Joseph Bast

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As president of the Heartland Institute, Bast managed the institute's finances, helped organize and introduce its annual conference on climate change, and set its research and communications agenda. [8] Bast was a regular speaker at the Heartland Institute's annual conference on climate change. [9]

Bast and his wife, executive editor Diane Bast, published four monthly public policy newspapers distributed to elected officials: School Reform News, Health Care News, Budget & Tax News, and Environment & Climate News. [10]

Bast told Bloomberg News that the Heartland Institute does not deny climate change, but they are skeptical of the scientific consensus that man-made global warming is a significant danger to the planet. The Heartland Institute also believes that many of the policies to fight global warming would be damaging to the economy. [11] According to Nature, Bast does not necessarily deny that humans are having an influence on the climate, but he does question the forecasts of catastrophic impacts and the rationale for curbing carbon emissions. Bast argues that the costs of trying to prevent global warming exceed the benefits. [12]

In a Wall Street Journal interview, Bast said that he believes the climate has warmed in the second half of the 20th century and there is likely a measurable human impact on climate. He believes the human impact on global warming is likely very small and that minimal warming is not a crisis. [13]

According to Bloomberg News, Bast's skepticism of the dangers posed by global warming have made him "a favorite bogeyman of environmentalists." [11] In 2012, Bast signed off on a widely criticized ad campaign that compared global warming believers to the Unabomber. [14]

Bibliography

References

  1. Bast, Joseph (June 29, 2017). "PRESS RELEASE: Heartland Institute Names Former Congressman Tim Huelskamp Incoming President". The Heartland Institute. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  2. 1 2 Bast, Joseph (June 30, 2011). "My Eight Years as an Undergraduate". John William Pope Center. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  3. Mohr, Michele (January 8, 1995). "Think Tanks Affect You More Than You Think". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
  4. Mohr, Michele (January 8, 1995). "Back-yard Think Tanks: Heartland, Rockford Institutes Put Local Spin On National Issues". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  5. Libit, Daniel (July 7, 2014). "Climate skeptics look to prove THEIR skeptics, like Obama, wrong". CNBC. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
  6. Bast, Joseph; Spencer, Roy (May 26, 2014). "The Myth of the Climate Change '97%'". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
  7. Tollefson, Jeff (July 27, 2011). "Climate-change politics: The sceptic meets his match" . Nature. 475 (7357): 440–441. Bibcode:2011Natur.475..440T. doi:10.1038/475440a. PMID   21796181. S2CID   4429475.
  8. Goldenberg, Suzanne (May 23, 2012). "Heartland Institute in financial crisis after billboard controversy". The Guardian. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  9. Harrabin, Roger (May 21, 2010). "Climate sceptics rally to expose 'myth'". BBC News. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  10. Felsenthal, Carol (June 14, 2012). "Chicago's Heartland Institute, the Group Behind the Unabomber Billboard". Chicago Mag. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  11. 1 2 Streep, Abe (July 10, 2014). "In Las Vegas, Climate Change Deniers Regroup, Vow to Keep Doubt Alive". Bloomberg News. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  12. Howard, Brian (July 1, 2014). "8 Summer Miseries Made Worse by Global Warming, From Poison Ivy to Allergies". National Geographic. Archived from the original on July 5, 2014. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  13. "The Purloined Climate Papers". The Wall Street Journal Digital Network. February 22, 2012. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  14. Geman, Ben. "Heartland Institute yanks Unabomber climate billboard". The Hill. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
  15. Hill, Peter (June 1994). "Eco-Sanity". Property and Environment Research Center. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  16. Bedrick, Jason. "Who's Afraid of School Profits?". Cato Institute. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  17. "Rewards". Irish American News. Archived from the original on February 25, 2015. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
Joseph L. Bast
Joseph Bast Heartland.png
President of The Heartland Institute
In office
1984–2017