Early last month, the Center for Industrial Progress published a letter on their website. Signed by dozens of “scientists, professors, and energy experts” from leading universities, it called for an honest and thoughtful response to the divestment movement and a renewed focus on education and internal debate. Signatories included senior fellows at Stanford, professors from Princeton, and administrators at Duke. Even researchers from Harvard, Penn, and the University of Chicago got on board.
Notably absent from this coalition, however, was any representative from the College on the Hill. Given the events of the past few months, this absenteeism is particularly surprising. On a campus that has repeatedly kowtowed to militant demands for “free debate and open dialogue” and canceled classes in the name of “acceptance and conversation,” not one member of the faculty, staff, or administration was willing to back a petition calling for an open and fair engagement with energy policies.
Dartmouth, then, appears to be wrangling with an ugly case of what William R. F. Buckley famously termed “liberal fascism.” In such a world, debate, the cornerstone of a free society, is only acceptable when its agenda is set by those with whom you agree. Once the other side requests an audience, however, childish displays of protest, non-engagement, and walkouts become the norm. As a result, it seems that Dartmouth has yet another problem, one that won’t be resolved by teach-ins or Safety and Security officers at every door: it has become a place where honest inquiry and a meritocracy of ideas are discussed but seldom practiced. For the sake of its students and the communities it serves, the College must be become a more open and accepting place or risk the failings of doctrinaire instruction.
The Center for Industrial Progress’ letter is reproduced below:
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June 5, 2013
Dear American Universities, You have no doubt heard the calls by certain environmentalist groups for you to publicly divest your endowments of any investments in the fossil fuel industry. We ask that you reject these calls as an attempt to silence legitimate debate about our energy and environmental future. The leaders of the divestment movement say it is not debatable that the fossil fuel industry is “Public Enemy Number One”—that it deserves to be publicly humiliated by having America’s leading educational institutions single it out for divestment. But the divestment movement refuses to grapple with, let alone educate students about, the staggering, and arguably irreplaceable, benefits we derive from that industry. The fossil fuel industry produces 87 percent of the energy people around the world use to feed, clothe, shelter, heal, comfort, and educate themselves. It has fueled the unprecedented increase in industrial development, life expectancy, and quality of life we have seen over the last 30 years. And despite received wisdom about our environment and climate, our fossil fueled society has experienced a dramatic improvement in all environmental indicators worldwide, including a staggering decline in the number of climate-related deaths. We the undersigned are proud to stand in favor of fossil fuels. Based on our honest attempt to reach a balanced, big-picture perspective on coal, oil, and gas, we passionately believe that the economic and environmental benefits of fossil fuels far outweigh the hazards, and that it is not a “necessary evil” but a moral imperative to make use of the most productive, life-giving energy sources available to us at any point in time. But unlike the divestment movement, we do not ask universities to take an official stand in our favor on this complex issue, which requires extensive education and thought—not official dogma and stigmatization. What we ask for is a more rigorous education on energy and environmental issues. Today’s students do not learn even basic facts about the energy sources that make our civilization possible. But they are encouraged to take strong policy positions on the basis of extremely speculative predictions by individuals and institutions who falsely claim to represent the conclusions of all informed scientists. As a result, students who have not independently studied the evidence about fossil fuels often exhibit a doctrinaire and intolerant viewpoint toward dissenting opinions. For example, when one of us (Alex Epstein) spoke recently at Vassar College on the benefits and hazards of fossil fuels, the divestment movement did not publicly challenge his arguments despite being invited to do so—they staged a walkout, attempting to pressure their peers into refusing even to hear an “unacceptable” view. To their credit, many Vassar students denounced the movement and were inspired to extensively study and debate the issues. Universities around the country should follow their example by providing more education and promoting more debate, so that the best ideas can win out. The undersigned scientists, philosophers, energy experts, and economists are willing to debate anytime, anywhere to defend what we believe is right. If our opponents are willing, then together we can help create a truly educated student body that takes informed positions. If our opponents will not debate but insist on securing your imprimatur to win the argument for them, then please tell them that you are an institution of education—not indoctrination. |
