Calvin Beisner

E. Calvin Beisner

Profile image of Calvin Beisner at Heartland Institute Press Conference Before Vatican’s 2015 Climate Summit, via YouTube.

Credentials

Background

E. Calvin Beisner is a former Professor of Social Ethics at Knox Theological Seminary. He was a member of the faculty as an associate professor of historical theology and social ethics from July 2000 through December 2007, but left Knox at the end of 2007.4โ€œE.ย CALVINย BEISNER,ย PH.D.โ€ (PDF), ecalvinbeisner.com, January 7,ย 2011.

In May 2007 Beisner left the PCA to help plant a new Orthodox Presbyterian Church congregation. He has served on the pastoral staff of Holy Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC).5โ€œE.ย CALVINย BEISNER,ย PH.D.โ€ (PDF), ecalvinbeisner.com, January 7,ย 2011.

Beisner is known as a โ€œleading evangelical climate-change skeptic,โ€ andย founder of the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation.6David P. Gushee.ย โ€œThe end of the Hummer ageโ€ (PDF),ย Baptists Today, December 2006 Issue (Vol. 24, No.ย 12). He has been calledย โ€œthe most influential evangelical anti-environmentalist in the United States.โ€7Aaron Weaver. โ€œTheย EPAย and Evangelical (Anti)Environmentalism,โ€ย Religion Dispatches, August 15, 2014.ย Archived May 16, 2017. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/TuKts

According to Beisner’s personal website, he was a ruling elder of the Presbyterian Church in America.ย His profile also adds that Beisner has testified before the U.S. Senate on climate change, spoken atย the 2008, 2009, and 2010 International Conferences on Climate Change hosted by the Heartland Institute, and has given talksย the Heritage Foundation and the Family Research Council, and was a guest on Fox News. Besiner designed the Cornwall Alliance’s DVD series โ€œResisting the Green Dragon.โ€8โ€œE.ย CALVINย BEISNER,ย PH.D.โ€ (PDF), ecalvinbeisner.com, January 7,ย 2011.

Among his affiliations, Beisner isย an adjunct fellow of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty,ย an adjunct scholar of the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, a fellow of the Institute on Religion and Democracy; and a member of the advisory board of the Templeton Freedom Awards program of the Atlas Economic Research Foundation (now the Atlas Network.)9โ€œE.ย CALVINย BEISNER,ย PH.D.โ€ (PDF), ecalvinbeisner.com, January 7,ย 2011.

Stance on Climate Change

May 2017

Calvin Beisner was hosted on a speaking tour in Canada where he spoke in several provinces. He expressed the following at a talk in Alberta, asserting he was not a climate change โ€œdenierโ€:10Audio and Video ofย Reformed Perspectiveย eventย on File atย DeSmog.

โ€œDo I believe that global warming is real? Absolutely. Sure. And I also believe that global cooling is real. Warming and cooling have gone back and forth cyclically throughout Earthโ€™s history. Whether youโ€™re somebody who believes in an Earth thatโ€™s billions of years old, or somebody who believes in an Earth that is perhaps eight or ten thousand years old, either way, Earthโ€™s history shows us that warming and cooling have gone back and forth cyclically all through Earthโ€™s history. 

[โ€ฆ] So, do I believe global warming is real? Yes. So, Iโ€™m not a climate change denier. Iโ€™m certainly not a climate denier.โ€ 

However, Beisner clarified that any warming that does occurย would be โ€œSo little we cannot detect it. And if itโ€™s that little, then itโ€™s not going to have all kinds of disastrous effects.โ€11Audio and Video ofย Reformed Perspectiveย eventย on File atย DeSmog.

October 1999

Beisner is a signatory12โ€œNotable Signers of the Cornwall Declaration,โ€ย Cornwall Alliance,ย October 29, 1999. Archived May 16, 2017. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/Cil6N to the The Cornwall Declaration on Environmental Stewardship, which states that there are โ€œSome unfounded or undue concerns include fears of destructive manmade global warming, overpopulation, and rampant species loss.โ€13โ€œThe Cornwall Declaration on Environmental Stewardshipโ€ (PDF),ย Cornwall Alliance. Archived .pdf on file atย DeSmog.

Key Quotes

September 25, 2019

Speaking to legislators and energy industry representatives at theย  59th Annual Meeting of the Southern States Energy Board (SSEB), Beisner declared that energy companies should embrace CO2 emissions:14โ€œ59th Annual Meetingโ€ (PDF),ย Southern States Energy Board, September 2019. Archived .pdf on file atย Desmog.

โ€œCO2 is the elixir of life. The world needs more of it not less. And fossil fuel companies should stop apologizing for it and embracing trends of emissions reductions. It never ceases to amaze me that fossil fuel companies, and industries that use fossil fuels,ย boast of reducing CO2 emissions. That just means pleading guilty and then begging for delayed execution.โ€15โ€œ59th Annual Meetingโ€ (PDF),ย Southern States Energy Board, September 2019. Archived .pdf on file atย Desmog.

You should be boasting all the benefits [โ€ฆ] that the world gets not just from all that energy that you produce but also from a mere byproduct your activities, a byproduct you give to all the world without charging them a penny.โ€16โ€œ59th Annual Meetingโ€ (PDF),ย Southern States Energy Board, September 2019. Archived .pdf on file atย Desmog.

January 31, 2018

Following President Donald Trump‘s State of the Union Address,ย Beisner said in a statement:17โ€œPRESSย RELEASE:ย HEARTLANDย INSTITUTEย EXPERTSย REACTย TOย PRESIDENTย TRUMPโ€™Sย STATEย OFย THEย UNIONย ADDRESS,โ€ย The Heartland Institute, January 31, 2018. Archived February 5, 2018. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/FeswS

โ€œThe utter absence of climate change from President Trumpโ€™s State of the Union Address stands in stark contrast to its prominence in all of former President Obamaโ€™s speeches. Whether climate alarmists here and abroad like it or not, their pet topic has fallen off the agenda for the highest official in the worldโ€™s most powerful nation and its biggest economy. Just as the Department of Defense no longer includes climate change as a national security risk, Trump no longer includes it as a risk to America or the world. His boosting coal is a clear sign that the federal governmentโ€™s love affair with diffuse, expensive, unreliable renewable energy sources like wind and solar is over. Thatโ€™s good news for Americans, yes. But itโ€™s especially good news for the poor in developing countries. Western environmentalist elites, dominating the United Nationโ€™s Environment Program and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, have bullied them for years against using coal to lift their people out of poverty. Trumpโ€™s policies give them cover to buck that bullying and put their peopleโ€™s needs first.โ€18โ€œPRESSย RELEASE:ย HEARTLANDย INSTITUTEย EXPERTSย REACTย TOย PRESIDENTย TRUMPโ€™Sย STATEย OFย THEย UNIONย ADDRESS,โ€ย The Heartland Institute, January 31, 2018. Archived February 5, 2018. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/FeswS

Mayย 2017

Speaking at an event hosted by Reformed Perspective, as part of a Canadian speaking tour, Beisner said:

โ€œIf we reduce our use of CO2 we will not make any significant difference in global average surface temperature [โ€ฆ] Poverty is a far greater risk than anything having to do with climate. [โ€ฆ] Poverty kills. Wealth keeps alive.โ€19โ€œMay Speaking Tour: Biblical Stewardship in an age of Climate Alarmism,โ€ย Reformed Perspective, April 15, 2017. Archived May 13, 2017. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/Jrb2d 20Audio and Video ofย Reformed Perspectiveย eventย on File atย DeSmog.

