make it stop. These things wont make for a brighter future. That issue is not good for them right now. If youve noticed, the president doesnt talk much about it. Hockenberry ive noticed. I mean, ive noticed that. Hockenberry does that make you feel good . I think it says a lot about the effort and i think it says a lot about americans making a decision. Its real interesting, because we dont hear barack obama talking much about it. Hockenberry i know. We dont hear mitt romney talking much about it. Hockenberry what if youre wrong . What if anybody is wrong in this debate . Hockenberry what if youre wrong . Then ill have to say im sorry. And i wish we could speed up our efforts to reverse the policies that we have supported here at cei. Hockenberry apologies or not, inaction has consequences. Temperature records broken by the hundred. Hockenberry there is now no concerted National Response to Climate Change. And delay, the Scientific Community says, is what the planet simply cant afford. Climate change is coming. It means drought, it means fire, it means suffering. The entire climate is changing. Its affecting our energy, our water, our agriculture and our health. The recordsetting drought has forced it to drink from its last reserves. The amount of sea ice on the arctic ocean, 2012 is a record low. The problem with Climate Change is, i think to Many Americans it is seen like a threat not to living generations but future generations. And with that uncertainty, and with the economic climate that we are in, americans have been unwilling to impose a tax on themselves in order to protect generatis as yet unborn. It may be that over the next ten or 15 years, americans will reconsider the ideas that were propounded by these campaigners, that theres a lot of doubt about all of the tenets of this science, and follow a different kind of intuition, which is that this is here with us now. Next te frontline. The Supreme Court put elections in the hands of corporations and big money. Montana. The surprising battleground over campaign finance. Somebody was buying the state out. More ads, more spending, more negativity. Look whos controlling the message. Its these outside groups. It doesnt corrupt the process. Its necessary for the process. Were not seeing where the moneys coming from. Whats more important to this country than free speech . Big sky, big money, a frontline election special. Frontline continues online, with a multimedia timeline that tracks the change in Public Opinion about Climate Change. David vs. Goliath. More from those behind the campaign to change the scientific and political consensus. And i think thats made a big difference. Examine the medias role. By the way, not a hybrid. Follofrontlion facebook and twitter, or share your thoughts at pbs. Org frontline. Frontlinis made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. And by the corporation for public broadcasting. Major funding is provided by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. Additional funding is provided by the park foundation, dedicated to heightening Public Awareness of critical issues. And by the frontline journalism fund. With grants from scott nathan and laura debonis, and millicent bell, through the millicent and eugene bell foundation. Major funding for this program is provided by the kendeda fund. Captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org for more on this and other frontline programs, visit our website at pbs. Org frontline. Frontlineclimate of doubt is available on dvd. To order, visit shoppbs. Org or call 1800playpbs. Frontline is also available for download on itunes. They believed they could face any hardship. Weather any storm. But nothing could prepare them. For this. From ken burns. An epic saga of lands scarred. Dreams buried. And hopes reborn. The dust bowl. Only on pbs. Susie im susie gharib with an nbr news brief. From dupont to 3m, weak blue chip earnings lead the way lower on wall street today. The dow fell 243 points, the nasdaq lost 26, and the s p was down 20. Investors liked facebooks latest earnings. The social media leader earned 12 cents a share, a penny above analysts estimates, on revenues of 1. 25 billion. After months of speculation, apple took the wraps off the ipad mini, but it boasts a not so mini starting price, 329. Late today, sirius x m satellite radio chief mel karmazin said hell step down february 1 when his Employment Contract expires. Tomorrow, Federal Reserve policymakers wrap up a twoday meeting. Economist diane swonk joins us to discuss the outcome. For more financial news, tune in to nbr weeknights on this Public Television stat