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Rothbard, David -2018

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MERRI OK

CFACT FOUNDER SEE RICKER

KOCH FEE DONORS CEI

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SOON

cornwall faded?

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DEAD AT 50

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DeSmog

https://www.desmog.com › committee-constructive-tomorrow

Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) - DeSmog

Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) Background The Washington-DC-based Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1985 by David Rothbard and Craig Rucker to pursue a free-market approach to environmental issues. CFACT describes

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6 26 David Rothbard - DeSmog

David Rothbard (Deceased)

Credentials

Background

David Rothbard co-founded the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) with Craig Rucker in 1985 and served as chairman and president. Rothbard passed awayon March 30, 2018 after a long illness.2

When founding CFACT, Rothbard and Rucker approached the Chemical Manufacturers Association (CMA) in 1989 to request “corporate involvement and support.” According to CMA documents, CFACT was established to “fight the Public Interest Research Groups (PIRG) and Ralph Nader-type organizations.”3 ^4

According tohis CFACT profile, Rothbard “testified before Congress and various state legislatures; is a regular speaker on college campuses and at policy gatherings in the U.S. and around the world; and has led delegations to numerous UN environmental summits” while serving as CFACT chairman and president.5

CFACT believes the Earth has not warmed in over 18 years and that “slightly higher atmospheric CO2 levels cannot possibly supplant the numerous complex and inter-connected forces that have always determined Earth’s climate.” CFACT has received more than $7 million in funding from the secretiveDonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund, as well as over $400,000 from ExxonMobil.6 ^7

Rothbard co-hosted the CFACT radio commentary program “Just the Facts” that aired since 1993 with the stated purpose of “educating the public” and to “explain the relevance of science to everyday life and its impact on public policy.”8

Stance on Climate Change

December 8, 2015

Rothbard and Craig Rucker co-wrote anarticle at *The Washington Times*, declaring:9

“Our planet and humankind have been challenged by climate change and extreme weather throughout history. The sun’s changing energy output and other natural forces have brought little ice ages, floods, droughts, powerful storms, and periods of prolonged warmth and bounteous harvests.

“To assert that natural forces no longer play a role, that fossil fuel emissions now control climate change, or that humans can now determine planetary temperatures and climate by regulating atmospheric carbon-dioxide levels is sheer hubris. To say we should abandon the hydrocarbon energy that has brought technology, prosperity, health and longevity to billions is sheer insanity.”10

February 7, 2015

Rothard promoted the idea of a “warming pause”:11

“There was nothing special about the temperature of the Earth in 2014. In fact, there has been no meaningful warming since last century.”

Key Quotes

May 2, 2016

Promoting Marc Morano‘s film, Climate Hustle, Rothbard said:12

“An opportunity to bring people together to debunk a propaganda campaign as massive as ‘climate change’ is rare and special.”

November 13, 2013

In an article promoting the Heartland Institute‘s NIPCC report, Rothbard said:13

“In reality, the climate and weather events, trends and cycles of recent years are essentially the same as humans have been dealing with for centuries. There is no evidence that we face imminent catastrophic man-made climate change.”

Key Deeds

April 3, 2018

Rothbard co-wrote an Op-Ed with Craig Rucker in the *Reno Gazette Journal*where they criticized electric cars and renewable energy. The Op-Ed was published on April 3, 2018, the same day Rothbard passed away.14

“There may be hidden costs in the pursuit of ‘clean energy,’ and they may affect consumers more than expected,” the Rucker and Rothbard wrote in the opinion piece, pointing the finger at California’s Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) mandate.15

“Realistically, the ZEV mandate means cash-strapped consumers in heartland America will be paying more to buy a conventional car,” they wrote. “If ZEV mandates increase, more Americans could be compelled to purchase electric cars — or face escalating auto prices. That could mean even middle class Americans struggling to afford a car. But that might well be the grand intention of those pushing so hard for electric cars — to simply price conventional automobiles out of reach for everyday Americans.”16

September 28, 2017

In a fundraising letter obtained by Greenpeace, Rothbard calls on readers to help fund CFACT’s program to influence students in American schools and colleges. The document also featured an introduction by John Coleman.17

...[TABLE] DOCU

Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow CFACT (Text)

“I write to you today to ask for your support of CFACT,” Rothbard wrote. “Our plans are urgent. A new school year is now underway. Together, we must make sure CFACT’s programs – especially designed to push back against Green indoctrination in America ‘s classrooms – are fully funded and ready to immediately counteract Left-wing climate alarmism in classrooms and on campuses across America.”18

The letter cited so-called “climate indoctrination” in modern classrooms. “To make matters worse, our tax dollars are being used to indoctrinate America’s children – and shut out any views that challenge climate alarm orthodoxy,” Rothbard wrote.19

He cited examples of this “indoctrination” as materials distributed by Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN), the U.S. Global Change Research Program, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Science Foundation, and NASA.20

“Confronting the Green Left’s massive indoctrination effort aimed at our young people is almost certainly the hardest challenge we have ever faced at CFACT,” Rothbard added, going on to cite some “victories” for “the climate realist community”:21

“For example, as you know. President Trump has committed to pulling the United States out of the ill-conceived Paris climate accord. The White House has also scrubbed climate alarm propaganda from government websites. This is good news!