December 2016

โ€œOne canโ€™t help wondering if his [Pope Francis’s] embrace of climate alarmism rests on politics rather than science. 

[โ€ฆ] โ€œPresident-elect Trump, at whom the pontiff was preaching, should stick to his guns. He should announce that because President Obama never submitted the Paris treaty to the Senate for ratification, which the Constitution requires for the United States to be bound by any treaty, the U.S. is not a party to the treaty. Then, on the day heโ€™s inaugurated, he should submit the treaty to the Senate, where it will die the ignominious death it deserves.โ€21E. Calvin Meisner. โ€œPope Francis and climate politics,โ€ย The Washington Times, December 4, 2016. Archived December 27, 2016. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/uDF1F

July 2016

โ€œEven if global warming contributed to rising temperature and declining rainfall, human activity neednโ€™t have driven it. The computer models on which the IPCC depends simulate warming from rising atmospheric CO2 at two to three times the observed rate, and none simulated the absence of observed warming from early 1997 to late 2015. So they are tenuous reasons to believe human activity was the main driver.

โ€œAt most, human activity contributed a fraction of observed warming, so only a fraction of the rise in temperature and decline in rainfall, and only a fraction of that to the drought, and a fraction of that to the conflict over water.

โ€œIn short, rising population and expanding industry and agriculture were greater causes of Syrian conflict than climate changeโ€”not to mention centuries-old religio-political conflicts, which dwarf them as causes of Syriaโ€™s civil war, the rise of ISIS, and the refugee crisis. And that was but one among many reasons for Brexit.โ€22E. Calvin Beisner. โ€œDid Manmade Global Warming Cause Brexit?โ€ย CNSNews.com, July 5, 2016. Archived July 14, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmogBlog. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/MjT6w

June 2015

โ€œThe idea of human-caused climate change is โ€œun-biblical. The pope should back off. The Catholic church is correct on the ethical principles but has been misled on the science.โ€23Suzanne Goldenberg. โ€œRepublicans’ leading climate denier tells the pope to butt out of climate debate,โ€ย The Guardian, June 11, 2015.ย Archived May 16, 2017. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/3BWqk

โ€œSad to say, despite Pope Francisโ€™s best intentions, the policies he recommends to mitigate global warming would make it far more difficult to overcome poverty. And, ironically, by prolonging and even spreading poverty, those policies would put more of the natural environment at risk.โ€24(Press Release).ย โ€Participants in Heartland Institute Mission to Vatican Comment on Pope Francisโ€™s Encyclical on the Environment,โ€ย The Heartland Institute, June 17, 2015. Archived June 19, 2015. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/SzSaG

Calvin Beisner describes himself as an authority on climate change after having โ€œread some 50 books [โ€ฆ] on the science of climate changeโ€:25Kevin Grandia. โ€œCatholic Climate Science Denier Calvin Beisner Touts Expertise, Says He ‘Read Over 50 Books’,โ€ย DeSmog, June 19,ย 2015.

Juneย 2014

โ€œEnvironmentalism, as a movement, is an alternative world view and a substitute for Christianity. My principal concern about environmentalism is a religious, logical, ethical concern. My secondary concern is that its science and economics are often flawed in ways that would point us towards policies that are especially destructive and harmful to the world’s poor and, secondarily, everyone else.โ€26Leo Hickman. โ€œTheย USย evangelicals who believe environmentalism is a ‘native evil’,โ€ย The Guardian, May 5, 2011. Archived June 27, 2014. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/HxNU2

Novemberย 2012

0:56-1:27 โ€œGod has said that all of the various cycles on which life depends are going to be sustained by his providential care from now until God ends heaven and Earth themselves in the last judgment. Now that too, I think, is contrary to fears that man-made climate change could bring an end to the various different climate cycles on which we depend and on which other forms of life depend for our thriving.โ€27โ€œRight Wing Preacher: Not Using Fossil Fuels Insults God,โ€ย Climate Crocks, November 30, 2012. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/h8fIB

March 25, 2009

In his testimony before the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, Beisner declared:

โ€œI am convinced that policies meant to reduce alleged carbon dioxide-induced global warming will be destructive.โ€28โ€œTestimony of Dr. E. Calvin Beisner to the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment of the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the United States House of Representatives, Wednesday, March 25, 2009โ€ (PDF). Retrieved fromย CornwallAlliance.org. 29โ€œClimate change debunkers take stage inย USย Congress,โ€ย AFPย via Google News, March 26, 2009. Archived March 29, 2009. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/AhYWQ

Key Deeds

September 24, 2020

Beisner appeared in Marc Moranoโ€™s 2020 film Climate Hustle 2: Rise of the Climate Monarchy, produced by the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT). During a discussion about how environmentalism could be used as a pretext to usher in an authoritarian political agenda, Morano asked Beisner:ย 30Climate Hustle 2: Rise of the Climate Monarchy.ย CFACT/ย CDRย Communications, Inc.,ย 2020

โ€œBut how can they [elite politicians] possibly get all the countries to willingly agree to give up their sovereignty?โ€ 

Beisner responded:

โ€œIf you can identify a threat that is global and then say we can only respond adequately to that threat with regulations that go across national borders. Now you have a rationale for global government.โ€

September 25, 2019

Beisner was a speaker at the 59th Annual Meeting of the Southern States Energy Board (SSEB). Former EPA administrator Scott Pruitt was among the event speakers. Beisner’s speech was titled โ€œEconomic and Social Benefits of Fossil Fuelย Use.โ€ Listen to the full audio, obtained by DeSmog,ย below:31โ€œ59th Annual Meetingโ€ (PDF),ย Southern States Energy Board, September 2019. Archived .pdf on file atย Desmog.

He summarized:

โ€œI have a very simple point for you today: that because human material wellbeing depends heavily on access to abundant, affordable, reliable energy. Because fossil fuels are in the foreseeable future and will continue to be with nuclear and hydro, the world’s best source of such energy, and because of the benefits of added CO2 in the atmosphere to plant growth and consequently to the food supply for all animal and human life are enormous. The demand to reduce our use of fossil fuels, to reduce our CO2 emissions, to reduce man-made global warming, amounts to a demand to reduce human wellbeing and trap billions of people in poverty for generations to come,โ€ Beiser said during his presentation. 

