Tom Harris (born 1953) is a Canadian

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...

, executive director of the

climate contrarian Climate change denial (also global warming denial) is a form of science denial characterized by rejecting, refusing to acknowledge, disputing, or fighting the scientific consensus on climate change. Those promoting denial commonly use rhetor ...

International Climate Science Coalition (ICSC) and former executive director of the Natural Resources Stewardship Project. Harris has 30 years’ experience working as a mechanical engineer, project manager, and in science and technology communications. From May to September 2006, he was

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

operations director of the High Park Group, a

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

and

lobbying Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agency, regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by va ...

firm active in creating debate over

global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...

Work at the International Climate Science Coalition

The ICSC calls itself "a non-partisan group of independent scientists", but has been described as having "less to do with science than with public relations". Geochemist and

National Science Board The National Science Board (NSB) of the United States establishes the policies of the National Science Foundation (NSF) within the framework of applicable national policies set forth by the President of the United States, president and the United ...

member James Lawrence Powell contrasts the mission and principles of the ICSC with those of the

American Geophysical Union The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, Atmospheric science, atmospheric, Oceanography, ocean, Hydrology, hydrologic, Astronomy, space, and Planetary science, planetary scientists and enthusiasts that ...

. In Powell's opinion, the ICSC is a "denier organization" that "know the answers and seek only confirmation that they are right. One group of minds is open; the other closed". James Hoggan, public relations professional and Chair of the board of the David Suzuki Foundation, and Richard Littlemore of DeSmogBlog.com quoted and analyzed some paragraphs from the ICSC website. They noted that Harris's views as executive director of the ICSC were published from the same

IP address An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label such as that is assigned to a device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. IP addresses serve two main functions: network interface i ...

as and shared the tactics of the

climate change denial Climate change denial (also global warming denial) is a form of science denial characterized by rejecting, refusing to acknowledge, disputing, or fighting the scientific consensus on climate change. Those promoting denial commonly use rhetor ...

organizations New Zealand Climate Science Coalition and Australian Climate Science Coalition. The New Zealand Climate Science Coalition created the ICSC in 2007 and ICSC led the creation of the Australian Climate Science Coalition in 2008, and the Climate Science Coalition of America in 2010.

Speech at the 2008 International Conference on Climate Change

At the 2008

International Conference on Climate Change The International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC) is a climate change denial conference series organized and sponsored by The Heartland Institute which aims to bring together those who "dispute that the science is settled on the causes, con ...

hosted by the

Heartland Institute The Heartland Institute is an American conservative and libertarian 501(c)(3) nonprofit public policy think tank known for its rejection of both the scientific consensus on climate change and the negative health impacts of smoking. Founded ...

, Tom Harris gave a speech in which he discussed what he called "information sharing" and "coordinated local activism": : ..We need regular high-impact media coverage of the findings of leading scientists — not just one or two publications, but we need to have hundreds all over the world. We need to have a high degree of information sharing and cooperation between groups, so that when Vincent Gray for example has an article published in New Zealand, we can take the same piece and we can (say) submit it to newspapers all over North America and Europe.

References

External links

International Climate Science Coalition
official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Tom (lobbyist) Living people Canadian mechanical engineers Canadian lobbyists 1953 births Engineers from Ontario Scientists from Ottawa