Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard killed the forthcoming Global Trends 2025 report and dismantled the intelligence unit that produced it, ending a practice dating to 1997 of publishing quadrennial unclassified assessments of future threats to U.S. national security. Gabbard’s …
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the Financial Stability Oversight Council voted to dissolve two climate risk assessment panels that integrated climate considerations into financial regulation. The panels, established to evaluate how climate change threatens financial stability through physical …
Scott BessentTreasury DepartmentFinancial Stability Oversight Councilregulatory-captureclimate-denialfinancial-system-riskfossil-fuel-influence
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced plans to cut EPA workforce by approximately 23% and reduce the agency’s budget by 65%, representing the most aggressive environmental deregulation in agency history. The cuts would return EPA staffing to Reagan-era levels, eliminating scientific research …
lee-zeldinEPAjbsEnvironmental Protection Agencylee-zeldinepaenvironmental-destructionworkforce-cutsclimate-denial+3 more
On February 8, 2024, a jury unanimously decided in favor of climate scientist Michael Mann in his 12-year defamation battle against Rand Simberg and Mark Steyn, who had compared him to convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky in 2012 blog posts. The jury found Simberg and Steyn guilty of defamation …
Michael MannRand SimbergMark SteynCompetitive Enterprise InstituteNational Reviewclimate-denialscientist-harassmentdefamationlegal-accountabilitymichael-mann
On December 10, 2019, Justice Barry Ostrager of the New York State Supreme Court ruled that New York Attorney General Letitia James “failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that ExxonMobil made any material misrepresentations” regarding climate change risks to investors. The …
Barry OstragerLetitia JamesExxonMobilNew York Supreme CourtEric Schneidermanclimate-denialexxonknewcorporate-accountability-failurelegal-systemfossil-fuels
On June 19, 2019, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler signed the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) Rule, replacing the Obama-era Clean Power Plan with regulations designed to extend the lifetimes of heavily polluting coal-fired power plants. The ACE Rule established no meaningful limits on carbon pollution …
Andrew WheelerEnvironmental Protection AgencyDonald TrumpCoal IndustryScott Pruittclimate-denialeparegulatory-captureenvironmental-destructioncoal-industry+1 more
On August 2, 2018, the Trump administration’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dropped its two-year investigation into how ExxonMobil factors climate change regulations into its calculations of asset values. The SEC informed the energy giant in a letter dated Thursday that it would …
Securities and Exchange CommissionExxonMobilDonald TrumpRex Tillersonclimate-denialexxonknewregulatory-captureaccountability-failuretrump-administration
On July 9, 2018, Donald Trump named Andrew Wheeler as Acting EPA Administrator following Scott Pruitt’s resignation amid 14 federal corruption investigations. Wheeler, a former coal industry lobbyist who had represented Murray Energy—one of America’s largest coal companies—embodied …
Andrew WheelerDonald TrumpEnvironmental Protection AgencyFaegre Baker DanielsMurray Energy+1 moreregulatory-captureepafossil-fuelsclimate-denialrevolving-door+1 more
Scott Pruitt, who sued the EPA 14 times as Oklahoma Attorney General while taking 00,000+ from fossil fuel companies, became EPA Administrator and immediately began dismantling environmental protections. He installed a 3,000 soundproof phone booth, took 30+ first-class flights costing taxpayers …
Scott PruittEPAAndrew WheelerDonald TrumpFossil Fuel Industryregulatory-captureenvironmental-destructioncorruptionclimate-denialindustry-influence
On March 29, 2016, a coalition of 17 state attorneys general announced coordinated investigations into ExxonMobil for potential climate denial fraud at a daylong climate change conference in Manhattan. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey and Virgin Islands Attorney General Claude Walker …
Eric SchneidermanMaura HealeyClaude WalkerExxonMobilNew York Attorney General+2 moreclimate-denialexxonknewstate-investigationscorporate-fraudfossil-fuels+1 more
On September 16, 2015, InsideClimate News began publishing an eight-month investigation revealing that Exxon’s own scientists warned executives as early as 1977 that burning fossil fuels was heating the planet, yet the company then worked at the forefront of climate denial for decades. The …
InsideClimate NewsExxonMobilLos Angeles TimesColumbia UniversityJames Blackclimate-denialinvestigative-journalismexxonknewcorporate-fraudfossil-fuels
On October 22, 2012, climate scientist Michael Mann filed a defamation lawsuit against Rand Simberg (a former scholar at the Competitive Enterprise Institute) and Mark Steyn (who wrote for National Review), after they published blog posts comparing him to Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State …
Michael MannRand SimbergMark SteynCompetitive Enterprise InstituteNational Reviewclimate-denialscientist-harassmentdefamationlegal-accountabilitymichael-mann