“Further, federal programs designed to fund climate alarmism have been frozen and are under review. And Barack Obama’s job-killing and economy disrupting ‘Clean Power Plan’ has effectively been cancelled.”22

However, Rothbard lamented that “these victories are only temporary setbacks to the climate agenda.”23

It is an agenda that claims to be about ‘climate’ and ‘science’ … but consistently favors an ideology of socialism and collectivism over capitalism. An agenda demanding a massive transfer of wealth from ‘rich nations’ to ‘poor nations.’

“And it’s an agenda demanding a headlong rush into expensive and unreliable ‘renewable energy.’ An agenda of ‘carbon taxes’ and what amounts to “carbon indulgences” that punish the poor and middle class while enriching Green millionaires and billionaires.

“Theirs is – I believe – an agenda with an ultimate goal of drastically reducing the human population around the world.”

Rothbard proposed a multi-part plan to fight back against the “Green Left agenda” of “indoctrinating our children and grandchildren in the schools with their radical Green, climate alarmist dogma.”

This includes a study to determine what children are being taught in schools, with an estimated cost of $35,000. The second part of the CFACT plan is to identify and “expose these worst offenders through every means at our disposal. This includes our widely read Climate Depot news and information service, our “Just the Facts” daily national radio commentary, and more.”24

“The third part of our plan is a public policy solution.” This solution being to sway school boards to inject climate change denial into their courses, based on what Rothbard describes as a successful CFACT effort in West Virginia, which he hopes to “serve as a model for similar programs in other states.”25

The fourth part is to “go around the in-classroom indoctrination and open our own communication channel to students outside of school” — targeting students through YouTube and other social media.

“We have plans to dramatically expand our social media presence, especially to young people,” Rothbard noted, also pointing to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitch. “That’s where they [young people] go for news and information and that’s where we will be, too!”26

The fifth part of Rothbard’s plan is to spread the CFACT Collegian’s program, which already has chapters at 44 colleges and universities. “CFACT Collegians is the only program in America solely dedicated to confronting global warming hysteria and other misinformation spewed by the radical environmentalists in America’s colleges and universities.”27

July 2017

Rothbard accompanied climate change denier Marc Morano and CFACT Executive Director Craig Rucker to an Australian screening of Morano’s film,Climate Hustle. Before the film’s Australian debut, Climate scientist Professor Will Steffen reviewed portions of the film for*DeSmog.*28

Steffen is an emeritus professor at Australian National University and a member of the not-for-profit Climate Council. He said: “This is just the usual rubbish from the usual suspects – a re-hash of misleading and downright incorrect arguments that denialists have trotted out for a long time.”29

Reviewing a section that downplays the role of carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, Steffen noted it “misrepresents how the carbon cycle works” by ignoring how oceans and land absorb CO2 – a very basic and well-known mechanism in the carbon cycle.30

Steffen added: “What the film didn’t say is that both oxygen and nitrogen, which comprise about 99 per cent of the atmospheric gases, are transparent to UV, visible and heat radiation. They don’t play a role in the energy balance at the Earth’s surface.”31

Dr. Andrew King, a climate scientist at Monash University in Melbourne, also had an opportunity to look at the film. He described the section on carbon dioxide’s role as “muddled.”

“Whilst there are certainly other potential drivers of changes in the climate we know that over the last century we have greatly increased the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere and, through detection and attribution analyses, we know that the rising levels of atmospheric CO2 and other greenhouse gases have driven the rise in global temperature,” King said. “Changes in other potential drivers, like solar activity, simply can’t explain the 1C rise in global temperature we have observed.”32

Climate denial blogger JoNova also listed some groups involved in organizing the trip included the Galileo Movement(once managed by former One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts), the Australian Environment Foundation, theAustralian Tax Payers Alliance, and the Australian Institute for Progress.33

July 12, 2016

Rothbard was a signatory to a “Coalition” open letterpushing back against what the Heartland Institute describes as an “affront to free speech.” The groups were responding to the recent Web of Denial Resolution brought up in the Senate, calling out fossil fuel industry-funded groups denying climate change.34

According to the Climate Investigations Center, all but one of the open letter’s signatory organizations have taken money (totaling at least $92 million since 1997) from the “climate denial web” including Koch Brothers’ various foundations, ExxonMobil, and two “dark money” organizations, Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund.35

