The Woodwell Climate Research Center is a left-of-center organization that uses data and commentary to advocate for environmentalist positions with the stated goal of “[t]urning climate research into urgent action.” ¹

Background

The Woodwell Climate Research Center was founded in 1985 as the Woods Hole Research Center by ecologist George Woodwell in 1985. ² In 1986, Woodwell became the first scientist to testify before Congress about climate change. ³ In 1992, scientists from the organization helped catalyze the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which began the United Nations’ policy of referring to climate change as “dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.” ⁴

Funding

The Woodwell Climate Research Center received $13,695,014 in contributions, ⁵ $15,525,343 in total revenue, ⁶ incurred $11,281,951 in expenses, ⁷ and held $23,275,748 in net assets between 2019 and 2020. ⁸

Climate Advocacy

Climate Change Disclosures

In 2021, the Woodwell Climate Research Center submitted comments to the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) advocating for heightened greenhouse gas (GHG) emission disclosure requirements for publicly traded businesses. ⁹

In its comment to the SEC, the organization claims that the 1.2^o C increase in the surface temperature of the earth relative to pre-industrial baseline levels is already sufficient to make previously unlikely climate events more likely. ¹⁰

The comment advised the SEC to prevent corporations from using novel or unique models for measuring the potential impact of their GHG footprint, urging the SEC that “[m]odels should be restricted, at a minimum, to those that have been published in mainstream peer-reviewed scientific literature, and more specific restrictions may additionally be advisable.” ¹¹ More specifically, despite the fact that the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) produces a range of scenarios for the potential increase in temperatures, with different probabilities attached to those scenarios, ¹² the organization states that the SEC should require that corporations calculate their hypothetical impact on the environment over the next 30 years based on “use of the most carbon-intensive scenario” available within the IPCC model. ¹³

Lobbying

In 2022, the Woodwell Climate Research Center spent $44,000 to retain 90 West LLC, a lobbying firm, to push for the inclusion numerous environmentalist provisions in the 2023 Farm Bill. ¹⁴ Alex Goldstein, the president of 90 West LLC, was the spokesman for the 2018 Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) congressional campaign and served in former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s (D) administration from 2011 to 2012. ¹⁵

The recommended provisions would increase carbon credit reporting requirements, expand government grants for farmers who agree to reduce utilization of their land, increase government research into complex methods to reduce GHG emissions from farming, and increase government funding for climate risk modeling. ¹⁶

Criticism of UN GHG Modeling

The Woodwell Climate Research Center has criticized the rigor with which the UN IPCC model measures greenhouse gas emissions, and has called for more stringent measurements in determining total GHG production relative to GHG sinks such as trees and other life forms that “store” carbon. ¹⁷

The organization claims that the UN IPCC models, by failing to account for permafrost thaw emissions, allow businesses to generate more greenhouse gases under the false assumption that the net emissions match the net amount of carbon sinks. ¹⁸

In 2022, the Woodwell Climate Research Center attended the 27^th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 27) and participated in panels and events where it advocated for measurement models that account for permafrost thaw GHG emissions. ¹⁹

Leadership

Robert M. Holmes is the president and CEO of the Woodwell Climate Research Center. ²⁰ Prior to joining the organization, Holmes was the director of the National Science Foundation’s Arctic System Science Program. ²¹

The prior president of the organization, Phillip B. Duffy, took leave from the organization to work for the Biden administration as a climate science advisor for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). ²² In 2019, Duffy received $342,218 in compensation and $43,852 in benefits and alternative compensation as president of the organization. ²³

1. “Impact” Woodwell Climate Research Center. https://www.woodwellclimate.org/our-impact/
2. “About- Beginning a Dialogue” Woodwell Climate Research Center. https://www.woodwellclimate.org/about/
3. About- Leading by Example” Woodwell Climate Research Center. https://www.woodwellclimate.org/about/
4. United Nations. 1992. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. New York: United Nations General Assembly. https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/conveng.pdf
5. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Woodwell Climate Research Center. Part I. Line 8. 2019.
6. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Woodwell Climate Research Center. Part I. Line 12. 2019.
7. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Woodwell Climate Research Center. Part I. Line 18. 2019.
8. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Woodwell Climate Research Center. Part I. Line 22. 2019.
9. “Woodwell Climate Research Center-Re: Request for Input on Climate Change Disclosures” Securities Exchange Commission. June 11, 2021. Accessed January 20, 2023. https://www.sec.gov/comments/climate-disclosure/cll12-8911746-244391.pdf
10. Woodwell Climate Research Center-Re: Request for Input on Climate Change Disclosures” Securities Exchange Commission. June 11, 2021. Accessed January 20, 2023. https://www.sec.gov/comments/climate-disclosure/cll12-8911746-244391.pdf
11. “Woodwell Climate Research Center-Re: Request for Input on Climate Change Disclosures” Securities Exchange Commission. June 11, 2021. Accessed January 20, 2023. https://www.sec.gov/comments/climate-disclosure/cll12-8911746-244391.pdf
12. “Woodwell Climate Research Center-Re: Request for Input on Climate Change Disclosures” Securities Exchange Commission. June 11, 2021. Accessed January 20, 2023. https://www.sec.gov/comments/climate-disclosure/cll12-8911746-244391.pdf
13. “Woodwell Climate Research Center-Re: Request for Input on Climate Change Disclosures” Securities Exchange Commission. June 11, 2021. Accessed January 20, 2023. https://www.sec.gov/comments/climate-disclosure/cll12-8911746-244391.pdf
14. “Farm Bill 2023 Priorities” Woodwell Climate Research Center. https://assets-woodwell.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/20154159/Farm_Bill_2023_Priorities_9-15-2022.pdf
15. “Alex Goldstein” 90 West LLC. https://www.ninetywest.com/about-us
16. “Farm Bill 2023 Priorities” Woodwell Climate Research Center. https://assets-woodwell.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/20154159/Farm_Bill_2023_Priorities_9-15-2022.pdf
17. Constantine, Katie. “The critical missing expense in global climate budgets” Woodwell Climate Research Center. October 10, 2022. Accessed January 20, 2023. https://www.woodwellclimate.org/permafrost-missing-expense-global-climate-budget/
18. Constantine, Katie. “The critical missing expense in global climate budgets” Woodwell Climate Research Center. https://www.woodwellclimate.org/permafrost-missing-expense-global-climate-budget/
19. Williams, Anneka. “Policy takeaways from COP27” Woodwell Climate Research Center. December 7, 2022. Accessed January 20, 2023. https://www.woodwellclimate.org/policy-takeaways-from-cop27/
20. “Robert Max Holmes” Woodwell Climate Research Center. https://www.woodwellclimate.org/staff/robert-max-holmes/
21. “Robert Max Holmes” Woodwell Climate Research Center. https://www.woodwellclimate.org/staff/robert-max-holmes/
22. “Philip B. Duffy” Woodwell Climate Research Center. https://www.woodwellclimate.org/staff/philip-duffy/
23. “Philip B. Duffy” Woodwell Climate Research Center. https://www.woodwellclimate.org/staff/philip-duffy/