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MURRAY COAL
https://www.desmog.com/center-study-carbon-dioxide-and-global-change/
https://www.desmogblog.com/2018/01/18/climate-denial-co2-coalition-trump-morner-funding-sea-level-research-dodgy-journals
DESMOG MURRAY COAL
March 31, 2020
Robert Murray was included in a list by Rolling Stone in an article titled “Climate Enemies: The Men Who Sold the World.” According to the magazine, “bad actors are not only failing to address the crisis, they’re actively exacerbating it.” The list includes “America’s worst offenders, from fossil-fuel industry magnates, to investment gurus, to the president himself.”63
“Murray’s influence extends beyond his floundering dirty-energy company,” the article states. “For years, he pumped money into a diverse portfolio of conservative groups that continue to push disinformation about the climate crisis. Murray also had an oversize influence on Trump’s climate policy, donating $300,000 to his inaugural committee before handing the president a literal wish list of rollback requests, many of which were dutifully carried out by the administration.”64
December 17, 2019
Murray Energy bankruptcy filings revealed that the energy company, even while undergoing bankruptcy, had continued to fund a wide range of climate change denial groups. That included theInternational Climate Science Coalition (ICSC), a group that has closely guarded its funding sources, which received $60,000. Other groups named included the Heartland Institute ($130,000), the Competitive Enterprise Institute ($200,000), and Government Accountability & Oversight ($300,000). Murray’s company also donated $60,000 to the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change, making it one of the group’s largest donors. See related reporting from The Intercept, Energy and Environment News*, and *The New York Times.65 ^66 ^67
Other groups funded by Murray Energy include FreedomWorks, the Cato Institute, the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, and Judicial Watch. As The New York Times noted, Murray continued to fund climate change denial even as his company was going bankrupt.
May 31, 2018
Based on a draft Department of Energy (DOE) memo obtained by Bloomberg,the Trump administration was making plans to bail out coal and nuclear plants. This followed more than a year of lobbying by Murray for President Donald Trump and Energy Secretary Rick Perry to bail out struggling coal plants. *Bloomberg*was the first to report:68 ^69
H. Leighton Steward
Credentials
- Master of Science (Geology). [1]
Background
H. Leighton Steward is the President and Chairman of Plants Need CO2, a group founded in 2009 with the mission “to educate the public on the positive effects of additional atmospheric CO2 and help prevent the inadvertent negative impact to human, plant and animal life if we reduce CO2.”
Plants Need CO2 was listed as Number four among Mother Jones's “Dirty Dozen of Climate Change Denial” in December, 2009. [2]
He is the Chairman of the Institute for the Study of Earth and Man (ISEM) Board of Trustees, and was Vice Chairman of the American oil and gas company Burlington Resources, Inc. until his retirement in 2000.
According to his profile at EOG Resources (formerlyEnron Oil and Gas Company) where he is a director, Steward has extensive experience in the oil and gas exploration and production industry and has also worked with The Louisiana Land and Exploration Company as President, Chief Operating Officer and, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer from 1989 until its acquisition by Burlington Resources Inc. in 1997. [3]
Stance on Climate Change
“… carbon dioxide (CO2) is not a major contributor to current global warming nor to Earth's paleoclimates.” [4]
Key Quotes
“More CO2 is needed to bolster plant life, which turns the gas into oxygen while also providing food.”
“Temperatures over time have fluctuated while CO2 levels have remained steady. What's more, temperature increases have historically led increases in CO2 levels.”
“Many, many reputable scientists believe that natural factors overpower the current influence of CO2 on global warming.”
“CO2 is a great airborne fertilizer, which, as its concentrations rise, causes additional plant growth and causes plants to need less water.”
“The warning level of CO2 in submarines isn't reached until the atmosphere has 8,000 parts per million of CO2.” [5]
Key Deeds
September 26, 2014
H. Leighton Steward attends the “At the Crossroads; Energy & Climate Policy Summit” in Houston, Texas, hosted by theTexas Public Policy Foundation and The Heritage Foundation. Steward presents in “Panel V: Prosperity and Poverty,” withCalvin Beisner. [14]
July 7 - 9, 2014
Steward was a speaker at the Heartland Institute’s Ninth International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC9) in Las Vegas, Nevada. [13]
DeSmogBlog has done in-depth research on the other speakers and sponsors from Heartland's ICCC9, which can be found here.
May 21 - 23, 2012
Steward was a speaker at the Heartland Institute's Seventh International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC7).
DeSmogBlogresearched the co-sponsors behind Heartland's ICCC7 and found that they had collectively received over $67 million from ExxonMobil, the Koch Brothersand the conservative Scaife family foundations.
July 14, 2010
CO2 is Green, the sister organization of Steward's “Plants Need CO2” released an ad campaignfighting the president's cap-and-trade bill.
The ad, featured in The Washington Post, urges people to vote against “the president's cap-and-trade bill that will increase your cost of living and not change the climate.”
