Fdn for Research on Economics and the Environment

<p>see also  FREE and 

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... Corporate think-tank influence extends even into the branch of government designed to be immune to it: the judiciary. Some of that influence is exerted by intervention in lawsuits to make arguments that favor industry. In 1999, for example, the <span style=" font-weight: bold;">Citizens for a Sound Economy Foundation</span>, the funding arm of CSE, paid for "friend of the court" briefs that sought to declare the<span style=" font-weight: bold;"> Clean Air Act unconstitutional</span>. Where might a nonprofit charity like CSEF come up on short notice with the money required to pay lawyers who can charge $5,000 an hour? Answer: the Claude Lambe Foundation, also controlled by the Kochs, which gave CSEF $600,000 for "general operating support"; the DaimlerChrysler Corporation Fund, which kicked in another $250,000; and General Electric, which matched the DaimlerChrysler Fund’s donation. There’s no way of knowing whether that $1.1 million paid for the legal briefs, but that amount buys a lot of lawyers, even at Washington prices.</p>

<p>

Influence is also exercised less directly. For example, the same Lambe Foundation that gave to CSEF also donated $150,000 to the <span style=" font-weight: bold;">Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment (FREE), based in Bozeman, Montana.</span> FREE conducts seminars for federal judges–including those at the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, where CSEF’s briefs were filed. FREE is in ideological lockstep with organizations like CSEF: While the foundation works the legal angle, FREE "educates" the judges who will hear the cases. Indeed, the two judges, <span style=" font-weight: bold;">Douglas Ginsburg and Stephen Williams,</span> who held the Clean Air Act unconstitutional (a ruling that was later overturned by the Supreme Court), based their decision largely on the arguments advanced by CSEF. And both judges had enjoyed the all-expenses-paid FREE seminars. (Ginsburg attended them each year from 1993 to ’98; Williams went in 1993 and 1998.)</p>

<p>

The Montana seminars feature horseback riding and hiking at FREE’s dude ranch near Big Sky. In each of two years, 1999 and 2000, 6 percent of the federal judiciary took in these junkets. A typical day includes morning presentations, free time in the afternoon, an evening cocktail hour, and then dinner with a speech by, say, Alfred DeCrane Jr., retired head of Texaco, called "The Environment–A CEO’s Perspective."

FREE says its seminars focus on "economic implications of science, risk, and environmental issues." Sounds innocent enough, until you peruse some of the reading material. One seminar handout discusses the "bureaucratic pathologies of . . . agencies like the EPA" and the "irresponsible efforts [of] . . . environmentalists hostile toward industrial civilization." FREE defends its seminars and its reliance on quasi-corporate funding on the grounds that "federal judges are smart, mature, sophisticated men and women . . . disposed by training to be discerning, critical, and alert to shoddy arguments."

<span style=" font-weight: bold;">It appears that FREE seminars have been successful at winning over these discerning judges. According to the Community Rights Counsel, a public-interest law firm based in Washington, D.C., that has gathered and analyzed an immense amount of data on FREE, in one case, "the judge ruled in favor of a litigant that [was] funded by the same special interests that helped fund his seminar." That judge, Stephen Williams (the same one who ruled the Clean Air Act unconstitutional), reversed himself in a highly publicized suit brought by the timber industry to gut the Endangered Species Act. At issue in Sweet Home v. Babbitt was the power of the government to protect endangered species by regulating habitat. In a two-to-one opinion issued on July 23, 1993, Williams and another judge upheld that power. Two weeks later, Williams attended his first FREE seminar. When he returned to Washington, he granted a rehearing to the timber industry, switched his vote, then wrote an opinion (later overturned by the Supreme Court) striking down the habitat regulations</span>.