He told the audience, made up of representatives from many in the energy industry, that they should embrace CO2 emissions and celebrate it:

โ€œCO2 is the elixir of life. The world needs more of it not less. And fossil fuel companies should stop apologizing for it and embracing trends of emissions reductions. It never ceases to amaze me that fossil fuel companies, and industries that use fossil fuels,ย boast of reducing CO2 emissions. That just means pleading guilty and then begging for delayed execution.โ€32โ€œ59th Annual Meetingโ€ (PDF),ย Southern States Energy Board, September 2019. Archived .pdf on file atย Desmog.

You should be boasting all the benefits [โ€ฆ] that the world gets not just from all that energy that you produce but also from a mere byproduct your activities, a byproduct you give to all the world without charging them a penny.โ€33โ€œ59th Annual Meetingโ€ (PDF),ย Southern States Energy Board, September 2019. Archived .pdf on file atย Desmog.

In his conclusion, Beisner portrays any movement away from fossil fuels as a campaign of โ€œanti-humanismโ€:34โ€œ59th Annual Meetingโ€ (PDF),ย Southern States Energy Board, September 2019. Archived .pdf on file atย Desmog.

โ€œThe campaign to fight global warming by reducing fossil fuel use is [โ€ฆ] a campaign to retain the primitive energy system and its accompanying low incomes and high rates of disease and premature death. It is in fact a campaign of anti-humanism.โ€

He also advertises the services of the Cornwall Alliance to provide โ€œexpert witnessesโ€ to influence legislation: v

โ€œThe Cornwall Alliance can provide expert witnesses for legislative committees considering various legislation related to energy and climate [โ€ฆ] we have some of the world’s top climate scientists, some of the world’s top energy economists and the like, among our network [โ€ฆ] I would certainly welcome financial support for our efforts.โ€

Inside Climate Newsย reported on the event, noting that the event had been sponsored by oil, gas, and coal companies such asย American Electric Power, Duke Energy, Marathon and Phillips 66, as well asย Koch Industries.35James Bruggers. โ€œSouthern State Energy Officials Celebrate Fossil Fuels as World Raises Climate Alarm,โ€ย Inside Climate News, September 26, 2019.ย Archived September 26, 2019. Archive.foย URL:ย https://archive.fo/UyGgF

Republican Governor Matt Bevin ofย Kentuckyย hosted the meeting.ย According to InsideClimateNews,ย He and other speakers at the conference โ€œtried to cast doubt on mainstream climate scienceโ€ and aimed to โ€œget their fossil fuel message into the schools to influence children.โ€36James Bruggers. โ€œSouthern State Energy Officials Celebrate Fossil Fuels as World Raises Climate Alarm,โ€ย Inside Climate News, September 26, 2019.ย Archived September 26, 2019. Archive.foย URL:ย https://archive.fo/UyGgF

February 4, 2018

Inย January 2018, more than 200 scientistsย endorsed an open letterย calling on the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) to remove climate change denierย Rebekah Mercerย from itsย board and toย โ€œend ties to anti-science propagandists and funders of climate science misinformation.โ€ย The New York Timesย reportedย that those among theย AMNHย letter calling for Mercer to step down wereย Michael E. Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, and Katharine Hayhoe, director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University.37Robin Pogrebin and Somini Sengupta. โ€œA Science Denier at the Natural History Museum? Scientists Rebel,โ€ย The New York Times, January 25, 2018.ย Archived February 13, 2018. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/tAIv4

Beisner was among aย group of climate change deniers who responded with their own open letter, calling for theย AMNHย โ€œnot to cave in to this pressure.โ€ The letter was signed by numerous individuals withย ties toย groups funded by theย Mercer Family Foundationย such asย Will Happerย of theย CO2ย CoalitionRichard Lindzen, a fellow at theย Cato InstituteCraig Idso, the chairman of theย Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change. There are a number of signatories affiliated with the Heartland Institute, which has received over $5.78 million from the Mercer Family Foundation since 2008.38Graham Readfearn. โ€œClimate Science Deniers Defend New Yorkโ€™s American Museum of Natural History From Calls to Drop Trustee Rebekah Mercer,โ€ย DeSmog,ย Februaryย 6,ย 2018.

Theย letter reads:39amnh18-feb4-petitionletter (PDFย – Untitled). Retrieved fromย Watts Up With That.

โ€œThe Earth has supported abundant life many times in the geological past when there were much higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It is quite likely that future generations will benefit from the enrichment of Earthโ€™s atmosphere with more carbon dioxide.

โ€œMake no mistake, the agitators are not defending science from quackery โ€” quite the contrary!โ€

May 17, 2017

The Cornwall Alliance is set to release a new documentary titled โ€œConvicted: How Climate Alarmism Harms the Worldโ€™s Poorโ€ (working title) as the sequel to โ€œWhere the Grass is Greener: Biblical Stewardship vs. Climate Alarmism.โ€40โ€œConvicted: How Climate Alarmism Harms the Worldโ€™s Poor,โ€ย The Heritage Foundation, May 17, 2017. Archived May 16, 2017. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/Fr8lN

According to event description, the film wouldย โ€œdelves into the deadly impacts of climate alarmism on people in developing countries, and what Biblical Stewardship requires of us: ‘To seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.’โ€41โ€œConvicted: How Climate Alarmism Harms the Worldโ€™s Poor,โ€ย The Heritage Foundation, May 17, 2017. Archived May 16, 2017. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/Fr8lN

The event would be co-hosted with the Heritage Foundation, featuring E. Calvin Beisner and Becky Norton Dunlop.42โ€œConvicted: How Climate Alarmism Harms the Worldโ€™s Poor,โ€ย The Heritage Foundation, May 17, 2017. Archived May 16, 2017. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/Fr8lN

Theย Convictedย trailer is available on Vimeo, from CDR Communications. Those featured in film include Tom Harris, Tim Ball, S. Fred Singer, Leighton Steward, Patrick J. Michaels, David Legates, among others.43โ€œConvicted: How Climate Alarmism Harms the Worldโ€™s Poor,โ€ย The Heritage Foundation, May 17, 2017. Archived May 16, 2017. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/Fr8lN

May 1โ€“12,ย 2017

Calvin Beisner was hosted by the groupย Reformed Perspectiveย (RP) for a speaking tour in Canada titled โ€œThe Grass is Greener: Biblical Stewardship in an Age of Climate Alarmism.โ€ The event description on the RP website reads as follows:44โ€œMay Speaking Tour: Biblical Stewardship in an age of Climate Alarmism,โ€ย Reformed Perspective, April 15, 2017. Archived May 13, 2017. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/Jrb2d

โ€œIf CO2 reductions, intended to fight future global warming, end up increasing heating costs now, should Christians be for or against them? And if these same CO2 reductions increase food costs, how will that impact the worldโ€™s poorest? Why donโ€™t we hear environmentalists talking about the negative impact of their climate change plans? Is that because there arenโ€™t any? And how does biblical stewardship differ from environmentalism in the way each views Man? Does having a Reformed perspective on the environment really matter? You bet it does!โ€45โ€œMay Speaking Tour: Biblical Stewardship in an age of Climate Alarmism,โ€ย Reformed Perspective, April 15, 2017. Archived May 13, 2017. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/Jrb2d

Reformed Perspective describes itself as a โ€œA Canadian-based monthly Christian magazine and website that looks at society and culture from a Calvinist viewpoint.โ€ A recent issueย of the RP magazine includes articles voicing concern over the inclusion of same-sex couples inย the children’s magazineย Highlights, and another article on what to do when a family member says they are gay.ย โ€œThe powerful, aggressive, LGBTQ lobbyย has been very successful in its efforts to normalize the homosexual lifestyle in our society,โ€ the article reads, which also mentions a DVD resource on the topic.

