The Arbor Day Foundation is offering a handy tree-care booklet designed to help people plant and care for trees.

Anyone can receive the Conservation Trees booklet simply by making a $3 donation to the Foundation.

Conservation Trees is a user-friendly booklet that features illustrations, colorful photos and easily understood descriptions.

"Conservation Trees is an ideal resource for tree planters throughout the country," said John Rosenow, chief executive and founder of the Arbor Day Foundation. "It is important that people know how to properly plant and care for their trees.

"Taking care of existing trees is just as critical as planting new ones," Rosenow continued. "Trees clean the air, keep our water sources pure and conserve energy. Trees provide so many benefits to a community, and that's why it is so vital to take care of them."

The booklet provides details about the right way to plant and prune trees. It also includes tips on using shade trees and windbreaks to save on energy costs, attracting songbirds and creating a living snow fence.

To receive the Conservation Trees booklet, send a $3 check along with your name and address to: Conservation Trees, Arbor Day Foundation, 100 Arbor Ave., Nebraska City, NE 68410, or order online at arborday.org/conservationtrees.

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Vice-Chairman of House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology to Deliver Plenary Address

The Heartland Institute is pleased to announce Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) will join more than 40 speakers, scores of scientists, and some 500 attendees at the Seventh International Conference on Climate Change, which runs from Monday, May 21 to Wednesday, May 23 at the Hilton Chicago hotel.

Sensenbrenner is vice-chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, which has jurisdiction over the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, NASA, NOAA, and several other federal agencies. He joins a speaker line-up addressing the theme "Real Science, Real Choices" that includes:

• Vaclav Klaus, president of the Czech Republic

• Dr. Harrison Schmitt, Apollo 17 mission

• Walter Cunningham, Apollo 7 mission

• Harold Doiron, former NASA scientist

• Thomas Wysmuller, former NASA scientist

• Joe Bastardi, chief forecaster, WeatherBell (formerly with Accuweather)

• Roger Helmer, MP, Britain

See full list of speakers and a detailed description of the conference below.

What: Seventh International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC-7)

Theme: Real Science, Real Choices

Where: Hilton Chicago, 720 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL

When: Monday, May 21 - Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Media: Open to all media. Request press credentials here.

The Heartland Institute will host the Seventh International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC-7) from Monday, May 21 to Wednesday, May 23, immediately following the NATO Summit also taking place in Chicago. Heartland will be joined by dozens of think tank cosponsors and hundreds of scientists who understand the need for a real debate about the causes, consequences, and policy implications of climate change.

Real Science, Real Choices

This year's conference theme is "Real Science, Real Choices." The program features approximately 60 scientists and policy experts speaking at plenary sessions and on three tracks of concurrent panel sessions exploring what real climate science is telling us about the causes and consequences of climate change, and the real consequences of choices being made based on the current perceptions of the state of climate science.

Major developments on the science front since the last ICCC took place last summer in Washington, DC include publication of a new report by the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC) updating its 2009 report, Climate Change Reconsidered, and a new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on extreme weather events and climate change.

The past year was marked by major retreats in the U.S. and other developing nations from government subsidies and investments in solar and wind power. The widely publicized bankruptcies of companies including Solar Trust of America and Solyndra, and slow economic growth and fiscal crises afflicting many European countries, have forced policymakers around the world to reconsider the costs and consequences of basing energy choices on fear of man-made global warming.

Climategate and Fakegate

On November 22, 2011, a second batch of emails among scientists working at the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit was released by an unknown whistle-blower. "Climategate II" revealed prominent scientists concealing data, discussing global warming as a political cause rather than a balanced scientific inquiry, and admitting to scientific uncertainties that they denied in their public statements.

Like an earlier release of emails on November 19, 2009, on the eve of the 2009 UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Climategate II caused an uproar in the scientific community and a further drop in public belief in man-made global warming. But a series of friendly investigations of the Climategate affair, along with the timely expiration of the statute of limitations for the offense of failing to comply with Freedom of Information Act requests, spared the scientists involved from any legal penalties.

On February 20, 2012, another global warming scandal broke, this one involving criminal behavior that is likely to be much more difficult to cover up. Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute and an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, confessed to using fraud to obtain confidential corporate documents from The Heartland Institute and arranging for them to be posted online. The scandal became known as Fakegate because Gleick also circulated a fake memo he claimed outlined Heartland's "climate strategy."

In his confession, Gleick said "a rational public debate is desperately needed." We agree, which is why we have repeatedly invited scientists with wide-ranging views to speak at these conferences. Indeed, we even invited Peter Gleick to speak at a Heartland event, an invitation he turned down on the very day he began his fraud.

