Climate deniers linked with Trump’s EPA pick booted from COP22 talks

Desmog

Climate science denier Marc Morano just got himself kicked out of the UN climate talks in Marrakech. Of course, that was probably his aim all along.

Morano stood in a Trump hat, next to a life-size cut-out of the president-elect, waving shredded copies of the Paris Agreement.

The stunt gave Canadian outlet The Rebel the footage it has been craving since it arrived, and got Morano kicked out of the talks.

But there’s a number of things that are weird about the story.

To start with, Morano — who is Communications Director for well know climate deniers Commitee For A Constructive Tomorrow — was actually here on a Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) badge.

DeSmog understands CFACT executive director Craig Rucker was also ejected, along with one other person. All three were accredited with CEI badges.

The CEI’s Director of Energy and Environment is Myron Ebell, who has been picked by Donald Trump to head the US Environmental Protection Agency’s transition team. Ebell, who was also accredited to attend the talks but has not been seen, is also a climate science denier.

Manufactured Outrage: Morano’s Decades-Old Playbook

It’s also pretty obvious the outrage was manufactured. Last night, The Rebel published a video interview with Morano, who outlined what he was planning to do at the talks Wednesday.

As the UNFCCC makes it clear that it doesn’t allow demonstrations that haven’t been registered in advance, the outcome was always a given.

Morano also claimed that he had “presented” a report to the UN conference, known as COP22.

Printed on the front page of the report are the words “Presented to the United Nations climate conference in Morocco, November 2016.”

But the UNFCCC told DeSmog it was “not aware of any official presentation of a report to any UNFCCC official.”

Nick Nuttall, UNFCCC’s communications officer, said in a statement:

“UN Security escorted three members of an Non-Governmental Organization called the Competitive Enterprise Institute off the premises today, and removed badges for the duration of the week, after an unregistered demonstration.”

“Members of this NGO have attended previous UN climate conferences and there is a well-publicized code of conduct for NGOs. This requires them to register a planned demonstration with UN security for approval. All peaceful demonstrations within the conference are approved and roughly 10-15 are happening every day at the Marrakesh conference. Approval is not based on the message demonstrators wish to send, political or otherwise, but on the safety of delegates. This is especially relevant with Heads of State still present on the premises.”

“The UNFCCC is one of the most tolerant UN bodies in respect to permitting demonstrations at its conferences but we need demonstrators to respect this well-established code for their own safety and the safety of all participants”.

In 2012, British climate science denier Lord Christopher Monckton was banned from UN climate meetings for life after taking the place of an official from Burma and then telling the conference that it would be cheaper to do nothing on climate change.  Monckton had been accredited at those talks by Morano’s CFACT organisation.

DeSmog has contacted Morano for comment.

Source: Desmog. Reproduced with permission.