DeSmogย attended one of the events in Alberta and captured some key moments from Beisner’s presentation. Beisner said the presentation was a condensed version of a lecture he had given at Penn State one year prior titled โ€œClimate science, energy policy, poverty, and Christian faith: How do they connect?46Audio and Video ofย Reformed Perspectiveย eventย on File atย DeSmog.ย 47E. Calvin Beisner. โ€œClimate Science, Energy Policy, Poverty, and Christian Faith: How do they Connect?โ€ย Cornwall Alliance, July 26, 2016.ย Archived May 16, 2017. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/gRrdj

A central argument to Beisner’s presentation is that CO2 reductions would harm the poor. โ€œThe kinds of policies that are being recommended for us to respond to man-made global warming are policies, every one of them, that would bring enormous harm to the world’s poorest,โ€ Beisner said.48Audio and Video ofย Reformed Perspectiveย eventย on File atย DeSmog.

Citing research by Craig Idso, Beisner claims that โ€œif you project where CO2 is headed, from 2012 to 2050, You can project an added $9.3 trillion worth of crop yield around the world. [โ€ฆ]ย This is a very, very good thing for the world’s poor.โ€ Heย implies that, conversely,ย environmentalists may want people to die off in order to reduce global population:49Audio and Video ofย Reformed Perspectiveย eventย on File atย DeSmog.

โ€œSometimes I wonder whether some of the environmentalists want us to be able to feed a growing human population. The top leaders of the world’s largest environmental NGOs [โ€ฆ] generally agree that the maximum sustainable human population is about half a billion people. Which means we have to get rid of about 95% of us. So, maybe they’re not real excited about being able to feed more people. But I am. Because I value people. Because people are made in God’s image.

They are crowned with glory and honor and given dominion over everything that moves on the face of the Earth. We are the pinnacle of creation. We are not, as environmentalists tend to describe us, basically just consumers and polluters using up the Earth’s resources. The Earth’s resources? How does the Earth own anything? And polluting the planet while we’re at it. That’s not what we are made to be. We are made to be producers and stewards of God’s Earth.โ€50Audio and Video ofย Reformed Perspectiveย eventย on File atย DeSmog.

Beisner also addressed his views on climate change, asserting that it is natural and cyclical, while remaining open to those who might believe in โ€œa Earth that is perhaps eight or ten thousand years oldโ€:

โ€œDo I believe that global warming is real? Absolutely. Sure. And I also believe that global cooling is real. Warming and cooling have gone back and forth cyclically throughout Earthโ€™s history. Whether youโ€™re somebody who believes in an Earth thatโ€™s billions of years old, or somebody who believes in an Earth that is perhaps eight or ten thousand years old, either way, Earthโ€™s history shows us that warming and cooling have gone back and forth cyclically all through Earthโ€™s history. 

[โ€ฆ] So, do I believe global warming is real? Yes. So, Iโ€™m not a climate change denier. Iโ€™m certainly not a climate denier.โ€ 

He addedย that any warming that does occurย would be โ€œโ€œSo little we cannot detect it. And if itโ€™s that little, then itโ€™s not going to have all kinds of disastrous effects.โ€51Audio and Video ofย Reformed Perspectiveย eventย on File atย DeSmog.

According to Beisner, โ€œthe whole concept of global average temperature is almost meaningless.โ€ Heย quotes his โ€œfriend Doctor Richard Lindzenโ€ who said that โ€œ’the appropriate response to this,โ€™ using very technical scientific language, is โ€˜so what?โ€™โ€52Audio and Video ofย Reformed Perspectiveย eventย on File atย DeSmog.

Referring to the research process conductedย by Roy Spencer, Beisner said it just doesn’t make sense that โ€œGod designed a climate system that, with a tiny, tiny change in global average surface temperature would go into collapseโ€:53Audio and Video ofย Reformed Perspectiveย eventย on File atย DeSmog.

โ€œGod did promise Himself, Genesis 822, after the flood, that as long as heaven and Earth endured, day and night, summer and winter, cold and heat, seed time to harvest would not cease. So we have Godโ€™s own promise of sustaining the cycle on which life depends,โ€ Beisner said.54Audio and Video ofย Reformed Perspectiveย eventย on File atย DeSmog.

Beisner, who earlier in his talk described climate science as โ€œthe most complex natural system weโ€™ve ever studied with the exception of the human brain and DNA,โ€ describes CO2 and temperature as โ€œpretty basic scientific reasoningโ€:55Audio and Video ofย Reformed Perspectiveย eventย on File atย DeSmog.

โ€œOn long time periods, CO2 follows temperatures by about 200 to 800 years. But on fairly short time periods of a century or less, CO2 changes about nine to twelve-and-a-half months after temperature changes. Which means, to speak in technical scientific terms again, that the alarmists have put the cart before the horse. This is not rocket science. Itโ€™s not that difficult to understand these things. This is pretty basic scientific reasoning.โ€œ56Audio and Video ofย Reformed Perspectiveย eventย on File atย DeSmog.

He describes renewable energy as โ€œimmoral,โ€ and urges the audience to tell their local officials to stay out of the Paris Climate Agreement:57Audio and Video ofย Reformed Perspectiveย eventย on File atย DeSmog.

โ€œIn Britain, excess winter death rates have risen by more than 300% since the early 2000s because of the policies theyโ€™re pushing for more wind and solar and less use of coal and natural gas to generate electricity. This I think is immoral. The 2nd great commandment says love thy neighbor as thyself. [โ€ฆ]58Audio and Video ofย Reformed Perspectiveย eventย on File atย DeSmog.

โ€œI want you to communicate to your elected representatives [โ€ฆ] telling them, Iย donโ€™t want us participating in the Paris Climate Agreement or any other mandated reduction of CO2 emissions and fossil fuel use because I want to protect the poor from harm.โ€59Audio and Video ofย Reformed Perspectiveย eventย on File atย DeSmog.

May 8, 2017

Beisner, representing the Cornwall Alliance, is a signatory to an open letterย to President Donald J. Trump urging him โ€œto withdraw fully from the Paris Climate Treaty and to stop all taxpayer funding of UN global warming programs.โ€60โ€œDear Mr. Presidentโ€ (PDF), Competitive Enterprise Institute, May 8, 2017. Archived .pdf on file atย DeSmog.

