Oil Companies Bankroll "Experts" In New Anti-Regulation Infomercial

August 03, 2009 6:25 pm ET

As the debate over cap-and-trade heats up in the Senate, the Competitive Enterprise Institute has released what it calls a "documentary" on climate change. The video, Policy Peril: Why Global Warming Policies Are More Dangerous Than Global Warming Itself, is an attempt to downplay the risks associated with global warming. CEI fails to note, however, that a host of "experts" interviewed in the video are employed by organizations that have accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from America's largest oil companies.

Competitive Enterprise Institute Produced A Film Opposing The Fact That Global Warming Is "A Dire And Imminent Crisis"

The Competitive Enterprise Institute Produced A Film Opposing The Fact that Global Warming Is "A Dire And Imminent Crisis." Describing its film in an email invitation to supporters, the Competitive Enterprise Institute wrote:

An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore's bestselling book and Academy Award-winning documentary, was a remarkable success in 2006. But has its claim that global warming is a dire and imminent crisis stood the test of time, and, for that matter, was it ever really credible in the first place? Policy Peril: Why Global Warming Policies Are More Dangerous Than Global Warming Itself emphatically says "NO." This 40-minute documentary, produced by Competitive Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Marlo Lewis, systematically debunks virtually every terrifying assertion Gore made. It also sets out a far more realistic and sensible approach to the issue, one that weighs the risks of global warming against the risks of misguided global warming policy. [Competitive Enterprise Institute email, 8/2/09]

ExxonMobil And CEI Have A Long, Mutually Beneficial History

While Serving As "The Poster Child" For Deniers Of Global Warming, ExxonMobil Gave $2 Million To The Competitive Enterprise Institute. As reported by the Washington Post:

[ExxonMobil] has been the poster child of denial among those convinced of global warming. It opposed the Kyoto climate change treaty. In 2001, it pressed the Bush administration to remove an outspoken scientist from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In 2005, a White House official accused of altering scientific reports to cast more doubt on global warming went to work for the company.

The company has also been accused of financing policy groups as surrogates for sowing doubts about the causes of global warming. The Competitive Enterprise Institute received about $2 million over seven years. [Washington Post, 2/10/07; emphasis added]

Washington Post: The Competitive Enterprise Institute... Says ExxonMobil Is A "Major Donor." According to the Washington Post: "The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), which widely publicizes its belief that the Earth is not warming cataclysmically because of the burning of oil and coal, says Exxon Mobil is a 'major donor,' largely as a result of its effort to push that position. 'I think what attracted them to us was our position on global warming,' said Sam Kazman, CEI's general counsel. 'And we hope to get support from other industries that agree with us.'" [Washington Post, 2/10/07]

However, ExxonMobil Ceased Directly Funding The Competitive Enterprise Institute In 2006

ExxonMobil Funded CEI Until 2006. As reported by MSNBC, "[ExxonMobil spokesman Mark] Boudreux said Exxon in 2006 stopped funding the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a nonprofit advocating limited government regulation, and other groups that have downplayed the risks of greenhouse emissions. CEI acknowledged the change. 'I would make an argument that we're a useful ally, but it's up to them whether that's in the priority system that they have, right or wrong,' director Fred Smith." [MSNBC, 1/12/07]

ExxonMobil Continues To Bankroll CEI's "Experts"

CEI's Film Featured Staffers From The Heritage Foundation. The Competitive Enterprise Institute's film, Policy Peril: Why Global Warming Policies Are More Dangerous Than Global Warming Itself, features Ben Lieberman and David Kreutzer from the Heritage Foundation. [CEI, Policy Peril: Why Global Warming Policies Are More Dangerous Than Global Warming Itself, accessed 8/3/09]

The Heritage Foundation Received $50,000 From ExxonMobil In 2008. According to ExxonMobil's 2008 Worldwide Contributions and Community Investments disclosure, they donated $50,000 to the Heritage Foundation in 2008. [2008 Worldwide Contributions and Community Investments, accessed 8/3/09]

CEI's Film Featured Staffers From The American Enterprise Institute. The Competitive Enterprise Institute's film, Policy Peril: Why Global Warming Policies Are More Dangerous Than Global Warming Itself, features Joel Schwartz from the American Enterprise Institute. [CEI, Policy Peril: Why Global Warming Policies Are More Dangerous Than Global Warming Itself, accessed 8/3/09]

The American Enterprise Institute Received $245,000 From ExxonMobil In 2008. According to ExxonMobil's 2008 Worldwide Contributions and Community Investments disclosure, they donated $245,000 to from the American Enterprise Institute in 2008. [2008 Worldwide Contributions and Community Investments, accessed 8/3/09]

CEI's Film Featured Staffers From The Pacific Research Institute. The Competitive Enterprise Institute's film, Policy Peril: Why Global Warming Policies Are More Dangerous Than Global Warming Itself, features Tom Tanton from the Pacific Research Institute. [CEI, Policy Peril: Why Global Warming Policies Are More Dangerous Than Global Warming Itself, accessed 8/3/09]

The Pacific Research Institute Received $75,000 From ExxonMobil In 2008. According to ExxonMobil's 2008 Worldwide Contributions and Community Investments disclosure, they donated $75,000 to from the Pacific Research Institute in 2008. [2008 Worldwide Contributions and Community Investments, accessed 8/3/09]

Koch Industry Bankrolls CEI's "Experts"

Koch Industries Is A "$90 Billion Conglomerate With Oil And Gas Holdings." According to the Boston Herald, "America's largest private corporation, Koch Industries, [is] an estimated $90 billion conglomerate with oil and gas holdings." [Boston Herald, 10/10/07]

The Claude R. Lambe Foundation Is A Non-Profit Foundation Managed By Koch Industries. According to the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics: "Claude Lambe is indeed a dead man. While he lived, however, he was a founding partner of Koch Industries, an oil, gas, and agribusiness conglomerate that is the second largest privately-held company in America. At his death, Mr. Lambe created a foundation that is now controlled by Charles G. Koch, the chairman and chief executive officer of Koch Industries.The Board of Trustees for the Lambe Foundation consists of the following: Charles Koch; his wife Elizabeth B. Koch; Wayne Gable, Koch Industries' managing director of federal affairs and lead Washington lobbyist; Richard Fink, who sits on Koch Industries' Board of Directors; and Vonda Holliman, Koch Industries' foundation accounting officer. The Lambe Foundation also pays Koch Industries an annual fee for its management of the Foundation." [Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, 10/1/04]

The Heritage Foundation Received $465,000 From Koch's Lambe Foundation In 2007. According to 990 forms filed with the IRS, the Claude R. Lambe Foundation donated $465,000 to the Heritage Foundation in 2007. [Lambe Foundation 990 form, accessed 8/3/09]

The Pacific Research Institute Received $90,000 From Koch's Lambe Foundation In 2007. According to 990 forms filed with the IRS, the Claude R. Lambe Foundation donated $90,000 to the Pacific Research Institute in 2007. [Lambe Foundation 990 form, accessed 8/3/09]

CEI's Film Featured Staffers From The Cato Institute. The Competitive Enterprise Institute's film, Policy Peril: Why Global Warming Policies Are More Dangerous Than Global Warming Itself, features Patrick J. Michaels from the Cato Institute. [CEI, Policy Peril: Why Global Warming Policies Are More Dangerous Than Global Warming Itself, accessed 8/3/09]

The Cato Institute Received $250,000 From Koch's Lambe Foundation In 2007. According to 990 forms filed with the IRS, the Claude R. Lambe Foundation donated $250,000 to the Cato Institute in 2007. [Lambe Foundation 990 form, accessed 8/3/09]