May 18, 2016

Rothbard was a signatory to a full-page color advertisement in The New York Times titled “Abuse of Power” (PDF) sponsored by The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI). The ad serves as an open letter from 43 signatories including organizations and individuals in response to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Claude Walker, and the coalition of Attorneys General investigating groups denying man-made climate change.36 ^37

“Attempts to intimidate CEI and our allies and silence our policy research are unconstitutional,” said CEI president Kent Lassman. “The First Amendment protects us and everyone has a duty to respect it – even state attorneys general. CEI will continue to fight for all Americans to support the causes in which they believe.”38

The Competitive Enterprise Institute received a subpoena from AG Walker on April 7, 2016. On April 20, CEI filed an objection to the subpoena calling it “offensive,” “un-American,” and “unlawful,” and are contending that AG Walker is “violating CEI’s First Amendment rights.”39

The “freedom of speech” argument was echoed by ExxonMobil’s legal team, as well as numerous other conservative groups including the Pacific Legal Foundation, and Heritage Foundation and the recently-formed Free Speech in Science Project, a group created by the same lawyers who defended the Competitive Enterprise Institute in the past.40

The CEI letter lists the following signatories:

August 5, 2014

Rothbard spoke at a CFACT event titled“How to Think and Talk about Climate and Energy Issues” that was held as part of the 41st annual national meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).41

“I was privileged to moderate the workshop that included CFACT senior policy analyst Paul Driessen; publisher and editor of ClimateDepot.com Marc Morano; and former national field director for CFACT’s Collegians campus program Robert Harrelson.,” Rothbard wrote at the CFACT blog.

November 2013

Rothbard spoke at an event in Poland co-sponsored by CFACT and the Institute for Globalization, Solidarity, and Polityka Narodowa, among others. The event was to coincide with the official UN Conference of the Parties (COP) 19 in Warsaw, Poland.42

According to the CFACT blog post, “David Rothbard took dead aim at the shoddy science the UN has relied on to support its claims of impending climate catastrophe. He pointed out that severe weather events such as floods, droughts and rising sea levels have been greatly exaggerated, and that virtually all climate models failed to account for the flat line in world temperatures over the last 17 years. Rothbard finished his remarks by leveling strong criticism at the proposed UN treaty for the crushing economic impacts it will impose on working people and the poor.”43

July 12–14, 2001

Rothbard was a speaker at the “Freedom 21” national conference in St. Louis. Sponsors included the American Policy Center, Sovereignty International, Liberty Matters, Eagle Forum,Environmental Conservation Organization, and the Heartland Institute.44

May 2000

Rothbard has been described as “a driving force behind the Cornwall Declaration,” a document crafted by the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation (formerly the Interfaith Stewardship Alliance, before adopting the name of their landmark document).45

Some of the key points of the Cornwall Declaration include:46

  1. Humans are “producers and stewards” of the environment, and should not be viewed as “consumers and polluters” because “the application of human and material capital are integral to environmental improvement.”
  1. It is “human stewardship that unlocks the potential in creation for all the earth’s inhabitants as good.”
  1. Some environmental concerns are “without foundation or greatly exaggerated.” Examples of unfounded concerns “include fears of destructive manmade global warming, overpopulation, and rampant species loss.”

April 1998

In 1998, Rothbard was listed among members of the “Global Climate Science Communications Team,” a group led by the American Petroleum Institute (API) to develop a 1998 Global Climate Science Communications Plan. *The New York Times* described the GCSCTas “An informal group of people working for big oil companies, trade associations and conservative policy research organizations” who oppose a treaty to fight global warming.47

The following is taken from the1998 memo by the API describing the plan: (See full memo here).48

“Victory Will Be Achieved When

“Average citizens ‘understand’ (recognize) uncertainties in climate science; recognition of uncertainties becomes part of the “conventional wisdom”

Media ‘understands’ (recognizes) uncertainties in climate science

Media coverage reflects balance on climate science and recognition of the validity of viewpoints that challenge the current “conventional wisdom”

Industry senior leadership understands uncertainties in climate science, making them stronger ambassadors to those who shape climate policy

Those promoting the Kyoto treaty on the basis of extent science appears to be out of touch with reality.

“Current Reality

Unless ‘climate change’ becomes a non-issue, meaning that the Kyoto proposal is defeated and there are no further initiatives to thwart the threat of climate change, there may be no moment when we can declare victory for our efforts. It will be necessary to establish measurements for the science effort to track progress toward achieving the goal and strategic success.”