DeSmogย reported that the 40 groups represented in the letter, including theย Competitive Enterprise Instituteย (CEI),ย The Heartland Institute, and theย Heritage Foundation,ย have received a combined total of millions of dollars from the Koch Brothers, ExxonMobil, and other industry groups.61Graham Readfearn. โ€œConservative Groups Pushing Trump To Exit Paris Climate Deal Have Taken Millions From Koch Brothers, Exxon,โ€ย DeSmog, May 10,ย 2017.

Analysis also showed that the groups accepted about $80 million through Donors Capital Fundย andย Donors Trust, two groups that haveย been confirmedย is a key financial source for key U.S-based climate change denial groups.62Susanne Goldberg. โ€œConservative groups spend up to $1bn a year to fight action on climate change,โ€ย The Guardian, December 20, 2013.ย Archived May 12, 2017. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/TB2yy

March 23, 2017

Beisner was a speaker at the Heartland Institute‘s 12th International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC12). He spoke on Panel 1A, entitled โ€œEnvironmental Economics.โ€63โ€œE.ย CALVINย BEISNER,โ€ Climateconferences.heartland.org. Archived April 5, 2017. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/hLGc6

February 23, 2017

Calvin Beisner was a signatory of a petition (PDF) organized by Richard Lindzen of the Cato Institute urging President Donald Trump to pull the United States out of the United Nations international convention on climate change (UNFCCC).64โ€œPETITIONโ€ (PDF),ย February 23, 2017. Richard Lindzen.ย PDFย Archived atย DeSmog.

โ€œIn just a few weeks, more than 300 eminent scientists and other qualified individuals from around the world have signed the petition below,โ€ Lindzen wrote in the letter.65โ€œPETITIONโ€ (PDF),ย February 23, 2017. Richard Lindzen.ย PDFย Archived atย DeSmog.

DeSmog investigated the list, and found that only a small handful of the signatories could be considered โ€œeven remotely โ€˜qualifiedโ€™ or โ€˜eminentโ€™ โ€” but not in the field of climate science.โ€ The list included individuals โ€œinterested in climate,โ€ and one signatory who only identified as an โ€œemailer who wished to sign the petitionโ€ while some signers provided no affiliation or address whatsoever.66Graham Readfearn. โ€œClimate Science Denier Richard Lindzen’s List of 300 โ€œScientistsโ€ Sent to Trump Is the Usual Parade of Non-Experts,โ€ย DeSmog, February 27,ย 2017.

January 5, 2017

Calvin Beisner was a signatory to a Cornwall Allianceย open letter supporting Scott Pruitt forย EPAย Administratorย under the Trump administration.67โ€œOpen Letter Supporting Scott Pruitt forย EPAย Administrator,โ€ย Cornwall Alliance, January 5, 2017. Archived January 19, 2017. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/xMash

โ€œMr. Pruitt has also demonstrated understanding of and open-mindedness toward scientific insights crucial to the formulation and implementation of environmental regulation. He is prepared to hear all sides in debates over the risks and benefits of various activities that come under the purview of theย EPA,โ€ reads theย letter.68โ€œOpen Letter Supporting Scott Pruitt forย EPAย Administrator,โ€ย Cornwall Alliance, January 5, 2017. Archived January 19, 2017. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/xMash

On January 12, 2017,ย Senate Democrats raised conflict of interest concernsย regarding Scott Pruitt’s fossil fuel ties. Pruitt had spent years working to combat the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan.69Ben Jervey. โ€œMappingย EPAย Nominee Scott Pruitt’s Many Fossil Fuel Ties,โ€ย DeSmog,ย Januaryย 13,ย 2017.

In an open letter to the Office of Government Ethics, members of the Senate’s environmental panelย commented:70Ben Jervey. โ€œMappingย EPAย Nominee Scott Pruitt’s Many Fossil Fuel Ties,โ€ย DeSmog,ย Januaryย 13,ย 2017.

โ€œDuring his tenure as Attorney General of Oklahoma, Mr. Pruitt has blurred the distinction between official and political actions, often at the behest of corporations he will regulate if confirmed to leadย EPA,โ€ the letter said. โ€œPublic reporting based on documents produced by Freedom of Information Act requests illustrate how Mr. Pruitt and members of his staff have worked closely with fossil fuel lobbyists to craft his office’s officialย positions.โ€71Ben Jervey. โ€œMappingย EPAย Nominee Scott Pruitt’s Many Fossil Fuel Ties,โ€ย DeSmog,ย Januaryย 13,ย 2017.

Pruitt wasย further grilled on his fossil fuel ties at his confirmation hearing on January 18. ย Some notable signatories of the Cornwall Alliance letter, as of January 5, 2017,ย included:72Ben Jervey and Steve Horn. โ€œEPAย Nominee Scott Pruitt Gets Grilled on Fossil Fuel Ties at Confirmation Hearing,โ€ย DeSmog, Januaryย 18,ย 2017.

June 30, 2016

Calvin Beisner wrote an article in Townhall describing theย supposed โ€œanti-energy agendaโ€ of environmental groups in 2016. Heย chastises groups who opposed hydraulic fracturing (fracking) at platform committee meetings in 2016.73Calvin Beisner. โ€œDo Fringe Green Activists Want to Ban Energy Sanity from Democrat Platform?โ€ย Townhall, June 30, 2016. Archived July 6, 2016. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/EgCfN

โ€œTest after test has confirmed that the [fracking] process is safe and, contrary to vocal activistsโ€™ emotionally calculated claims, does not impact drinking water,โ€ Beisner said. โ€œNot only would a fracking ban reverse Americaโ€™s advance toward energy independence, but the cost of heating homes and fueling cars would skyrocket almost overnight.โ€74Calvin Beisner. โ€œDo Fringe Green Activists Want to Ban Energy Sanity from Democrat Platform?โ€ย Townhall, June 30, 2016. Archived July 6, 2016. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/EgCfN

According to Beisner, the โ€œgreen radicalsโ€ had another platform demand that was โ€œjust plain bonkers.โ€ He describes the โ€œKeep it in the groundโ€ strategy as โ€œtragically naรฏveโ€ and claims that โ€œhigher-priced wind and solar would induce the green energy poverty, already widespread in Great Britain and for the same reason, that literally kills those who can no longer afford to protect themselves from heat and cold.โ€75Calvin Beisner. โ€œDo Fringe Green Activists Want to Ban Energy Sanity from Democrat Platform?โ€ย Townhall, June 30, 2016. Archived July 6, 2016. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/EgCfN

โ€œReasonable people recognize that green activistsโ€™ proposed ‘solutions’ย have truly ‘jumped the shark’ this year,โ€ Beisner concluded. โ€œThey have no basis in reality. As we debate ways to protect our environment and our water quality, we must balance the task of sound environmental stewardship with the critical need for abundant, affordable, reliable energy.โ€76Calvin Beisner. โ€œDo Fringe Green Activists Want to Ban Energy Sanity from Democrat Platform?โ€ย Townhall, June 30, 2016. Archived July 6, 2016. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/EgCfN

June 10, 2016

Calvin Beisnerย wrote an open letter to U.S. attorneys general about climate change, representing the Cornwall Alliance.77E. Calvin Beisner. โ€œOpen Letter to Attorneys General about Climate Change,โ€ Cornwall Alliance, June 10, 2016. Archived June 24, 2016. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/N0m9z

The letter respondsย to recent investigations by U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and members of Attorneys General United for Clean Power78David Hasemyer. โ€œClimate Fraud Investigation of Exxon Draws Attention of 17 Attorneys General,โ€ย InsideClimate News, March 30, 2016.ย Archived June 24, 2016. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/z5Yc1 into what ExxonMobil knew about climate change and when, started by a coalition of attorneys general in the US.79Ben Jervey. โ€œState Investigations Into What Exxon Knew Double, and Exxon Gets Defensive,โ€ย DeSmog, April 1,ย 2016.

