08 Dec 2005 Climate Change Conference Report: Agence France-Presse Freaks Out

From Peyton Knight at the COP-11 climate change conference in Montreal:

While I was distributing press releases about our toilet paper emissions credits outside a U.N. climate change panel discussion, an obviously upset reporter from Agence France-Presse (regrettably, I was unable to get his name) approached me for a brief discussion regarding The National Center’s climate activities.

“Who funds you?” he angrily demanded.

I explained that individual donations make up the vast majority of our funding.

“What individuals?” he pressed.

I explained that our supporters are mostly individual Americans who believe in our mission.

Clearly disappointed that our main funding source wasn’t industry, the AFP representative moved on to another line of questioning.

“I see here that you do research. Just what kind of research do you do?” he asked, growing more hostile.

I pointed to the press release in his hand, specifically the bold portion at the top that quite clearly reveals the name of our organization — i.e. The National Center for PUBLIC POLICY Research.

Furious now, he demanded to know The National Center’s stance on global warming. I began to explain to him that it is our view that mankind is not causing the planet to get appreciably warmer. Before I could delve into any specifics, he cut me off, shouting: “Why?! Because it isn’t in the Bible?! It isn’t in Genesis?!”

He then stormed off. He was probably in a hurry to file an honest, unbiased account about the conference… or maybe not.

Agence France Presse ought to recall — but probably will not — that the ordinary Americans who fund the vast majority of the National Center’s budget are among the American taxpayers who are paying about a quarter of the U.N.’s annual budget. Meantime, a country as messed up as France could probably do with a little more praying, and a few less wisecracks about the Bible. (Same goes for us, for that matter.)

Addendum 12/8: I have now been told that the name of the the name of the Agence France Presse reporter is Richard Ingham. And, thanks to Iain Murray for mentioning this on NRO’s The Corner.