Central to the functioning of American democracy is a judicial system that dispenses justice with an even hand. Yet CSEF, FREE, and other like-minded groups seem intent on reshaping the judiciary in their own image. Chief among these groups is the shadowy but powerful Federalist Society. Another regular recipient of Koch largesse, the Federalist Society is described by the Washington Monthly as "the best-organized, best-funded, and most effective legal network operating in this country." (See "Lay of the Land," March/April 2002.) Lawyers who belong to or are active in the society include at least two Supreme Court justices–Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas–as well as dozens of other federal judges, Attorney General John Ashcroft, Solicitor General Ted Olson, and Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham. The society boasts a total membership of "20,000 legal professionals [and] active chapters in 60 cities." Yet, according to its 1998 federal tax return (which was provided to me when researching this story and which mistakenly included its list of donors), the Federalist Society’s income that year included $4,934,325 in grants from the Kochs’ and other such foundations but zero–yes, zero–in membership dues.

The full extent of industry funding for these myriad front groups is impossible to determine with certainty. Although information on donors is provided to the Internal Revenue Service, this is not (for the most part) available to the public. However, bits and pieces gleaned from searching a variety of databases–the Foundation Directory Online, for example–can be stitched together to provide a rough idea of the scope of special-interest spending. According to one such tally, the Kochs gave more than $21 million to the Cato Institute alone between 1977 and 1994. And in 1999, at least $1.4 million came to CSEF from just two of the several foundations controlled by the Kochs....http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200207/thinktank_printable.asp

<a href="http://www.mindfully.org/Air/2004/Judge-Ginsburg-Industry23mar04.htm">http://www.mindfully.org/Air/2004/Judge-Ginsburg-Industry23mar04.htm</a>

sentelle, kirkland & Ellis, Baden, douglas ginsberg FREE

 </p>

<h2 align="center" style=" text-indent: 0; line-height: 115%;">Lawyer Who Challenged EPA Case Had Social Contacts With Judges </h2>

<h4 align="center" style=" text-indent: 0; line-height: 115%;">JOHN J. FIALKA / Wall Street Journal 23mar04</h4>

<p>WASHINGTON—A lead attorney pressing a legal attack by industry against pending federal air-pollution regulations had social contacts with two federal appellate judges at a guest ranch before they decided the 1999 case. The meetings came as part of a series of expense-paid seminars for judges paid for by donations from industries and conservative foundations.</p>

<p style=" line-height: 100%;"><b><font face="Arial" size="2">U.S. Circuit Judge Douglas Ginsburg

participated with industry lawyer

representing several industry groups</font></b>

 </p>

</td></tr></tbody></table>

<p>The case—the American Trucking Association vs. the Environmental Protection Agency—was one of the biggest environmental cases of the 1990s. In it, the appeals court struck down new EPA regulations on soot and smog, claiming that Congress had never delegated the authority to the EPA. The U.S. Supreme Court later rejected the lower court's decision, upholding EPA's right to tighten regulations on soot and smog under the Clean Air Act.

While the case was pending, one of the judges that made the decision—U.S. Circuit Judge Douglas Ginsburg—participated with Ed Warren, who argued the case on behalf of several industry groups. They were both directors of the Foundation for Research on Economics & the Environment, a group based in Bozeman, Mont., that holds periodic seminars at a resort hotel and a rustic ranch for selected federal judges. The sessions feature plenty of free time for fishing, hiking, cocktails and other forms of socializing.

According to FREE about 70% of its funds come from foundations, including the Claude Lambe Foundation, which is controlled by closely held Koch Industries Inc., of Wichita, Kan., a broadly diversified energy company. Other contributions, according to FREE, come from corporations, currently including ExxonMobil. Bruce Green, an expert on legal ethics who teaches at Fordham University School of Law in New York, said he was retained by one of the Koch-related foundations to determine whether the seminars violated current standards of judicial ethics.

"For me the question came down to whether it was ethical for judges to attend. Looking at the existing norms, I concluded that it was okay," Mr. Green said.

Douglas T. Kendall, head of Community Rights Counsel, a Washington-based, nonprofit watchdog group, released details of the group's seminars last night in a report that says the meetings pose "serious ethical problems" for judges who attend the seminars.