Beisner writes that the attorneys generals’ actions are โ€œa dead giveaway that youโ€™re ignorant about climate science and related climate and energy policy.โ€80E. Calvin Beisner. โ€œOpen Letter to Attorneys General about Climate Change,โ€ Cornwall Alliance, June 10, 2016. Archived June 24, 2016. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/N0m9z

โ€œ[U]nlike in the case of tobaccoโ€™s health risks, there are innumerable and enormous holes in the case (not for human contribution to global warming but) for manmade global warming dangerous enough to justify spending trillions of dollars reinventing the worldโ€™s energy system to mitigate it, particularly when competing use of those trillions might bring far greater benefit,โ€ Beisner addresses the attorneys general. And you, intelligent and learned all, are ignorant of those enormous holes.โ€81E. Calvin Beisner. โ€œOpen Letter to Attorneys General about Climate Change,โ€ Cornwall Alliance, June 10, 2016. Archived June 24, 2016. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/N0m9z

Signatories of the Cornwall Alliance’s open letter include:82E. Calvin Beisner. โ€œOpen Letter to Attorneys General about Climate Change,โ€ Cornwall Alliance, June 10, 2016. Archived June 24, 2016. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/N0m9z

November 19, 2015

E. Calvin Beisner was a speaker at an event hosted by the Texas Public Policy Foundation titled โ€œAt the Crossroads Energyย &ย Climate Policy Summit.โ€ย Beisner spoke as part of Session III, entitled โ€œEnergy Poverty.โ€83โ€œAt The CrossRoads Energyย &ย Climate Policy Summit,โ€ Crossroads-Summit.com. Archived July 4, 2016. Archived .pdf onย fileย atย DeSmog.

Speakers included:

Robert E. MurrayFounder, Chairman, President, and CEO of Murray Energy Corporation, the nationโ€™s largest underground coal mining commpany.
H. Leighton StewardMember, TheRightClimateStuff.com
Dr. Don EasterbrookProfessor Emeritus of Geology at Western Washington University
Dr. Will HapperCyrus Fogg Brackett Professor of Physics, Emeritus, Princeton University
Dr. Richard LindzenAlfred P. Sloan Professor of Meteorology, Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, MIT
Dr. Patrick MooreAuthor and founding member of Greenpeace
Dr. E. Calvin BeisnerSpokesman for the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation
Horace CooperAdjunct Fellow, National Center for Public Policy Research
Dr. Caleb RossiterAdjunct Professor, School of International Service and Adjunct Professor, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, College of Arts and Sciences at American University
Mark P. MillsSenior Fellow, Manhattan Institute and founder andCEO, Digital Power Group
Dr. Hal DoironFormer NASA Engineer and Chairman, The Right Climate Stuff Research Team
Walter CunninghamFighter Pilot, Col. USMCR-Ret.; Physicist; Apollo 7 Astronaut
Dr. George L. StegemeierPresident, GLS Engineering, Inc.
Stephen MooreDistinguished Visiting Fellow on the Project for Economic Growth at the Heritage Foundation
Robert L. Bradley Jr.CEO, Institute for Energy Research
Mike NasPartner, Environmental and Legislative Affairs Practice Group, Jackson Walker L.L.P.
Marc MoranoFounder, ClimateDepot.com
Ray GiffordPartner, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP
Brian LloydExecutive Director, Public Utility Commission of Texas
John CornynU.S. Senator and Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn

June 17, 2015

Calvin E. Beisner released a statement regarding Pope Francis’s Encyclical on the Environment, posted in a press release at the Heartland Institute website:

โ€œSad to say, despite Pope Francisโ€™s best intentions, the policies he recommends to mitigate global warming would make it far more difficult to overcome poverty. And, ironically, by prolonging and even spreading poverty, those policies would put more of the natural environment at risk.

People worried about putting food on the table, clothes on the back, and a roof over the head canโ€™t afford to care or do much about air, water, and solid waste pollution. Gathering enough twigs and branches to cook tonightโ€™s measly meal and heat a miserable hut take precedence over any concerns about deforestation, soil erosion, and biodiversity loss.

Wealth enables people to afford better environmental stewardship. Pope Francis should champion economic development as a solution both to poverty and to environmental degradation. Unfortunately, at least as regards climate change, the leaked draft of the new encyclical does the opposite.โ€84(Press Release).ย โ€Participants in Heartland Institute Mission to Vatican Comment on Pope Francisโ€™s Encyclical on the Environment,โ€ย The Heartland Institute, June 17, 2015. Archived June 19, 2015. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/SzSaG

Calvin Beisner also wrote an article in theย Washington Times titled โ€œThe ironies of Pope Francisโ€™s climate-change cureโ€ย where Beisner claims โ€œThe sections on climate change are riddled with vigorously debated, if not outright false, claims.โ€ Beisner also includes โ€œfour relevant facts,โ€ most of which refer to inaccuracy of climate models. This argument has been thoroughly addressed at SkepticalScience.85E. Calvin Beisner. โ€œThe ironies of Pope Francisโ€™s climate-change cure,โ€ย The Washington Times, June 17, 2015. Archived June 20, 2015. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/7YBcV

Beisner also writes that fossil fuel use and economic development should be promoted as a way to reduce poverty:86E. Calvin Beisner. โ€œThe ironies of Pope Francisโ€™s climate-change cure,โ€ย The Washington Times, June 17, 2015. Archived June 20, 2015. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/7YBcV

โ€œWealth enables people to afford better environmental stewardship. Pope Francis should champion economic development as solution both to poverty and to environmental degradation.โ€87E. Calvin Beisner. โ€œThe ironies of Pope Francisโ€™s climate-change cure,โ€ย The Washington Times, June 17, 2015. Archived June 20, 2015. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/7YBcV

April 27, 2015

Calvin Beisner spoke at the Heartland Institute’s โ€œPrebuttalโ€ press conference at the Hotel Columbus in Rome as part of an initiative by the Heartland Instituteย to tell Pope Francis that โ€œglobal warming is not a crisis.โ€ See the video below.88โ€œTell Pope Francis: Global Warming Is Not a Crisis!โ€ย The Heartland Institute. Archived June 19, 2015. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/YhU2k

September 26, 2014

Calvin Beisner attends the โ€œAt the Crossroads; Energy & Climate Policy Summitโ€ in Houston, Texas, hosted by the Texas Public Policy Foundationย and The Heritage Foundation. Beisner presentedย in โ€œPanel V: Prosperity and Poverty,โ€ with Leighton Steward, Kathleen Hartnett White, and Caleb Rossiter.89โ€œSpeakers,โ€ At the Crossroads; Energyย &ย Climate Policy Summit, Texas Public Policy Foundation, The Heritage Foundation,ย Septemberย 25/26,ย 2014.

