Thank you for the info and suggestion for question - will try to ask this IF (and that's a big IF) they have Q&A from audience. I recognize the high percentage of climate-deniers amongst the panelists and hope to call that out also by stating that 97% of scientists agree that current climate change is unequivocally man-made, so why do we have such a large percentage on the panel who deny it's happening. And what does that say about McKinley - who apparently wants to hold the state back and has no realistic vision for the future. Hopefully there will be enough people in the audience who do live in reality and want to move our state forward. Thanks again.
"Liz Wiles" <liz_wiles@comcast.net>, "Jonathan Rosenbaum" <jr@wvcompletestreets.org>
"Carol Nix" <almostnixie@cs.com>, "Hannah Spencer" <hspencer@mix.wvu.edu>, "Energy Committee" <ec@osenergy.org>, "David W. Sturm" <davidsturm@ymail.com>
I would love to attend, but am getting saturated with stuff, and this one seems like it is stacked. While Anne Petsonk (Morgantown native) is the token environmentalist, she is lined up against a staffer for Inhofe, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Heritage Foundation, Dennis Avery, and John Christy. And those are just the ones I recognize. McKinely has tipped his hand based on the line-up for this event, so do not expect a rational, science-based discussion, expect propaganda and distorted science at best.
If I had the time, I would attend just to show support for Petsonk. And to ask McKinley, this question: "Even without a carbon tax, every rational expert expects coal production in West Virginia to decline by half or more in the next ten years. What will he do to replace that industry, or does he still want us to think that coal's best days are ahead?"
So do we HAVE to RSVP? Seems odd for an event hosted by our Representative and said to be "open to the public". Of course, requiring an RSVP will limit how many members of the public attend (I guess that's the point).
From: "Jonathan Rosenbaum" <jr@wvcompletestreets.org>
To: "Energy Committee" <ec@osenergy.org>, "Carol Nix" <almostnixie@cs.com>, "Sally Wilts" <sallywilts@yahoo.com>, "Liz Wiles" <liz_wiles@comcast.net>, "David W. Sturm" <davidsturm@ymail.com>, "Hannah Spencer" <hspencer@mix.wvu.edu>
Sent: Sunday, May 26, 2013 1:13:34 PM
Subject: May 30 - McKinley Climate Change Forum
May be an interesting event for some local Sierra Club members to attend:
Washington, D.C.—Today, Rep. David B. McKinley, P.E. (R-WV) announced a panel of distinguished experts in the field of climate science will conduct a panel discussion in Fairmont.
What: Discussion on the Origins and Response to Climate Change
Who: The Office of Rep. David B. McKinley, P.E. (R-WV) and the West Virginia High Tech Consortium Foundation
Where: W.Va. High Tech Consortium Foundation, 5000 NASA Boulevard, I-79 Technology Park in Fairmont, WV
When: Thursday, May 30th from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
This event is open to the media and the public. Please call 202-225-4172 for more information or to R.S.V.P.
Confirmed Attendees:
• Annie Petsonk, International Counsel of Environmental Defense Fund.
• Marc Morano, Executive Director and Chief Correspondent for ClimateDepot.com; former senior advisor, speech-writer and climate researcher for Senator James Inhofe.
• Jim Hurrell, Director, NCAR Earth System Laboratory.
• Myron Ebell, Director of Energy and Environment, Competitive Enterprise Institute.
• David Kreutzer, Ph.D., Research Fellow in Energy Economics and Climate Change, The Heritage Foundation.
• Thomas Sheahan, Ph.D., MIT educated physicist and author.
• Dennis Avery, Director, Center for Global Food Issues at the Hudson Institute and author of “Unstoppable Global Warming Every 1,500 Years”.
• Sarah Forbes, Senior Associate, World Resources Institute.
• A. Scott Denning, Professor, Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University.
• Dr. John Christy, Distinguished Professors of atmospheric science, and director of the Earth System Science Center at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.