On May 4, 2012, the Heartland Institute erected a digital billboard on the Eisenhower Expressway near Chicago featuring Ted Kaczynski (the Unabomber) with text reading “I still believe in global warming. Do you?” The billboard remained live for 24 hours before widespread …
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) distributed model bills in 2010 designed to kill regional climate pacts like the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) in New England and the mid-Atlantic, marking a strategic shift from federal to state-level climate denial efforts. ALEC activist …
American Legislative Exchange CouncilKoch IndustriesExxonMobilClint WoodsRegional Greenhouse Gas Initiative+1 moreclimate-denialaleclegislative-capturefossil-fuelsmodel-legislation+1 more
On November 17, 2009, just weeks before the crucial Copenhagen Climate Summit, hackers breached servers at the Climate Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia, stealing thousands of emails and computer files spanning 13 years of climate research. The stolen materials were strategically …
Climate Research UnitUniversity of East AngliaPhil JonesMichael MannClimate denial blogosphereclimate-denialdisinformationcybercrimemedia-manipulationinformation-warfare
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) launched a national television advertising campaign on May 18, 2006, featuring two 60-second spots promoting carbon dioxide as beneficial and dismissing climate change concerns. The ads aired in 14 U.S. cities from May 18-28, 2006, strategically timed to …
ExxonMobil significantly expanded its climate denial funding operation in 2003, channeling millions of dollars to a network of think tanks and front groups designed to manufacture doubt about climate science. The oil giant gave £3.5 million ($4.8 million) to climate skeptic organizations in the …
ExxonMobilAmerican Enterprise InstituteCato InstituteMarshall InstituteInternational Policy Network+1 moreclimate-denialdark-moneythink-tank-fundingfossil-fuelsdisinformation+1 more
The American Petroleum Institute (API) organized and funded a Global Climate Science Communications Plan, revealed in the leaked “Victory” memo outlining a multiyear, multimillion-dollar scheme to create uncertainty about established climate science. Created months after the Kyoto …
American Petroleum InstituteRandy RandolExxonMobilChevronSouthern Companyclimate-denialdisinformationfossil-fuelspublic-manipulationmedia-influence
The American Petroleum Institute (API) organized and funded a sophisticated Global Climate Science Communications Plan designed to systematically create doubt about established climate science. Leaked in April 1998, this strategy memo outlined a multimillion-dollar campaign to undermine public …
American Petroleum InstituteRandy RandolExxonMobilChevronSouthern Company+2 moreclimate-denialdisinformationfossil-fuelspublic-manipulationmedia-influence+1 more
Koch Family Foundations began systematic funding of climate science denial and clean energy opposition, eventually spending $145,555,197 directly financing 90 groups attacking climate science and policy solutions from 1997-2018. The Koch network funneled $127,006,756 to 92 organizations from …
Koch IndustriesCharles KochDavid KochKoch Family FoundationsCato Institute+4 moreclimate-denialregulatory-capturefossil-fuelsthink-tank-fundingpolitical-influence
In 1993, Philip Morris tobacco company created The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition (TASSC) through PR firm APCO Associates as a front group to challenge evidence linking secondhand smoke to disease. TASSC became a critical bridge between tobacco industry doubt-manufacturing tactics and …
Philip MorrisThe Advancement of Sound Science CoalitionFrederick SeitzFred SingerAPCO Associates+1 moreclimate-denialtobacco-industrymanufactured-doubtfrederick-seitzcorporate-disinformation
By 1991, the George C. Marshall Institute (GMI) had evolved into a central node in the fossil fuel industry’s climate denial infrastructure, receiving funding from ExxonMobil and other energy companies to attack climate science. Founded in 1984 by physicists Frederick Seitz (former President …
George C. Marshall InstituteFrederick SeitzFred SingerRobert JastrowWilliam Nierenberg+2 moreclimate-denialthink-tank-fundingfossil-fuelsscientific-disinformationfred-singer
The Global Climate Coalition (GCC) was formed as a project of the National Association of Manufacturers to represent fossil fuel producers and oppose regulation to mitigate global warming. Founding members included major oil companies like Phillips Petroleum, Shell, Texaco, Amoco, trade associations …
Global Climate CoalitionTom LambrixJ. MinterPhillips PetroleumSouthern Company+9 moreclimate-denialregulatory-capturefossil-fuelslobbyinginternational-influence+2 more
Senior Exxon scientist James Black delivered a sobering message to company executives about carbon dioxide warming the planet, marking the beginning of documented internal knowledge at Exxon about climate change risks. Internal research from 1977-1982 created remarkably accurate climate models …
James BlackRoger CohenExxonMobilExxon CorporationHarvard Climate Research Teamclimate-denialregulatory-capturefossil-fuelscorporate-knowledgeenvironmental-capture+1 more