July 7โ€“9,ย 2014

Calvin Beisner was aย speakerย at theย Heartland Instituteโ€™s Ninth International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC9) in Las Vegas, Nevada.90โ€œReturn of Climate Denial-a-Palooza: Heartland Institute Hitches Anti-Science Wagon to Vegas FreedomFest,โ€ย DeSmog, July 7, 2014. Archived July 14,ย 2014. ย His speech, titled โ€œPunish Your Enemies, Plunder the Poor: How EPAโ€™s New CO2 Emissions Rule Turns Christian Ethics on Upside Downโ€ can be viewedย below.ย 

DeSmog has done in-depth research on the other speakers and sponsors from Heartland’s ICCC9, which can be foundย here.91โ€œReturn of Climate Denial-a-Palooza: Heartland Institute Hitches Anti-Science Wagon to Vegas FreedomFest,โ€ย DeSmog, July 7, 2014. Archived July 14,ย 2014.

August 29, 2012
Calvin Beisner wrote about Cornwallโ€™s efforts to produce grade school curriculum.92E. Calvin Beisner. “Your Tax Dollars at Work โ€“ Stealing Your Childโ€™s Mind!Cornwall Alliance, August 29, 2012. Archived March 29, 2023.

โ€œFor generations Americaโ€™s public schools have indoctrinated our children with the dogma of Darwinism: life arose and developed by chance, no Creator involved. Now theyโ€™re poised to indoctrinate them with another dogma: catastrophic, global warmingโ€”not just global warming, but catastrophic, anthropogenic global warming (CAGW). Never mind that in both cases thousands of scientists reject the dogmas,โ€ he wrote.

“One of the aims of In His Image 2012, the Cornwall Allianceโ€™s new educational venture, is to prepare environmental stewardship curriculum for grades Kโ€“12โ€”curriculum that will be firmly rooted in Biblical worldview, theology, and ethics, coupled with excellent science and economics. We plan to make a first edition of that curriculum suitable for Christian private and home schools, and a second edition suitable for public and secular private schools. The need just became more obvious than ever.”

Mayย 2010

Beisner was a speaker at the Heartland Institute‘s fourth International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC4.)93โ€œ4th International Conference on Climate Changeโ€ (PDF),ย The Heartland Institute. Retrieved from University of Hartford web server, March 1,ย 2012.

His speech, titled โ€œHow Environmentalists Have Targeted Evangelicals to Create the Appearance of Mass Public Support of Anthropogenic Global Warming Mitigationโ€ can be viewed below. 

DeSmog has done research on the co-sponsors of the conference and found that 19 of the 65 sponsors (including Heartland itself) have received a total of over $40 million in funding since 1985 from ExxonMobilKoch Industries family foundations or the Scaife family foundations.   

2010

The Cornwall Alliance released a campaign to combat popular views regarding global warming. The campaign is titled โ€œResisting the Green Dragonโ€ and includes a video series described as a โ€œbiblical response to one of the greatest deceptions of our day.โ€94Lee Fang. โ€œExclusive: The Oily Operators Behind The Religious Climate Change Denial Front Group, Cornwall Alliance,โ€ย ThinkProgress, June 15, 2010. Archived May 16, 2017.ย Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/pwSis

The series, designed by Beisner, portrays those who belief in climate change as following a โ€œfalse religion.โ€95Lee Fang. โ€œExclusive: The Oily Operators Behind The Religious Climate Change Denial Front Group, Cornwall Alliance,โ€ย ThinkProgress, June 15, 2010. Archived May 16, 2017.ย Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/pwSis

March 25, 2009

At a 2009 House hearing titled โ€œAdaption Policies on Climate Legislation,โ€ Beisner expressed his โ€œbalanced biblical viewโ€ on climate change.96โ€œClimate change debunkers take stage inย USย Congress,โ€ย AFPย via Google News, March 26, 2009. Archived March 29, 2009. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/AhYWQ

A key speaker at the hearing, who Beisner also points to for his evidence, is prominent climate change skeptic Christopher Monckton.97โ€œClimate change debunkers take stage inย USย Congress,โ€ย AFPย via Google News, March 26, 2009. Archived March 29, 2009. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/AhYWQ

Beisner proclaims that he is โ€œconvinced that policies meant to reduce alleged carbon dioxide-induced global warming will be destructive, devising mischief by decree.โ€98โ€œClimate change debunkers take stage inย USย Congress,โ€ย AFPย via Google News, March 26, 2009. Archived March 29, 2009. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/AhYWQ

According to Beisner, โ€œThese findings, opposite the expectations of the IPCC, are consistent with the Biblical world.โ€ He describes the IPCC‘s view as โ€œAtheistic.โ€99โ€œClimate change debunkers take stage inย USย Congress,โ€ย AFPย via Google News, March 26, 2009. Archived March 29, 2009. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/AhYWQ

View Beisner’s full testimony before theย Subcommittee on Energy and Environment of the Committee on Energy and Commerce here.100โ€œTestimony of Dr. E. Calvin Beisner to the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment of the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the United States House of Representatives, Wednesday, March 25, 2009โ€ (PDF). Retrieved fromย CornwallAlliance.org.

March 2009

Beisner was a speaker at the Heartland Institute‘s second International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC2).101โ€œSecond International Conference on Climate Change, Program,โ€ (PDF)ย Heartland Institute. Archived January 23,ย 2018.ย 

His speech was titled โ€œRemember the poor: A Christian Perspective on Energy Rationing.โ€ 

DeSmogย researched the fundingย behind the conference and found that sponsor organizations had collectively received over $47 million from energy companies and right-wing foundations, with 78% of that total coming from theย Scaife Familyย ofย foundations.

March 2008

Beisner was a speaker at the the Heartland Institute’s first International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC1). His speech, titled โ€œScientific Orthodoxies, Politicized Science, and Catastrophic Manmade Warming: Challenges to Evangelicals Navigating Rough Waters in Science and Policyโ€ can be viewed below.102โ€œE. Calvin Beisner,ย ICCC1,โ€ย International Conferences on Climate Change: The Heartland Institute. Archived May 16, 2017. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/4i2wb

July, 2006

Beisner co-authored a Interfaith Stewardship Alliance (ISA) report refuting the work of an opposing religious organization called the Evangelical Climate Initiative. The ISA report was titled A Call to Truth, Prudence and Protection of the Poor: an Evangelical Response to Global Warming.103โ€œA Call to Truth, Prudence, and Protection of the Poor: An Evangelical Response to Global Warmingโ€ (PDF),ย Cornwall Alliance,ย 2006. Archived .pdf on file atย DeSmog.