Writing at *The Guardian*, Graham Readfearn also followed up on where many of the lobbyists listed in the original GCSC are today.49

Affiliations

Social Media

Publications

Rothbard has been “a frequent guest on radio and television talk shows, and his work has been printed or critiqued in such publications as Newsweek, the Houston Chronicle, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Washington Times, and The Wall Street Journal,” his CFACT profile notes.52

Rothbard has also been a regular contributor at CFACT’s website. Below are some sample articles or videos related to climate change:53

Other Resources

Resources

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https://www.cfact.org/2018/04/03/reflections-on-david-rothbard-1968-2018/

no lnx

Reflections on David Rothbard, 1964-2018

By CFACT Ed |April 3rd, 2018|News|

on Reflections on David Rothbard, 1964-2018

The cause of liberty lost a very dear friend today.  David Rothbard was a powerful force for all that is right and good in this world.  When we founded CFACT together back in 1985, little did we know that our partnership would span decades and take us on adventures to distant places around the globe.  From crafting joint op-ed’s in leading newspapers, to testifying before state and federal panels, to stirring up grassroots activism on college campuses, to producing a hit movie,to raising numerous ruckuses right in the heart of UN international gatherings, David packed about four times more into a life than what might be considered normal.  He was an energetic, intelligent, passionate, generous and kind man, who loved his family and had a deep devotion to his Christian faith.   To me, he was more than a close friend, he was a brother.  I will miss him for the rest of my days.

Craig Rucker, CFACT Executive Director

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It was always an honor, privilege and pleasure to work with David. From our 2003 trip to the World Trade Organization meeting in Cancun onward, seeing this prankster with principles employ street theater and solid scholarship to convey vital lessons on energy, climate change, poverty eradication and other policy matters was a joy to behold. David left us far too early, but his legacy of CFACT, Collegians chapters on dozens of college campuses, free enterprise activism, and an abiding commitment to poor families in Uganda, the Yucatanand worldwide will be an inspiration to all who follow. In battling his years-long illness and facing death, David, Kelly and their daughters displayed unrelenting love, courage and faith that the rest of us can only hope to muster under such difficult circumstances.

I will miss David terribly, and think of him, his family and his constant (often mischievous) smile many times in the years to come. The lessons he imparted will always be part of me.

Paul Driessen, CFACT senior policy advisor

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David’s passion and dedication to causes he cared about was contagious. His vision and guidance for CFACT has ensured that his passion will live on, through all of us that he mentored, taught, and led. David taught me to take time to enjoy the small things in life and to tackle the big things head on. Over the past decade I was privileged to watch David touch the lives of many- whether it was a group of students, villagers in Africa, thousands of Polish marchers, or even a small group of staff. He was fearless and genuine in all that he did and he certainly left his mark on this world.  So, David, in the words of Ray Boltz, “Thank you for giving to the Lord, I am a life that was changed. I am so glad you gave.”

Christina Norman, CFACT

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David Rothbard was a steady, polite, effective voice of freedom and common sense against the growing totalitarian insistence that only one dismal party line is permissible. To speak for freedom of speech, as Dvaid did, is to speak against the tyranny that ideologues and extremists would inpose upon us by force, if we were silent enough to let them. David was not silent. When history remembers those few who spoke for freedom as the blanket of the dark descended, David will be remembered with honor as one who fearlessly, cheerfully spoke up, spoke out and spoke on in the cause of that liberty that his forefathers won for themselves at the point of the sword. Only death could silence him, but even death cannot eradicate the memory of a true son of freedom.

Christopher Monckton, Third Viscount Monckton of Brenchley

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Truly a happy warrior in an age when that is rare.  Never afraid of the fray, but always with a smile and his patented chuckle. He was a mover and shaker and he will be missed.

David Bufkin, President and Co-Founder, ClearWord Communications Group

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“We did not work with David as long as many of the others on CFACT’s staff, but we still have a deep appreciation for David’s work and vision in co-founding CFACT. In August of 2017 at our annual student leadership retreat, the Eco Summit, David gave one of the first speeches to our student activists of the conference. It was the best introduction and explanation of CFACT’s mission that we have ever heard. With incredible passion, David addressed the needs of the developing world and how free market capitalism is the only answer to advancing the lives of humans everywhere. He then flawlessly wove into that conversation an eloquent rebuke of those seeking to impose restrictions on energy and food development in the developing world in the name of supposedly ‘saving the planet.’ We were impressed by how far he was able to impact the students in a single speech. What we did not expect was to be so impacted by his talk ourselves. David will be missed.”

Adam Houser & Graham Beduze, CFACT

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I’ve had the pleasure of serving with David on the CFACT board for many years. David was a thoughtful leader and careful steward of the organization’s resources. More importantly, David was a dear and longtime friend. I remember the early days, encouraging him to grow and mature the organization.  These meetings often took place in remote locations connected to U.N. conferences –  on the beach in Cancun, on a safari in South Africa, in a flat in Paris, and on the decks of our beloved Sea Lion. David will be missed and we will all do our best to carry on his legacy.

