In a major address at Georgetown University Tuesday, President Barack Obama referred derogatorily to deniers of climate change as members of a "Flat Earth Society."
But the Flat Earth Society is a real group, and its president says he believes climate change is real. He also doesn't like being used as an example of backward thinking on the issue.
"For what it's worth, the Flat Earth Society doesn't have an 'official' position on climate change. That falls a bit outside our remit," Flat Earth Soceity President Daniel Shenton told Business Insider in an email from England.
"Personally, though, I believe the evidence available does support the position that climate change is at least partially influenced by human industrialisation."
Shenton said that Obama should refer to more mainstream groups — like the American Enterprise Institute — the next time he needs a joke in a speech.
"So if President Obama wants to reference people that actively deny anthropogenic climate change, he'd probably be better served by citing groups like the American Enterprise Institute rather than the Flat Earth Society," Shenton said.
AEI has been subject to some controversy over its critiques of climate change. In 2007, The Guardian reported that it had offered scientists and economists $10,000 each to dispute a report from report from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Obama earned a round of applause and some chuckles for his remarks directed at the so-called "Flat Earth Society," which he compared to "sticking your head in the sand."
"Nobody has a monopoly on what is a very hard problem, but I don’t have much patience for anyone who denies that this challenge is real," Obama said.
"We don’t have time for a meeting of the Flat Earth Society. Sticking your head in the sand might make you feel safer, but it’s not going to protect you from the coming storm. And ultimately, we will be judged as a people, and as a society, and as a country on where we go from here."
Shenton's full email is below:
Hi, Brett. Thanks for the email. I just checked my email about 20 minutes ago and was confused as to why my four most recent emails had "Obama" in the subject line. Now I understand!
I checked President Obama's quote from today. It's disappointing but not surprising -- I do occasionally see references to the Society in that context. Gordon Brown made a similar remark back in 2009 when referring to climate-change deniers. I generally try not to take it personally, though. I understand that most people see the Flat Earth Society's views as extremely unorthodox and perhaps a bit kooky. I'd like the public to know, though, that our views are based on extensive research and we highly value the pursuit of truth. In fact, the Society's motto is (and has been since the 1800's) "In Veritate Victoria" -- Victory in Truth.
For what it's worth, the Flat Earth Society doesn't have an 'official' position on climate change. That falls a bit outside our remit. Personally, though, I believe the evidence available does support the position that climate change is at least partially influenced by human industrialisation. So if President Obama wants to reference people that actively deny anthropogenic climate change, he'd probably be better served by citing groups like the American Enterprise Institute rather than the Flat Earth Society.