Co-authors of the report included Paul K. Driessen, Ross McKitrick, and Roy W. Spencer.

Octoberย 2006

Beisner debated the primary author of the Evangelical Climate Initiative’s โ€œ’Climate Change: An Evangelical Call to Action.’โ€104โ€œEvangelicalsย &ย Global Warming, A Formal Debate,โ€ย Cornwall Alliance. Archived May 16, 2017. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/Da88r

2005

At the time of ISA‘s launch, the organization released a reportย titled, โ€œAn Examination of the Scientific, Ethical and Theological Implications of Climate Change Policy.โ€105โ€œAn Examination of the Scientific, Ethical and Theological Implications of Climate Change Policyโ€ (PDF),ย Interfaith Stewardship Alliance, 2005. Archived .pdf on file atย DeSmog.

The purpose of the report was to โ€œexamine the scientific questions surrounding global warming, carbon reductions, and puts forth Biblical principles that can guide Christians in making policy decisions on the environment.โ€106โ€œAn Examination of the Scientific, Ethical and Theological Implications of Climate Change Policyโ€ (PDF),ย Interfaith Stewardship Alliance, 2005. Archived .pdf on file atย DeSmog.

The report was written by Calvin Beisner, Roy Spencer and Paul Driessen.107โ€œAn Examination of the Scientific, Ethical and Theological Implications of Climate Change Policyโ€ (PDF),ย Interfaith Stewardship Alliance, 2005. Archived .pdf on file atย DeSmog.

February 5โ€“8,ย 1998

Beisner was a speaker at a conference hosted by the Atlas Economic Research Foundation (AERF) onย โ€œPoverty and the Environment.โ€ย Beisner’s talk was titled โ€œThe Human Dimensions of Poverty.โ€108โ€œPoverty and the Environment: Global Lessons โ€“ Local Solutions,โ€ Atlas-fdn.org. Archived February 4, 1998. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/Ckbbb

According to the conference event description, โ€œThis Atlas Economic Research Foundation conference will bring together scholars and government officials from the Americas, to discuss the interrelationships between poverty, human health and environmental quality. For two days, speakers, panelists and commentators will examine deep-rooted problems โ€ฆ evaluate how nations have sought to solve them with central planning and governmental mandates โ€ฆ explore market-oriented alternatives to command-and-control approaches โ€ฆ and address the pros and cons of international treaties and protocols that often involve one-size-fits- all ‘solutions’ย to narrowly defined environmental problems and concerns.โ€109โ€œPoverty and the Environment: Global Lessons โ€“ Local Solutions,โ€ Atlas-fdn.org. Archived February 4, 1998. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/Ckbbb

The event, hosted in Orlando, Florida,ย included a tour of Disney World’s waste management facility, followed by speaker discussions on โ€œglobal treaties and local solutions in the areas of packaging, solid wastes, wastewater treatment, air quality and related issues.โ€ The full list of speakers was as follows:110โ€œPoverty and the Environment: Global Lessons โ€“ Local Solutions,โ€ Atlas-fdn.org. Archived February 4, 1998. Archive.isย URL:ย https://archive.is/Ckbbb

NameAffiliationCountry
Alejandro ChafuenAtlas Economic Research FoundationUSA
Hernan BรผchiInstituto Libertad y DesarrolloChile
Lynn ScarlettReason FoundationUSA
Sally PipesPacific Research InstituteUSA
Calvin BeisnerCovenant CollegeUSA
Jo KwongAtlas Economic Research Foundation 
Terry AndersonPERCUSA
Harry TeasleyFormer President, Coca Cola Nestle Refreshments CompanyUSA
Roy MecklenburgWalt Disney WorldUSA
Monica Ozores-HamptonUniversity of FloridaUSA
Moderator: Deroy MurdockAtlas Economic Research FoundationUSA
Fred SmithCompetitive Enterprise InstituteUSA
Harvey AlterChamber of CommerceUSA
Henry MillerHoover InstituteUSA
Roger BateInstitute of Economic AffairsUnited Kingdom
Enrique GhersiCITELPeru
Roberto FendtInstituto LiberalRio de Janeiro, Brazil
Patricia VasquezFundacion RepublicaArgentina
Harvey AlterChamber of CommerceUSA
Charles StittFormer Deputy Mayor, City of IndianapolisUSA
Luis DiazCalRecovery, Inc.USA
Doug ReichlanUnited Water ServicesUSA
Maria Isabel Di MareUniversidad Autonoma de Centro AmericaCosta Rica
Fernando Von ZubenCEMPREBrazil
Arturo DavilaProcesaMexico
Ana Maria GarmendiaSUSTENTAMexico
Hon. Armando RibasFormer Member of Congress, ArgentinaArgentina

Affiliations

Social Media

Publications

Although Beisner has not written any peer-reviewed papers on the subject of climate change, he has written many articles criticizing the science of global warming in the context of the Evangelical faith, including:

A full list of his publications is available on his website. A sample of his free articles below:

In 2005, Beisner wrote an article titled โ€œAggressive Secularism Evident in Judgeโ€™s Ruling Barring Intelligent Design from Dover Schoolsโ€™ Biology Curriculumโ€ criticizing a judicial ruling barring intelligent design from a biology class curriculum. Beisnerย wrote:117E. Calvin Beisner.ย โ€œAggressive Secularism Evident in Judgeโ€™s Ruling Barring Intelligent Design from Dover Schoolsโ€™ Biology Curriculumโ€ (PDF), ecalvinbeisner.com, December 21,ย 2005.

โ€œ[T]he aggressive, extreme secularism that would reject all reference in biology studies to intelligent design of irreducibly complex structures is more patently unscientific and more obviously religious than what most people have encountered in discussing evolution and creation. Perhaps a few more will waken now to the fact that the public schools are the enemy, not the friend, and not even a neutral party to Christians, and therefore (a) remove their kids from them and (b) stop working with them.โ€ (emphasis added).118E. Calvin Beisner.ย โ€œAggressive Secularism Evident in Judgeโ€™s Ruling Barring Intelligent Design from Dover Schoolsโ€™ Biology Curriculumโ€ (PDF), ecalvinbeisner.com, December 21,ย 2005.

In 1990, Beisner wrote a piece criticizing the need for further federal spending on AIDS research, treatment and education. In the article Beisner asks, โ€œis it rational to allocate $3.5 billion dollars to fight a disease that is almost 100 percent self-inflicted by people intent on immoral and irrational behavior?โ€ (emphasis added).119E. Calvin Beisner.ย โ€œAIDSย and Rationalityโ€ (PDF), ecalvinbeisner.com, November 23,ย 2006.

Beisner goes on to claim that the โ€œsimple fact is that militant homosexuals have a potent lobby on Capitol Hill and at the White House. They know how to get politicians’ attention. Only that can explain the irrational policies that have prevailed toward AIDS.โ€ (emphasis added).120E. Calvin Beisner.ย โ€œAIDSย and Rationalityโ€ (PDF), ecalvinbeisner.com, November 23,ย 2006.

Other Resources

Resources

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