Ralph B. Alexander, Ph.D.Former Associate Professor of Physics Meredith AngwinPresident, Vermont Energy Education Project J. Scott Armstrong, Ph.D.Professor, University of Pennsylvania H. Spencer Banzhaf, Ph.D.Professor of Economics Gregory A. Benford, Ph.D.Professor, Physics & Astronomy Andrew Bernstein, Ph.D.Author, The Capitalist Manifesto: The Historic, Edwin X. Berry, Ph.D., PhysicsAMS Certified Consulting Meteorologist Samuel Bostaph, Ph.D.Emeritus Professor of Economics Robert Bradley, Jr., Ph.D.CEO, Institute for Energy Research F. Paul Brady, Ph.D.Emeritus Professor of Physics Jan L. Breslow, M.D.Fredrick Henry Leonhardt Professor, Rockefeller University H. Sterling Burnett, Ph.D.Senior Fellow, National Center for Policy Analysis William N. Butos, Ph.D.Professor of Economics Jeremy CarlResearch Fellow Robert M. Carter, Ph.D.Chief Science Advisor Ian Clark, Ph.D.Professor, Earth Sciences Donn DearsPower For USA.com, Eric Dennis, Ph.D.Senior Fellow Roger DonwaySenior Research Fellow Nicholas Drapela, Ph.D., ChemistryRetired Senior Faculty John Droz, Jr., Ph.D.Physicist, Founder of Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions (AWED) Michael J. Economides, Ph.D.Prof. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Ross B. Emmett, Ph.D.Professor of Political Economy and Political Jon EntineSenior Fellow, Center for Health & Risk Communication |
Alex EpsteinPresident, Center for Industrial Progress Peter FerraraWhite House Office of Policy Development Martin Fricke, Ph.D.Fellow, American Physical Society Gordon J. Fulks, Ph.D., PhysicsMission Research Corporation and Laboratory Rodger L. Gamblin, Ph.D., PhysicsInventor, Dayton, OH Ulrich H. Gerlach, Ph.D.Physicist and Professor Paul J. GessingPresident, Rio Grande Foundation Ivar Giaever, Ph.D.Nobel Laureate 1973 Steve GorehamExecutive Director Laurence I. Gould, Ph.D.Professor of Physics, University of Hartford William Happer, Ph.D.Professor of Physics Steven F. Hayward, Ph.D.William E. Simon Distinguished Visiting Professor David R. Henderson, Ph.D.Research Fellow Mark W. Hendrickson, Ph.D.Peter Holle Founding President Steven Horwitz, Ph.D.Professor of Economics Martin Hovland, Ph.D., MSc, FGSProfessor Emeritus James L. Huffman, Ph.D.Dean Emeritus, Lewis & Clark Law School Gary Hull, Ph.D.Director, VEM, Kevin P. KanePresident, Pelican Institute for Public Policy M. L. Khandekar, Ph.D.Expert Reviewer 2007 Climate Change Alan Charles Kors, Ph.D.Henry Charles Lea Professor of History David R. Legates, Ph.D., ClimatologyAMS Certified Consulting Bryan Leyland, MSc, FIEE(rtd), FIMechE, FIPENZRichard S. Lindzen, Ph.D.Sloan Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Emeritus, MIT Anthony R. Lupo, Ph.D.Professor, Atmospheric Science James MacdonaldRetired Chief Meteorologist Tibor R. Machan, Ph.D.R. C. Hoiles Chair in Business Ethics & Free Enterprise Richard Marrus, Ph.D.Emeritus Professor of Physics John M. Martinis, Ph.D.Professor of Physics |
Henry I. Miller, M.D.Robert Wesson Fellow in Andrew P. Morriss, Ph.D.D. Paul Jones, Jr. & Charlene Jones Chair in Law Michael C. Munger, Ph.D.Director of the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program Iain MurrayVice President Russ Nieli, Ph.D.Princeton University C. Kenneth OrskiEditor/Publisher Mark J. Perry, Ph.D.Professor of Finance and Business Economics Ned S. Rasor, Ph.D.Consulting Physicist, Kettering, Ohio George Reisman, Ph.D.Pepperdine University Emeritus Professor of Economics John E. Rhoads, Ph.D., PEWichita Falls, Texas Matt Ridley, Ph.D.Foreign Honorary Member Berol Robinson, Ph.D.Association of Ecologists for Nuclear Energy David W. Schnare, Esq., Ph.DDirector, Environmental Law Center Roger Scruton, Ph.D.Senior Scholar, Ethics and Public Policy Center, Washington Michael Shermer, Ph.D.Adjunct Professor, Chapman University Brian P. Simpson, Ph.D.Professor National University School of S. Fred Singer, Ph.D.Physicist and Professor Emeritus David T. StevensonDirector, Center for Energy Competitiveness Bruce Thornton, Ph.D.Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University Frank J. Tipler, Ph.D.Professor of Mathematical Physics Jeffrey TuckerDistinguished Fellow David G. Tuerck, Ph.D.Executive Director, The Beacon Hill Institute, Richard Vedder, Ph.D.Distinguished Professor of Economics Emeritus, Peter Wood, Ph.D.President, The National Association of Scholars David Zetland, Ph.D.Senior Water Economist Robert Zubrin, Ph.D.President Bob Zybach, Ph.D., Environmental SciencesProgram Manager, www.ORWW.org |
– See more at: http://industrialprogress.com/signatures/#sthash.toFsyc3E.dpuf
— Nicholas P. Desatnick
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