FREE Chairman John Baden said he was unaware of the pending air-pollution case at the time. He added that Mr. Warren joined the board of FREE in 1998 and resigned in 1999 at about the same time the appeals court reached its initial decision in the case.

"How would I have possibly known of this? I don't do cases," said Mr. Baden, an environmental economist. He said it was "preposterous" to think that any of the judges who attend the seminars, which are often sharply critical of government regulations, might be "brainwashed" by lectures that included one given by Mr. Warren. According to FREE's records, it was attended by Judge David Sentelle, another member of Judge Ginsburg's court.

Mr. Warren, a partner in the Chicago-based firm Kirkland and Ellis, said he decided to resign from FREE sometime after his first board meeting. While he said he saw nothing wrong with the often-cozy seminars, he was worried that his involvement in a pending case might be attacked by some outside group. "I didn't want to create a problem for FREE or Doug Ginsburg," he said. Neither Judge Ginsburg, currently chief judge of the court, nor Judge Sentelle could be reached for comment.

Mr. Kendall, of the Community Rights Counsel, estimated that the activities involved with the week-long seminars amounted to about $10,000 per judge. Mr. Baden said that transportation and lodging came to only about $1,300 per judge for travel and lodging. "This is really cheap stuff, it's rustic," he said, adding that he couldn't break out the cost of FREE's overhead. This year, he said, the group has received acceptances from 44 federal judges for two planned seminars.

<span style=" font-size: medium;"><b>Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment</b></span></p>

<p>

see nyer on </p>

<p>

In 1997, for instance, the E.P.A. moved to reduce surface ozone, a form of pollution caused, in part, by emissions from oil refineries. Susan Dudley, an economist who became a top official at the Mercatus Center, criticized the proposed rule. The E.P.A., she argued, had not taken into account that smog-free skies would result in more cases of skin cancer. She projected that if pollution were controlled it would cause up to eleven thousand additional cases of skin cancer each year.</p>

<p>

In 1999, the District of Columbia Circuit Court took up Dudleyâs smog argument. Evaluating the E.P.A. rule, the court found that the E.P.A. had âexplicitly disregardedâ the âpossible health benefits of ozone.â In another part of the opinion, the court ruled, 2-1, that the E.P.A. had overstepped its authority in calibrating standards for ozone emissions. As the Constitutional Accountability Center, a think tank, revealed, the judges in the majority had previously attended legal junkets, on a Montana ranch, that were arranged by the <b>Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment</b>âa group funded by Koch family foundations. The judges have claimed that the ruling was unaffected by their attendance.</p>

Read more <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/30/100830fa_fact_mayer?printable=true#ixzz0xjksfQ00" style=" color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/30/100830fa_fact_mayer?printable=true#ixzz0xjksfQ00</a>

</div>

<p> 

<a href="http://">http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Foundation_for_Research_on_Economics_and_the_Environment</a></p>

<p>

<b>The Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment</b> (FREE) based in Bozeman, Montana, is a prime engine for free market environmentalism in the area of <i>education</i>.

Preaching reliance on market mechanisms and private property rights, rather than on environmental law, for protection of the environment, its chairperson, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=John_Baden" title="John Baden">John Baden</a> (a past member of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=National_Petroleum_Council" title="National Petroleum Council">National Petroleum Council</a>), stresses decentralization - a shift of control from what he calls "Green platonic despots in D.C." to "local interests." He has written, apparently in all seriousness, that the agenda of FREE is "the norm among progressive, intellectually honest and successful environmentalists."</p>

<p>

One of FREE's current projects is the "Charter Forest" scheme, in which the national forests would no longer operate under the "multiple use" mandate. Rather, each forest would be are managed by whatever industry would be able to realize the greatest profit.

