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The Heartland Institute's Seventh"International Conference on Climate Change" - the somewhat-annual gathering of climate deniers that we call Denial-a-Palooza - is underway in Chicago. Heartland's contrarian gathering this year is clouded by the group's incredibly offensivebillboard campaignthat flamed out within hours but is causing lasting damage to the group'sfading financial support from corporations, defections by staff and board directors and other headaches. 

Below is DeSmog's analysis of the"co-sponsors" of this year'sICCC7conferenceshowing that these organizations have received more than $67 million over the past three decades from ExxonMobil, the Koch Brothers and the right-wing Scaife family foundations. This is just a subset of the funding flowing to these groups from just three sources, and is certainly not all earmarked to cast doubt about climate change science and policy. But it provides a window into Heartland's current and historical support from fellow travelers who endorse the group's anti-science agenda. 

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This week, as the Heartland Institute commences itsannual conference, the organization is clearly back on its heels. Funders,experts, and even some staff are bailing,reportsThe Guardian. Apparently pushed into defensive mode by Peter Gleick and hisattempt to expose its funding, the Institute struck back with its ill-advised“you guys are kinda like madmen and murderers” billboard campaign—and, as they say, the rest is history.

Or is it?

If Heartland didn’t exist, wouldn’t some other organization simply take its place? And won't Heartland itself weather this storm? After all, new funders, like the Heritage Foundation and the Illinois Coal Association, havesprung to the institute’s defense. (Whatever else you might say about conservatives, they know how to support the team.)

I think the only conclusion that one can reach is that while Heartland might be flailing right now, climate denial itself is far, far from over.

Let’s think about this in perspective, and start with the good news.

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ANYconference worth its salt needs a nice long list of sponsors to give the impression of widespread diverse support for whatever the conference organisers are advocating.

In the case of the Heartland Institute and their advocacy for the denial of the risks of human-caused climate change, their just-started conference for climate science misinformers in Chicago can boast official supporters from as far and wide as India, England, Austria and New Zealand.

But one of the most devoted and long-standing group of supporters for their climate change denial conferences over the years has come from Australia. This year there are four Australia-based groups listed as"co-sponsors" and over the history of the seven conferences no less than nine different Australian groups have been happy to have their organisation's name hitched to Heartland's colors.

A mistaken impression could be that there's widespread support for Heartland's extremist views in Australia. The word"co-sponsor" gives the impression that these organisations are willing to actually give up money to support. 

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