This article describes the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) outside of D.C. held in February 2018.
The event became a virtual who’s who of climate science deniers hosted by a Heartland Institute panel, where they, predictably, used former Vice President Al Gore as a punching bag, gushed over Trump’s environmental protection rollbacks, and alleged that the scientific consensus on climate change is a lie. The session, titled “Trump’s America First Energy Plan: Restoring our Prosperity and Destroying Eco-Left Memes”, drew many familiar faces from the industry-funded right wing think tanks that regularly battle against environmental laws and the climate justice movement in America.
Here are some of the august attendees: Jim Lakely, Heartland Institute, Craig Rucker, Christina Wilson Norman, and Marc Morano of the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT); the Competitive Enterprise Institute; and the Heritage Foundation; Dr. David Legates of the University of Delaware, Nick Loris of the Heritage Foundation, and Isaac Orr of the Heartland Institute. The main speaker for the two-hour breakout session was former Congressman and now Heartland President and CEO Tim Huelskamp.