Jeri Goetz, CFACT Board

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David was a man of principle and discipline. We all laughed at the intensity of his editing and proofreading regimen, but inevitably David found errors and misspeak no other reviewer had noticed.  He also just knew the right word for conveying the positive CFACT message.

In sum, David was my spiritual brother. I knew instinctively his heart for people and his sincere faith that the work we were doing was having positive impacts on people’s lives. I will miss our adventures.

Duggan Flanakin, CFACT

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This shows how active David was to build CFACT in only those few years he has been in life, I can say he has been the father to build a better tomorrow for us in Africa by setting us projects we have sorrow on our hearts.

Craig Joseph, Uganda (See comments below)

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Indeed, my heart sank when I heard of the news of Dave’s passing yesterday.

My memory, though not very long, on Dave is extremely positive as I have

watched him from  near and far in handling our common enemies that defy both science and god alike with such total calm and wholesome grace with no presumptions nor any arrogance of talking down to even our enemies. I know Dave will be watching all of us from the heaven and my deepest sorrow is to know that his family must endure the deepest pains that separate this world of ours and the kingdom of God.

My sincere condolence to Dave’s and the CFACT families.

Dr. Willie Soon, Scientist and fellow freedom fighter

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I knew David for about 25 years.  There are many memories, but by far the best was the gathering at Kyoto, Japan in December 1997.  David, Craig, and I were among a few hardy souls there to cover the lunacy surrounding the Kyoto Protocol on global warming.  There were nightly visits to the sake tasting bar at the conference center, and one memorable evening David, Craig, and I went to a Japanese “diner” for dinner, washed down with beer and sake.  The food, drink, and company were fabulous.  The diner’s owner knew only one word in English, “boss.”  And he pointed at me and said “boss.”  David, Craig, and I laughed about that for two decades.

We will miss David.

Bonner Cohen, Ph.D.  CFACT senior policy analyst

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I am so saddened with the loss of David, but blessed beyond measure to have known him.  He was one of my closest friends, both personally and in this public policy world.  David left a big footprint with his amazing smile and passion for life.  David came to know Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior early in his adult life.  He had an intense love for God and an powerful love for those around him.  He wanted to make his faith part of  all he was doing.  Beside David’s huge contributions to his family, his church, CFACT and public policy, his faith propelled him to figure out ways to help the most needy.  He did this in Mexico and loved it so much he started Churches and Villages Together  www.cvtogether.org  .This group would work with churches and individuals to provide support for the poorest of the poor in places like Uganda and  Rwanda.  David went on to help start pineapple farms, piggeries, and fisheries that the native Africans owned so they could create income.  He would find ways of digging wells so people could have clean water and not have to travel far to get water.  In the last few years, he has been going in detention centers in the Baltimore area, reaching out to troubled youth, making a difference in their lives.  One of David’s mottos was, “it didn’t matter who got the credit, just so the job got done.”  The thing I will miss most about David is praying with him.  Craig Rucker and I would pray with David about once a month and sometimes for many hours.  There were times we literally felt we were on holy ground.  Now I am glad he is with the Lord face to face.

Chris Rogers, Producer, CDR Communications

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I am so sorry for your loss. The last time I saw David was at the premier of Climate Hustle. As always, he beamed humor, warmth, and hope to his many friends and colleagues. I had no idea he was ill.

I have fond memories of first getting to know you and David in Buenos Aires, in 1998. Our top goal back then was to keep America Kyoto free. CFACT was instrumental in winning that battle and many others, and in advancing the case for the energy policy turnaround America is now enjoying.   CFACT was a brilliant idea and has long been an irreplaceable resource for the liberty movement.

Sadly, I seldom connected with David in recent years, but I am honored that he always greeted me as a friend.  Please share my condolences and appreciation with David’s family and your colleagues at CFACT.

Marlo Lewis, Jr., Senior Fellow, Competitive Enterprise Institute

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“I am at a loss. David has passed. A man in the prime of his life, so vital and productive and — so vital to the cause of rational science and freedom from overregulation. As a CFACT founder and president, David was a true visionaryin every sense of the word. He had the vision of creating CFACT and he, along with Craig Rucker, became a force of nature in battling the overreaching environmental regulatory and distorted science scare campaigns. David was a key brick that anchored the skepticism of man-made climate change and so many previous green scares. One of his passions was bringing development and hope to the poorer parts of the world. David was a man of deep faith who has gone on to his next calling and he leaves behind his loving family and so many friends and a grateful public.

We miss you so much David, but your legacy lives on!”

Marc Morano, Climate Depot

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I am very saddened to learn of David’s passing. Although I knew David, I learned even more about him from the expressions of love and esteem that I frequently heard about him. David embodied everything I admire about CFACT. He was a man of integrity who fought for truth. He was a man of compassion who fought for the right reasons. He was a man of God who never forgot God’s mercies. David’s passing leaves a void in so many hearts, but we can take solace knowing he is with the Lord, even as we miss him.

