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Cooler Heads Coalition

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The Cooler Heads Coalition (CHC) is a right-of-center nonprofit group financed and operated by the Competitive Enterprise Institute that largely rejects the impact of human activity on climate change. CHC operates the website globalwarming.org, which features blog posts critical of environmentalist policies and regulations. 1 CHC is comprised of 23 member organizations, including notable right-of-center groups such as Americans for Prosperity, Americans for Tax Reform, and FreedomWorks. 2

CHC is led by Myron Ebell, a prominent skeptic of human influence on climate change, who also serves as the director of energy and environmental policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. 3 Ebell and CHC were allies of the Trump administration and helped influence former President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accords. 45

Founding and Funding

The Cooler Heads Coalition (CHC) was formed in May 1997 by the National Consumer Coalition, a project of Consumer Alert. 6 Consumer Alert, which appears to have ceased operations, was a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting economic regulations imposed by state and federal governments. 7 CHC is now run as an “informal and ad-hoc group” and its website is maintained by the Competitive Enterprise Institute. 8

Throughout its existence, CHC has received more than $11 million in donations from coal and oil companies. CHC has also received support from nonprofit foundations controlled by the Koch, Scaife, and Mercer families. 9 CHC’s parent, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, has received over $1.6 million from ExxonMobil. 10

Activities

According to CHC’s founding press release, the organization was originally dedicated to producing a bi-weekly newsletter with updates on the fight against environmentalist policy implementation. 11 The last of these newsletters appears to have been sent in June of 2015. 12 The press release also claimed that CHC would sponsor a regular series of science and economic briefings on Capitol Hill, featuring prominent scientists to discuss environmental research. 13

In 2015, CHC co-sponsored the premiere of Climate Hustle, a documentary alleging that claims of human impact on climate change were unfounded, in Paris, France, just as the United Nations global climate negotiations were taking place. 14

CHC and Myron Ebell became key allies of the Trump administration, with Ebell appointed to head the transition of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) after President Trump’s election in 2016. 15

According to the Washington Post, CHC played an instrumental role in President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accords. Ebell agreed with the assessment, claiming that President Trump “made the decision” while CHC “helped create the circumstances.” Ebell further acknowledged that CHC advocacy “does bleed into political persuasion and lobbying,” but clarified that CHC did not violate any conditions of its nonprofit status. 16

Members

CHC lists a number of prominent right-of-center institutions as members of its coalition. These include Americans for Prosperity, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the American Policy Center, the Frontiers of Freedom Institute, the George C. Marshall Institute, the Heartland Institute, the Independent Institute, and the Pacific Research Institute. 17

CHC also counts several international affiliates, including the Istituto Bruno Leoni in Italy, the Lavoisier Group in Australia, and the Liberty Institute in India. 18

References

  1. “About.” GlobalWarming.org. Accessed February 21, 2021. http://www.globalwarming.org/about/
  2. “About.” GlobalWarming.org. Accessed February 21, 2021. http://www.globalwarming.org/about/
  3. Bravender, Robin. “Trump Picks Top Climate Skeptic to Lead EPA Transition.” Scientific American. September 26, 2016. Accessed February 21, 2021. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/trump-picks-top-climate-skeptic-to-lead-epa-transition/
  4. Bravender, Robin. “Trump Picks Top Climate Skeptic to Lead EPA Transition.” Scientific American. September 26, 2016. Accessed February 21, 2021. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/trump-picks-top-climate-skeptic-to-lead-epa-transition/
  5. O’Harrow Jr., Robert. “A two-decade crusade by conservative charities fueled Trump’s exit from Paris climate accord.” The Washington Post. September 5, 2017. Accessed February 21, 2021. https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/a-two-decade-crusade-by-conservative-charities-fueled-trumps-exit-from-paris-climate-accord/2017/09/05/fcb8d9fe-6726-11e7-9928-22d00a47778f_story.html
  6. Internet Archive from the Wayback Machine. “The Cooler Heads Coalition.” GlobalWarming.org. February 4, 2004. Archive accessed February 21, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20060427015303/www.globalwarming.org/article.php?uid=562
  7. “Consumer Alert.” SourceWatch. Accessed February 21, 2021. https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Consumer_Alert
  8. “About.” GlobalWarming.org. Accessed February 21, 2021. http://www.globalwarming.org/about/
  9. O’Harrow Jr., Robert. “A two-decade crusade by conservative charities fueled Trump’s exit from Paris climate accord.” The Washington Post. September 5, 2017. Accessed February 21, 2021. https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/a-two-decade-crusade-by-conservative-charities-fueled-trumps-exit-from-paris-climate-accord/2017/09/05/fcb8d9fe-6726-11e7-9928-22d00a47778f_story.html
  10. “Competitive Enterprise Institute.” ConservativeTransparency.org. Accessed February 21, 2021. http://conservativetransparency.org/recipient/competitive-enterprise-institute/
  11. Internet Archive from the Wayback Machine. “The Cooler Heads Coalition.” GlobalWarming.org. February 4, 2004. Archive accessed February 21, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20060427015303/www.globalwarming.org/article.php?uid=562
  12. “Cooler Heads Digest.” GlobalWarming.org. Accessed February 21, 2021. http://www.globalwarming.org/category/cooler-heads/
  13. Internet Archive from the Wayback Machine. “The Cooler Heads Coalition.” GlobalWarming.org. February 4, 2004. Archive accessed February 21, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20060427015303/www.globalwarming.org/article.php?uid=562
  14. Kasper, Matthew. “Climate Hustle, Latest Global Warming Denial Documentary, Set For World Premiere In Paris During COP21.” Republic Report. November 13, 2015. Accessed February 21, 2021. https://www.republicreport.org/2015/climate-hustle-marc-morano-cfact/
  15. Boghani, Priyanka. “Meet Myron Ebell, the Climate Contrarian Leading Trump’s EPA Transition.” PBS.org. November 14, 2016. Accessed February 21, 2021. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/meet-myron-ebell-the-climate-contrarian-leading-trumps-epa-transition/
  16. O’Harrow Jr., Robert. “A two-decade crusade by conservative charities fueled Trump’s exit from Paris climate accord.” The Washington Post. September 5, 2017. Accessed February 21, 2021. https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/a-two-decade-crusade-by-conservative-charities-fueled-trumps-exit-from-paris-climate-accord/2017/09/05/fcb8d9fe-6726-11e7-9928-22d00a47778f_story.html
  17. “About.” GlobalWarming.org. Accessed February 21, 2021. http://www.globalwarming.org/about/
  18. “About.” GlobalWarming.org. Accessed February 21, 2021. http://www.globalwarming.org/about/
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