The Heartland Institute's Shifting Statements

Andrew Freedman of washingtonpost.com's Capital Weather Gang has a nifty catch: the Heartland Institute, the people cluttering up my newspaper this week with climate-change-denying ads, have officially changed tack on their lobbying policy. Back in March, the group told Freedman:

"Our purpose is to bring scientists, economists, and policy experts together to address issues overlooked or ignored by the IPCC the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change .... If we really wanted to influence policy we would have held the event in Washington, not New York - as many of the policy wonks at the conference have urged us to do, but we resist."

But the group ended up holding its conference in Washington this month. Now they tell Freedman:

"The reason we moved up the date, changed the location, and presented a shorter schedule ... was to bring our message to elected officials in Washington D.C. in time to inform the debate over climate and energy policy."

Inform, right.