James Taylor, President, Spark of Freedom Foundation

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David was a steadfast champion of freedom and a source of inspiration to me.  His three decades-long fight against global warming alarmism and for energy abundance is important in its own right.  However, it was only a part of his wider concern to lift people in all countries out of poverty and oppression by promoting policies that advance free markets and the rule of law.  I will miss working with David.  His death removes an important humanitarian voice and creates a huge gap in the freedom movement.

Myron Ebell,Competitive Enterprise Institute

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I met David in 2004, and we soon became friends. From the beginning, I was fascinated of his visions, values, ideas and courage. In times, when the environment was seen by many as an extremist cause, he developed an entirely new and much more humane approach to it. He showed the world how a smart use of political and economic ressources could serve both the environment and the people. Much earlier than many others he also realized the dangers of a misunderstood environmentalism. His truly innovative approach to politics inspired many people around the world, from all walks of life, including me over here in Germany. There is no doubt his legacy will go on.

Holger Thuss, President, European Institute for Climate and Energy (EIKE)

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I miss David already. A man of passion. Of principle. Of great humor. And, for too short a time, a friend. About the only thing negative I could say about David is he sometimes lacked patience. But he got things done. Important and good things that can’t afford to wait to be done, because the battle is at hand. And David was always at post, ready to fight the battles that needed to be fought for truth and freedom. But just as important, if impatience was a vice, he more than made up for it with wonderful grace. In this he carried well the image of his Savior. I am comforted by the knowledge that David fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith. And now he sees the Lord, face to face.

Eric Langborgh, Senior Vice President,ClearWord Communications Group,Inc.

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The conservative movement lost one of its giants, David Rothbard, co-founder of the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT).

David wasn’t a giant because he employed hundreds of people.  He wasn’t a giant because he oversaw a budget running in the tens of millions.  He wasn’t a giant because he received honors from the conservative movement.

He was a giant because he REALLY made a difference in the fight for liberty.

Coming of age during the Reagan Revolution, David understood – unlike many other think tank executives then and now – that the conservative movement will never prevail over the left by simply writing white papers, hosting seminars and sponsoring conferences.

You don’t win by taking a knife to a gun fight.

He and his colleagues observed the left, learned what made their organizations tick, and then developed effective counter-measures.  As a consequence, CFACT developed effective defund the left campaigns, sponsored grassroots training, sponsored rallies, built an army of student activists and more recently, hosted news aggregators sites (such Climate Depot) and produced documentaries.

Thanks to David’s leadership (and Craig’s), CFACT is no ordinary think tank.

David was quick-witted, kind and fun to be around.

There are few people I’ve enjoyed working within the conservative movement than David.  Like my wife, Amy, who passed away almost exactly a year before he did, David personified one of President Reagan’s favorite quotes: “There’s no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn’t mind who gets the credit.”

The world is a better place because of David Rothbard.  It will be worse without him.

My prayers are with David’s wife, Kelly, and three daughters, Emily, Ashley and Lydia.  A family strong in faith, they know this isn’t the end, but the beginning.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God.  Trust also in me.  In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would not have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” John 14: 1-3

David Ridenour, President, National Center for Public Policy Research

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I met David many years ago when I visited Washington DC on a business trip.  As a result of that I was invited to cooperate with CFACT.  So began a happy relationship.  I was subsequently invited three times by David to visit the US for CFACT cooperation.  I did.  Once I stayed with David and his wonderful family over Easter.  Every Easter since I have thought about David and his family.  There were such fantastic Easter meals, full of significance.

What a wonderful Easter it was in that warm happy family.

David then visited South Africa with a CFACT group and met more South Africans who collectively still talk highly of him.  David, to my eternal amazement, induced me, together with three or four others to jump out of an aeroplane and to parachute onto Durban beach as a publicity stunt for the media.  It worked.  It was my one and only jump ever.

David had a great mixture of the ability to get excited about crazy ideas but also to think in a totally calm strategic manner which impressed me.  He was a great public speaker who could captivate an audience.

Over and above all of the competence of David as a person, he was a really fine fellow.  In all respects he was a really fine fellow.  The world needs more like him.  He has left a mark of significance.

