I'm presenting at AGU's fall meeting – assistance requested from WUWT readers

As some people may or may not know, I am a full member of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in good standing. The 2015 AGU Fall Meeting is coming up in December. With nearly 24,000 attendees, AGU Fall Meeting is the largest Earth and space science meeting in the world. I hope to attend so that I can cover what is being presented in the world of climate science, while keeping tabs on the antics of people like Michael Mann, John Cook, Peter Gleick, and some of the other players. For the last two years when I attended, I produced several reports and videos in 2013 and again in 2014, plus many, many, live Twitter entries that kept tabs on the politics and the science. This year I hope to do the same. But this year, I’m going to be more than that – I’m going to be the only climate skeptic invited to give a scientific presentation. 

There’s only one problem. It is VERY expensive to attend, and more so in previous years due to my dual role as news media as well as presenting AGU member. The reason is that I’m told that while in previous years I could register for free as a member of the news media, this year due to the fact that I’m presenting, I’m also required to register like any other attending member.

The cost of registration is $455, and the deadline is November 12th at 1159PM EDT to get that rate.

Add a hotel for 5-6 days at the typical $150-250 per night rate in SFO, plus incidentals, parking, etc. and the cost to attend easily tops $3000.

While many attendees get the taxpayers (via their Universities) or their NGO’s via donors to pay for such things, WUWT has no such resources, and despite the claims common from detractors, like the last two years, we are still waiting for that ‘big oil check’ to arrive. I’ll drive down to save money rather than take a plane.

So, like I did for the last two years, I thought I’d ask the readership if they can help out so that there will be somebody at AGU to report on climate science that can do so from the skeptic side. It is very important that at least one climate skeptic reporter attend. Otherwise, the media coverage will be completely one-sided. AGU approved my media pass, so now I’m set to attend for that at least, but in order to present, I need to pay the member registration fee and hotel in advance.

But, more importantly, here is what I’m presenting at AGU on Thursday, December 17th, at 1:40PM:

It will be a challenge for me, not just for the content, but because I’m going to have to deal with one-on-one questions in the noisy hall,(and maybe some personal derision, hopefully not) for daring to not only attend, but to make a presentation that questions the surface temperature record.

I need your help. Thanks for your consideration, and most of all thanks for reading WUWT.

Donations toward this effort will be gratefully accepted: here

UPDATE: I’m overwhelmed by the courage and generosity of WUWT readers, the goal has been met and exceeded, such that I’ll be able to not only attend the conference, but do so comfortably. Thanks to one and all for your help! – Anthony Watts