Confirmed Speakers

Dennis Avery, senior fellow, Hudson Institute
Joe Bastardi, chief forecaster, WeatherBell
Alan Carlin, U.S. EPA (retired)
Robert "Bob" Carter, James Cook University (Queensland, Australia)
Walter Cunningham, astronaut, Apollo 7
Harold Doiron, former NASA scientist
Willis Eschenbach, former consultant, U.S. Agency for International Development
William "Bill" Gray, Colorado State University (emeritus)
Kenneth Haapala, Science and Environmental Policy Project
Tom Harris, International Climate Science Coalition
Howard Hayden, professor of physics (emeritus), University of Connecticut
Roger Helmer, MP, Britain
Craig Idso, founder, Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change
Madhav Khandekar, Journal of Natural Hazards
Vaclav Klaus, president, Czech Republic
Donna Laframboise, feminist, author
Craig Loehle, National Council for Air and Stream Improvement
Sebastian Lüning, author, Die Kalte Sonne (The Cold Sun)
Ross McKitrick, associate professor of economics, University of Guelph
Tim Patterson, professor of geology, Carleton University
Jim Sensenbrenner, U.S. House of Representatives, Wisconsin
S. Fred Singer, University of Virginia (emeritus)
Willie Soon, astrophysicist
Leighton Steward, PlantsNeedCO2.org and CO2IsGreen.org
Brian Sussman, author, Climategate and Eco-Tyranny
Anthony Watts, WattsUpWithThat.com; chief meteorologist, KPAY-AM, Chico, CA
Thomas Wysmuller, former meteorologist, Royal Dutch Weather Bureau

ICCC History

Past conferences have taken place in New York City, Chicago, Washington DC, and Sydney, Australia and have attracted nearly 3,000 participants from 20 countries. The proceedings have been covered by ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox News, the BBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Le Monde, and most other leading media outlets.

Past ICCCs have featured presentations by members of Congress, Czech President Vaclav Klaus, and scientists who view themselves as "skeptics" as well as "alarmists." Atmospheric scientist Scott Denning, who believes in man-made global warming, spoke at ICCC-4 in 2010 and ICCC-6 in 2011. Hear his remarks here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkL6TDIaCVw

Attendance Information

ICCC-7 is open to the public. Registration is required. More information is available at the conference Web site. For media credentials, register here or contact Tammy Nash at tnash@heartland.org or 312-377-4000. For more information about The Heartland Institute, visit our Web site or contact Jim Lakely at jlakely@heartland.org or 312/377-4000.

Get Twitter updates of the conference by following @HeartlandInst and the hashtag #ICCC7.

Grassley Continues Review of Minnesota Medicaid, Calls for Consistent Reporting

of Program Earnings at Medicaid Managed Care Plans Nationwide

WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today said the state of Minnesota's payment problems to managed care plans serving Medicaid beneficiaries, combined with inconsistent federal oversight of all state rate-setting in this area, call for consistent reporting standards across the board.

"Purchasers, in this case states, using transparent information about how their dollars are being spent, are best suited to make decisions about the value provided from managed care companies," Grassley said.  "We have legitimate disagreements about many issues in Congress, but on this issue, there can be no disagreement.  We must have a better understanding of where $7 trillion will be spent by the Medicaid program over the next 10 years."

Grassley's comments came in testimony before a joint hearing of two subcommittees of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.  The hearing covered several aspects of payment concerns in Medicaid, including payments to managed care plans in Minnesota.  State officials in Minnesota accepted $30 million for the state from one of Minnesota's contractor managed care plans and until this week, termed the payment a "donation" that did not require sharing with the federal government, which would be necessary under the state-federal Medicaid program.  This week, state officials agreed to give the federal government its share of the $30 million payment.

Information from the four managed care plans serving Medicaid beneficiaries in Minnesota showed that each plan listed excess revenues from Medicaid while showing losses on the state-only plans.  "This suggests the state might have overpaid managed care plans under Medicaid while underpaying the same plans to provide care for individuals covered with state-only dollars," Grassley said.

Grassley said the federal government should make sure states are required to know the medical-loss ratio of every managed care company they contract with specific to the Medicaid beneficiaries they serve.

That medical-loss ratio should be clearly defined by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and consistently implemented across every state that uses managed care, and the medical-loss ratio should be based on independently audited, verifiable encounter data and expense data that make clear what administrative expenses are related to the provision of Medicaid benefits and what administrative expenses are not, Grassley said.

Also today, Grassley wrote to the Minnesota legislative auditor, asking for all correspondence between the auditor and the state government, including state legislators, on the UCare payment.  The state auditor has questioned the candor of state officials who apparently withheld from him - as well as from Grassley - a letter from the federal government questioning the UCare payment.

Grassley's testimony before the House hearing is available here.  Grassley's letter to the Minnesota legislative auditor is available here.