According to the ad, “The bill is based on the false premise that man-made CO2 is a major cause of climate change. Real, empirical evidence indicates it is not.”[6]
Steward is the spokesman and Chairman for CO2 is Green, as well as the President and Chair of Plants Need CO2.
May 16 - 18, 2010
Steward was a keynote speaker at the Heartland Institute's 4th International Conference on Climate Change. [7]
2009
Published “Fire, Ice and Paradise” which he describes as “an educational book for the non-scientist, including politicians, regarding the many factors affecting global climate change.”
“The bottom-line summary of the author's opinion after research of the scientific literature is that carbon dioxide (CO2) is not a major contributor to current global warming nor to Earth's paleoclimates.”
According to Leighton Steward, “In addition to being shown to not being a significant driver of current temperature change,CO2 is shown to be a positive factor in Earth's ecosystems, a benefit to the plant (food) kingdom and thus the animal kingdom, which includes humanity.” [4]
Affiliations
- **Plants Need Co2** — President/Chair. [8]
- **CO2 Is Green**— Spokesman and Chair.
- **Institute for the Study of Earth and Man (ISEM)**— Chairman. [9]
- **EOG Resources**—Director. [3]
- **American Petroleum Institute (API)**— Honorary Director. [3]
- Louisiana Land and Exploration Company — Past President, Chief Operating Officer and, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer.[10]
Publications
According to a search of Google Scholar, Steward has not published any articles in peer-reviewed journals on any subject.
Books
Resources
- “REGISTER ENDORSERS FROM THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA of The Climate Scientists' Register,” International Climate Science Coalition. Accessed May, 2012.
- Josh Harkinson. “No. 4: Plants Need C02,” Mother Jones (Part of “The Dirty Dozen of Climate Change Denial series), December 4, 2009.
- “Officers/Board,” eog resources. Accessed May 7, 2012.
- “Recommended Reading List: 'Fire, Ice and Paradise', Steward, H.L. (2009),” Planes Need CO2. Accessed May , 2012.Archived May 7, 2012 with WebCite.
- Paul Bedard. “Steward's 10 'Myths' About Global Warming and CO2 Damage,” Washington Whispers, October 9, 2009.
- Anne C. Mulkern. “Ads Backed by Fossil-Fuel Interests Argue 'CO2 Is Green',” The New York Times, July 14, 2010.
- “Speakers,” 4th International Conference on Climate Change, May 9 , 2010. Archived June 10, 2011.
- 2009 Form 990 for Plants Need CO2.org(PDF). Retrieved from foundationcenter.org.
- “Institute Trustees,” Institute for the Study of Earth and Man. Accessed May 7, 2012.
- Daniel F. Cuff. “BUSINESS PEOPLE; Louisiana Land Gives President 2 More Titles,”The New York Times, November 17, 1988.
- “H. Leighton Steward,” SourceWatch.
- ExxonSecrets Factsheet: H. Leighton Steward.
- “Return of Climate Denial-a-Palooza: Heartland Institute Hitches Anti-Science Wagon to Vegas FreedomFest,” DeSmogBlog, July 7, 2014. Archived July 14, 2014.
- H. Leighton Steward. “Speakers,” At the Crossroads; Energy & Climate Policy Summit, Texas Public Policy Foundation, The Heritage Foundation, September 25/26, 2014.
TAGS:
Heartland Institute Seventh International Conference on Climate Change
==
he**Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change** is run by Sherwood Idso and his sons Craig and Keith, long-time climate science deniers. The Center runs the science denial site **CO2 Science**. The group has worked with the **Greening Earth Society**, founded by the **Western Fuels Association**. It also has received funding from ExxonMobil.
Per its unapologetically Orwellian name, CO2isGreen runs anti-climate/clean energy advertisements reflecting the strident climate science denial sentiments of the oil and coal executives who run it. H. Leighton Steward is chairman of CO2IsGreen.org and the related front group PlantsNeedCO2.org. Steward has worked at Shell and Burlington Resources. He has chaired the U.S. Oil and Gas Association, the Natural Gas Supply Association, and the Louisiana Mid Continent Oil and Gas Association. Steward currently serves on the board of the oil and gas company EOG Resources. In 2001, Steward was awarded the American Petroleum Institute's Gold Medal for Distinguished Achievement. The Washington Post reports: "Steward has joined forces with Corbin J. Robertson Jr., chief executive of and leading shareholder in Natural Resource Partners, a Houston-based owner of coal resources that lets other companies mine in return for royalties." According to Astrotruth.org: "[Robertson] is the CEO of Natural Resources Partners L.P., which belongs to the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity. ACCCE is a 'pro coal group' that is linked to at least thirteen fraudulent letters mailed to members of Congress purporting to be from seniors, veterans, African American, Latino and Women's organizations expressing opposition to ACES. In 2008, ACCCE spent at least $45 million on a clean coal advertising campaign, and during the first two quarters of 2009, ACCCE has spent over a million dollars in direct federal lobbying."