Dr. Kelvin Kemm, Chairman,South African Nuclear Energy Corporation

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There are very few people who are simultaneously giants and yet little known, and very few who are simultaneously giants in the secular and the religious worlds, and very, very few who are giants in both and yet little known. David Rothbard, because of his humility, was little known in either, but because of his passionate love for people, especially for the world’s most vulnerable, was also a giant in both. I’ve known him for nearly a quarter of a century and have never once known him to show self-importance, pride, mean spiritedness—despite the fact that policy opponents often lodged scurrilous and false attacks on his character and activities. What characterized David Rothbard most? Love—love for his Savior, Jesus Christ, and love for the poor and downtrodden to whom he ministered so effectively for decades. He was a man of fervent prayer, brilliant thought, and effective action. I’ve known many scholars with long strings of letters after their names, but few had the combined wisdom and insight David had, which made him one of my most trusted friends and advisors. I shall miss him dearly, but I have good reason to believe that his legacy will endure for generations to come through the many people whose lives he touched, not only in America but also in sub-Saharan Africa, and not only in public policy circles but also—and far more importantly to his mind—in the circles of spiritual need, where he was always ready to share his faith in Jesus Christ and the good news that Christ had died to reconcile sinners to God through faith.

In Christ,

E. Calvin Beisner, Ph.D., Founder and National Spokesman The Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation

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http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2010/10/16/206882/glenn-beck-cornwall-alliance-exxonmobil-climate-change/

Video: Glenn Beck brings ExxonMobil-linked religious front group to tell Christians not to believe in “man-caused" climate change

By Joe Romm on Oct 16, 2010 at 8:56 am

“How is it we’ve had ice ages — and yet there were no SUVs?”

In June, ThinkProgress published an exclusive investigation into the Cornwall Alliance “” a corporate front designed to deceive evangelicals into doubting the science underpinning climate change."  Yesterday, Fox News hate-talker Glenn Beck brought on a representative from the group to tout Cornwall’s new DVD, “Resisting the Green Dragon,” which claims the climate change movement is a “false religion,” and a nefarious conspiracy to empower eugenicists and create a “global government.”   TP’s Lee Fang has the story.

The DVD, which Cornwall is distributing to evangelical churches around the country, seems to be designed perfectly for Beck’s world view, and unsurprisingly, the Cornwall guest and Beck exchanged bizarre conspiracy theories. Watch it:

The Cornwall Alliance appears to be a creation of a group called the James Partnership, a nonprofit run by Chris Rogers and Peter Stein, according to documents filed with the Virginia State Corporation Commission. Rogers, who heads a media and public relations firm called CDR Communications, collaborates with longtime oil front group operative David Rothbard, the founder and President of the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT)and Jacques Villarreal, a lower level stafferat CFACT, for his James Partnership group. In the past, Rogers’ firm has worked for the Bush administration and for the secretive conservative planning group, the Council for National Policy.

According to public records, the following entities are all registered to the same address, 9302-C Old Keene Mill Road Burke, VA 22015, an office park in suburban Virginia: 

In late 2005, evangelical leaders like Rick Warren joined a drive to back a major initiative to fight global warming, saying “millions of people could die in this century because of climate change, most of them our poorest global neighbors."  To counter this historic shift in the evangelical community, a group called the “Interfaith Stewardship Alliance” (ISA) was launched to oppose action on carbon emissions and to deny the existence of climate change. One of the men guiding this group wasPaul Driessen,a consultant for ExxonMobil, the mining industry, and for CFACT.

For “stream lining” reasons, ISA relaunched as the Cornwall Alliance in 2006. With the new name came a redesigned website,highly produced web videos, and an organized network of churches to distribute climate change denying propaganda to hundreds of pastors around the country. The branding for the Cornwall Alliance is derived from the “Cornwall Declaration,” a 1999 document pushing back against the creation-care movement in the evangelical community. The Declaration “stressed a free-market environmental stewardship and emphasized that individuals and private organizations should be trusted to care for their own property without government intervention." CFACT President Rothbard has been hailed as the “driving force” behind the Cornwall Declaration public relations effort.

CFACT is a gimmicky right-wing organization that does everything it can to try to discredit the science underpinning climate change. For instance, staffers from the group traveled to theCopenhagen conferenceon climate change to stage silly press conferences with Rush Limbaugh’s former producer[MORANO] and stunts aimed at mocking Greenpeace.

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CFACT – Special Report from Conference in Bali

CRAIG RUCKER / DECEMBER 27, 2007

When the U.N. convened its 13th annual Conference of the Parties (COP) on climate change in steamy Bali in December, it held high expectations that the international community would be united over what course of action should be taken to curb the buildup of greenhouse gases. The event was carefully orchestrated from beginning to end, […]

READ MORE »

Image courtesy of Dan/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Fruitful Dominion: Time for a New Environmental Ethic?