For more than ten years, FREE has been offering expense-paid seminars in its philosophy to federal judges. (View a copy of an <a href="http://www.mediatransparency.org/recipientprofile.php?recipientID=725" class="external text" rel="nofollow" title="http://www.mediatransparency.org/recipientprofile.php?recipientID=725">invitation</a>).</p>

<p>

Seminars, held primarily at resorts and private ranches in Montana, with good access to trout streams and golf courses, include such topics as "The Environment: A CEO's Perspective" and "Liberty and the Environment: A Case for Judicial Activism". In the late nineties, FREE boasted that nearly a third of the federal judiciary had either attended or was seeking to attend its seminars, this as the Bush Administration now strives to pack federal benches with rightist judges. The group also offers expense-paid courses for university faculty and students, these reportedly taught on the campus of Montana State University.

Between August 14-19, 2004, FREE hosted the 2004 general meeting of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Mont_Pelerin_Society" title="Mont Pelerin Society">Mont Pelerin Society</a> at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City.

 </p>

<h2>Contents</h2>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Foundation_for_Research_on_Economics_and_the_Environment#Personnel"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">Personnel</span></a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Foundation_for_Research_on_Economics_and_the_Environment#Funding"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Funding</span></a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Foundation_for_Research_on_Economics_and_the_Environment#Contact"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">Contact</span></a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Foundation_for_Research_on_Economics_and_the_Environment#External_links"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">External links</span></a></li>

</ul>

</td></tr></tbody></table>

<h2><span class="mw-headline">Personnel</span></h2>

<ul>

<li>One of the members of the Board is <a title="George M. Gray" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=George_M._Gray">George M. Gray</a>, the Executive Director of the <a class="mw-redirect" title="Harvard Centre for Risk Analysis" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Harvard_Centre_for_Risk_Analysis">Harvard Centre for Risk Analysis</a>.</li>

</ul>

<h2><span class="mw-headline">Funding</span></h2>

<p>FREE has received millions of dollars from roughly the same profile of foundations that fund the <a class="mw-redirect" title="Political Economy Research Center" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Political_Economy_Research_Center">PERC</a>. According to FREE's website funding has come from</p>

<ul>

<li>Ajax Foundation</li>

<li>Armstrong Foundation</li>

<li><a title="Castle Rock Foundation" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Castle_Rock_Foundation">Castle Rock Foundation</a></li>

<li>Chase Foundation of Virginia</li>

<li>Donner Foundation</li>

<li>Pierre and Enid Goodrich Foundation</li>

<li>Harold and Reta Haynes Foundation</li>

<li>Charlotte and Walter Kohler Charitable Trust</li>

<li><a class="mw-redirect" title="Claude R. Lambe Foundation" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Claude_R._Lambe_Foundation">Claude R. Lambe Foundation</a></li>

<li><a title="John M. Olin Foundation" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=John_M._Olin_Foundation">John M. Olin Foundation</a></li>

<li>Lilly Endowment</li>

<li>M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust</li>

<li>Alex C. Walker Foundation</li>

<li><a class="mw-redirect" title="Carthage Foundation" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Carthage_Foundation">Carthage Foundation</a></li>

<li>True Foundation</li>

</ul>

<p>2002 Corporate Funders</p>

<ul>

<li><a title="American Chemistry Council" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Chemistry_Council">American Chemistry Council</a></li>

<li><a class="mw-redirect" title="ExxonMobil" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ExxonMobil">ExxonMobil</a></li>

<li><a title="General Electric" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=General_Electric">General Electric</a></li>

<li><a class="mw-redirect" title="General Motors" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=General_Motors">General Motors</a></li>

<li><a title="Merck" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Merck">Merck</a></li>

<li><a title="Shell" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Shell">Shell</a></li>

<li><a class="new" title="Temple Inland (page does not exist)" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Temple_Inland&action=edit&redlink=1">Temple Inland</a></li>

<li><a class="new" title="Tindall (page does not exist)" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Tindall&action=edit&redlink=1">Tindall</a> <a class="external autonumber" title="http://www.free-eco.org/funding.php" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.free-eco.org/funding.php">[1]</a></li>

</ul>