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The CO2 Coalition

Website:

co2coalition.org
Location:

Arlington, VA
Tax ID:

47-3722575
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2020):

Revenue: $654,970
Expenses: $603,142
Assets: $934,619
Formation:

2015
Type:

Non-Profit
Executive Director:

Gregory Wrightstone
Former Executive Director:

Caleb Rossiter
Former Executive Director's Salary:

$96,000 1

References

  1. CO2 Coalition, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2019, Part VII, Section A, Line 1a.

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The CO2 Coalition is a right-of-center advocacy organization that educates policy makers and the general public about the importance of carbon dioxide to our lives and the U.S. economy. The Coalition intends to be part of the current discussion about climate change, including the role that humans play, climate models’ limitations, and the consequences of regulating CO2 emissions. 1

Activities

In a 2022 report, the CO2 Coalition assembled a team of experts to examine the effects (if any) of climate change in Virginia. The report concluded that there is no climate crisis in Virginia, citing that there has been no unusual warming, a decline in heat waves and droughts, no increase in severe weather or hurricanes, and that there is an increase in crop and forest growth. The report went on to claim that completely eliminating carbon dioxide emissions in Virginia would have so little impact, that it would be effectively meaningless. 2

In a 2021 brief, the CO2 Coalition claimed that Pennsylvania’s Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) relied heavily upon faulty data from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)’s 2018 Pennsylvania Climate Action Plan3. The CO2 Coalition opposed the DEP’s climate analysis, claiming that there was no scientific basis for its predictions of drought, flooding, and other extreme weather events, making RGGI economically damaging while providing minimal environmental benefit. 3

In a 2020 science and policy brief, the CO2 Coalition stated that weather-dependent energies like wind and solar are only competitive with conventional fuels when looking at subsidized price, not actual cost. The Coalition pointed out that the weather-dependent energy market is not competitive, as it is controlled by the government’s mandates and subsidies. The CO2 Coalition claims that the renewable energy market has the potential to benefit investors more than consumers, who ultimately support these government mandates and subsidies through additional taxes and increased utility rates. Ultimately, the Coalition claims that while billions of dollars were invested in renewables in 2018, fossil fuels still accounted for 85% of world energy use. 4

Funding

The CO2 Coalition is funded by donations from individuals, foundations, and corporations. While the CO2 Coalition does not disclose its donors, tax filings confirm donations from Greater Horizons ($225,000 in 2019), 5 the Mercer Family Foundation ($150,000 in 2016), 6 and the Sarah Scaife Foundation ($150,000 in 2018). 7

People

Gregory Wrightstone is the executive director of the CO2 Coalition, the author of Inconvenient Facts: The science that Al Gore doesn’t want you to know, and an expert reviewer on  the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 6th Assessment Report. 8  Wrightstone is a former senior fellow at the Cornwall Alliance and a formerly sat on the advisory board of the Heartland Institute. 9

Ryan Nichols is the vice president of operations of the CO2 Coalition. Nichols formerly worked as a senior advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Water and Science in the Department of Interior during the Trump administration, as the associate director of coalition relations at the Heritage Foundation, and as the director of development at the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow. 10

Gordon Tomb is a senior advisor at the CO2 Coalition and a senior fellow at the Commonwealth Foundation. 11

Patrick Michaels was a senior fellow at the CO2 Coalition and the Competitive Enterprise Institute until he passed away in June 2022. Michaels was a past president of the American Association of State Climatologists and a former program chair of the Committee on Applied Climatology of the American Meteorological Society. 12

Board of Directors

Jan Breslow is a professor emeritus at Rockefeller University and a former president of the American Heart Association. 13

Bruce Everett formerly worked as an executive for the ExxonMobil Corporation. 14

Gordon Fulks Ph.D. previously worked for the Laboratory for Astrophysics and Space Research at the Enrico Fermi Institute of the University of Chicago Laboratory for Astrophysics as well as the Mission Research Corporation in Corbett, Oregon. He is also a business and government consultant regarding, “electromagnetic phenomena.” 15

William Happer is a co-founder and the chair of the board of the CO2 Coalition. Happer formerly worked as the director of energy research in the Department of Energy during the George H.W. Bush administration and the senior director of emerging technologies at the National Security Council. Happer is a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. 16

Hugh Kendrick formerly worked as the director of plans and analysis in the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Reactor Research Programs and is a former member of the Nuclear Safety Committee of the National Research Council. Kendrick is a fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Nuclear Society, and the American Chemical Society. 17

Patrick Moore is a co-founder of Greenpeace, a past president of both Greenpeace Canada and Greenpeace International, and the chair of environmental studies at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. Moore is the former co-chair of the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition and former chair of the CO2 Coalition. 18

Rafaella Nascimento Ph.D. is the  president and founder of nanomaterial company C-Intelligence as well as the founder and president of Brazilian educational association CARAVEL. 19