DAVID ROTHBARD AND CRAIG RUCKER / OCTOBER 31, 2005

Responsible stewardship can bring prosperity to all of the earth’s inhabitants Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis […]

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cfact off bio:

David Rothbard co-founded the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) in 1985, and has served as chairman and president of the organization since its inception. He has provided vision, guidance, and oversight to help build CFACT into a global presence, with activities on three continents and the support of more than 50 internationally-recognized scientists and experts. Rothbard has testified before Congress and various state legislatures; is a regular speaker on college campuses and at policy gatherings in the U.S. and around the world; and has led delegations to numerous UN environmental summits including those in Durban, Cancun, Copenhagen, Cairo, Kyoto, Buenos Aires, the Hague, Johannesburg, and Nairobi. He is a frequent guest on radio and television talk shows, and his work has been printed or critiqued in such publications as Newsweek, the Houston Chronicle, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Washington Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Rothbard is also now spearheading the creation of model demonstration projects in impoverished villages in Latin America and Africa. He is a graduate of Fairfield University in Connecticut, with a degree in political science. He and his wife, Kelly, are the proud parents of three daughters in suburban Maryland.

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sw bs?

:{:{David Rothbard:{ "co-founded the }:Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow:{ (CFACT) in 1985, and has served as chairman and president of the organization since its inception. He has provided vision, guidance, and oversight to help build CFACT into a global presence, with activities on three continents and the support of more than 40 internationally-recognized scientists and experts. Rothbard has }::{testified before Congress and various state legislatures}::{; is a regular speaker on college campuses and at policy gatherings in the U.S. and around the world; and has led delegations to numerous U.N. environmental summits including those in Cairo, Kyoto, Buenos Aires, the Hague, Johannesburg, and Nairobi.}:

He is a frequent guest on radio and television talk shows, and his work has been printed or critiqued in such publications as Newsweek, the Houston Chronicle, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Washington Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Rothbard is also now spearheading the creation of model demonstration projects in impoverished villages in Latin America and Africa. He is a graduate of Fairfield University in Connecticut, with a degree in political science. He and his wife, Kelly, are the proud parents of three daughters in suburban Maryland." ^[1]}:}:

Resources and articles

Related Sourcewatch articles

References

  1. ↑ Board, Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow, accessed September 19, 2008.

Category: 

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wikistub

David Rothbard (born in Bridgeport, Connecticut) is President of the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), a non-profit organization he founded with Craig Rucker in 1985 "to promote a positive voice on environment and development issues."[1]

Rothbard also co-hosts with CFACT Executive Director, Craig Rucker, a daily national radio commentary called "Just the Facts" that has been airing since 1993 on some 200 radio stations from coast to coast.[2]

Rothbard received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Fairfield University.SJ

References

  1. Jump up "CFACT's About page". Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  2. Jump up "Just the Facts Radio". Retrieved 12 March 2013.

External links

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cfact blog omg

legislator orientation aug 2014

Don’t be intimidated! Don’t back down!

That was the powerful message CFACT spokesmen and I delivered last week in Dallas to a standing-room-only crowd of state legislators and other policy experts from across the nation.

The CFACT workshop on “How to Think and Talk about Climate and Energy Issues” was held as part of the 41st annual national meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC – an outstanding organization that helps state legislators promote limited government, free markets, and federalism.

According to John Eick, director of ALEC’s Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force, “The workshop provided our legislative members with much needed facts, data, and historical anecdotes regarding these key policy areas. Feedback from our members since the workshop has been nothing but positive, and the panelists should all be congratulated for a job extremely well done.”

I was privileged to moderate the workshop that included CFACT senior policy analyst Paul Driessen; publisher and editor of ClimateDepot.com Marc Morano; and former national field director for CFACT’s Collegians campus program Robert Harrelson.

Driessen opened the discussion by talking about the enormous impact of the growing regulatory burden from Washington – with regulations now eating up one-sixth of the entire U.S. economy.

He described how an energy boom in places like Texas, Oklahoma, and North Dakota is revitalizing growth in those areas, but how environmental extremists and the Obama administration are pursuing policies to de-develop the U.S. and eventually eliminate all fossil-fuel use.

Driessen encouraged the crowd not to cede the high moral ground on these issues, to challenge the regulations wherever possible, and to publicly hammer the regulators for impairing the health and welfare of millions of Americans.

Morano brought the house down with his fast-paced and humorous survey of the global warming landscape – tearing apart the alleged “scientific consensus” on man-made climate change; showing the absurd extremes to which climate alarmists are going to close off debate and scare the public; and explaining how science has been transformed into “climate astrology” with wild predictions of environmental doom.

He also screened the movie trailer for CFACT’s “Climate Hustle” film project that brought many laughs and sustained applause from the crowd.

Harrelson batted cleanup, encouraging the crowd that America’s youth are not a lost cause on climate and energy issues – and then detailing how CFACT is successfully educating and mobilizing college students from coast to coast as part of its Collegians program.

From bringing in top-notch speakers and conducting student polls, to having students testify at local and regional hearings, and making their presence felt at international UN conferences, Harrelson trumpeted Collegians’ efforts and exhorted the audience to continue reaching out to youth and to work with CFACT’s local chapters wherever possible.

Each participant received a special set of “Talking Points for 2014” on climate and energy issues, and many were introduced to CFACT and its programs as a prime resource in this arena.

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