Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
2.5.2
Details of Selected Sceptic Organisations and Their Sources
of Funding
The largest number of advocacy organisations seeking to confuse the public on
global warming issues is to be found in the USA and tends to appeal mainly to US
interests. However, since the advent of the Internet, sceptical think tanks increas-
ingly direct their efforts to an international fellowship by digital means rather than
printed material.
The details of several contrarian organisations are presented below: fi rst, those of
three US think tanks. Note that certain individuals belong to several. The details of
two of the seven UK organisations, mentioned by Lack (
2013
: 20), are described in
the next paragraph, and three more internationally oriented organisations follow.
Note that the same names keep appearing on different websites. Several are regis-
tered as educational charities and are therefore exempt from the obligation to pub-
lish any funding sources and from paying tax. Most of the UK think tanks are
dedicated to free trade and therefore hostile to measures aimed at curtailing the
fossil fuel economy.
1 .
The Heartland Institute
(
www.heartland.org
), founded in 1984. Its mission is 'To
discover, develop and promote freemarket solutions to social and economic
problems'. Some of the members are Timothy Ball (see Powell
2011
: 72), David
Bellamy (Botanist, the Conservation Foundation), Myron Ebell (Director,
Energy and Global Warming Policy of the Competitive Enterprise Institute) and
Michael G. Hintze (Wisconsin State Coordinator) and also the Tea Party Patriots:
Richard Lindzen (Professor of Meteorology, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology), Patrick Michaels (Senior Fellow, Cato Institute), Lord Christopher
Monckton (Chief Policy Advisor, Science and Public Policy Institute), S. Fred
Singer (Director, the 'Science and Environmental Policy Project') and Anthony
Watts (founder of the
WattsUpWithThat blog
). The funding received from
ExxonMobil amounted to $676,500 between1998 and 2006. The think tank pub-
lished two printed pamphlets:
The Skeptics Handbook
(2009) and
Climate
Change Reconsidered
(2009).
2 .
The Competitive Enterprise Institute
, founded in 1984 (
www.cei.org/
)
. Its mis-
sion is stated as promoting free markets and limited government. Some associate
individuals are Myron Ebell (Director of the Center for Energy and Environment),
Fred Singer and Patrick Michaels (see above). The organisation received $2 mil-
lion from ExxonMobil between 1998 and 2006.
3 .
George C. Marshall Institute
, founded in 1984 (
www.marshall.org/
). Some asso-
ciates are Frederick Seitz (now deceased), Richard Lindzen and Patrick
J. Michaels. According to the Marshall website, its mission is 'To promote
Science for better Public Policy'. The think tank received $630,000 from
ExxonMobil between 1998 and 2005 as well as funding from the American
Petroleum Institute.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search