Norman Rogers is a policy advisor to the Heartland Institute. 20

Jeffrey Salmon formerly held senior positions at the Department of Energy, is a former senior fellow of the Institute for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University, and is the former executive director of the George C. Marshall Institute. 21

Leighton Stewart was the director emeritus of the CO2 Coalition before passing away in December 2022. 22

References

  1. “About.” CO2 Coalition, 2022. Accessed April 20, 2022. https://co2coalition.org/about/.
  2. Virginia and Climate Change – Separating fact from fiction.” CO2 Coalition, February 7, 2022. Accessed April 25, 2022. https://co2coalition.org/publications/virginia-and-climate-change-separating-fact-from-fiction/.
  3. “Pennsylvania’s Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Relies on Faulty Data – Why RGGI is a “solution in search of a problem.” CO2 Coalition, July 22, 2021. Accessed April 25, 2022. https://co2coalition.org/publications/pennsylvanias-regional-greenhouse-gas-initiative-relies-on-faulty-data-why-rggi-is-a-solution-in-search-of-a-problem/.
  4. Everett, Bruce Ph.D. “Wind and Solar are Competitive with Fossil Fuels only in Subsidized Price, Not in True Cost.” CO2 Coalition, August 2020. Accessed April 25, 2022. https://co2coalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Everett-Price_Is_Not_Cost-8-2020-SPB-final-1.pdf.
  5. Greater Horizons, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2019, Schedule I, Part II
  6. Mercer Family Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2016, Part XV, Line 3a.
  7. Sarah Scaife Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2018, Part XV, Line 3a.
  8. “Gregory Wrightstone.” CO2 Coalition, 2022. Accessed April 20, 2022. https://co2coalition.org/teammember/gregory-wrightstone-executive-director/.
  9. “Gregory Wrightstone.” EarthX, 2021. Accessed April 20, 2022. https://earthx.org/earthlings/gregory-wrightstone/.
  10. “Ryan Nichols.” CO2 Coalition, 2022. Accessed April 20, 2022. https://co2coalition.org/teammember/ryan-nichols/.
  11. “Gordon Tomb.” CO2 Coalition, 2022. Accessed April 20, 2022. https://co2coalition.org/teammember/gordon-tomb/.
  12. “Patrick J. Michaels.” CO2 Coalition, 2022. Accessed April 20, 2022. https://co2coalition.org/teammember/patrick-j-michaels/.
  13. “Jan Breslow.” CO2 Coalition, 2022. Accessed April 20, 2022. https://co2coalition.org/teammember/jan-breslow/.
  14. “Bruce Everett.” CO2 Coalition, 2022. Accessed April 20, 2022. https://co2coalition.org/teammember/bruce-everett/.
  15. “Godron Fulks, Ph.D.” CO2 Coalition, Accessed March 31, 2023. https://co2coalition.org/teammember/gordon-fulks/
  16. “William Happer.” CO2 Coalition, 2022. Accessed April 20, 2022. https://co2coalition.org/teammember/william-happer-2/.
  17. “Hugh Kendrick.” CO2 Coalition, 2022. Accessed April 20, 2022. https://co2coalition.org/teammember/hugh-kendrick/.
  18. “Patrick Moore.” CO2 Coalition, 2022. Accessed April 20, 2022. https://co2coalition.org/teammember/jeffrey-salmon/.
  19. “Rafaella Nascimento, Ph.D.” CO2 Coalition, Accessed March 31, 2023. https://co2coalition.org/teammember/rafaella-nascimento/
  20. “Norman Rogers.” CO2 Coalition, 2022. Accessed April 20, 2022. https://co2coalition.org/teammember/norman-rogers/.
  21. “Jeffrey Salmon.” CO2 Coalition, 2022. Accessed April 20, 2022. https://co2coalition.org/teammember/jeffrey-salmon-2/.
  22. “Leighton Steward.” CO2 Coalition, Accessed March 31, 2023. https://co2coalition.org/teammember/leighton-steward/
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: May 1, 2015

    • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2020 Dec Form 990 $654,970 $603,142 $934,619 $11,039 N $654,670 $0 $300 $209,829
    2019 Dec Form 990 $816,715 $679,453 $891,645 $19,893 N $811,582 $0 $5,133 $195,992 PDF
    2018 Dec Form 990 $571,728 $401,730 $745,334 $10,902 N $568,042 $0 $3,686 $92,172 PDF
    2017 Dec Form 990 $663,100 $611,484 $583,691 $19,257 N $662,203 $0 $1,914 $86,507 PDF
    2016 Dec Form 990 $671,833 $489,451 $514,533 $1,761 N $669,979 $936 $918 $94,712
    2015 Dec Form 990 $404,384 $74,164 $334,041 $3,821 N $402,437 $0 $72 $25,876 PDF

    The CO2 Coalition


    Arlington, VA