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The Guardian reported that after the IPCC released its February 2007 report, the American Enterprise Institute offered British, American and other scientists $10,000, plus travel expenses to publish articles critical of the assessment. The institute, which had received more than $US 1.6 million from Exxon and whose vice-chairman of trustees was former head of Exxon Lee Raymond, sent letters that The Guardian said "attack theUN's panel as 'resistant to reasonable criticism and dissent and prone to summary conclusions that are poorly supported by the analytical work' and ask for essays that 'thoughtfully explore the limitations of climate model outputs'." More than 20 AEI employees worked as consultants to the George W. Bush administration.^[45] Despite her initial conviction that with "the overwhelming science out there, the deniers' days were numbered," Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer said that when she learned of the AEI's offer, "I realized there was a movement behind this that just wasn't giving up."^[10]

The Royal Society conducted a survey that found ExxonMobil had given US$ 2.9 million to American groups that "misinformed the public about climate change," 39 of which "misrepresented the science of climate change by outright denial of the evidence".^[6][46] In 2006, the Royal Society issued a demand that ExxonMobil withdraw funding for climate change denial. The letter, which was leaked to the media, drew criticism, notably from Timothy Ball and others who argued the society attempted to "politicize the private funding of science and to censor scientific debate."^[47]

ExxonMobil denied the accusations that it has been trying to mislead the public about global warming. A spokesman, Gantt Walton, said that ExxonMobil's funding of research does not mean that it acts to influence the research, and that ExxonMobil supports taking action to curb the output of greenhouse gasses. Gantt said, "The recycling of this type of discredited conspiracy theory diverts attention from the real challenge at hand: how to provide the energy needed to improve global living standards while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions."^[48]

BS

http://www.conservapedia.com/American_Enterprise_Institute

American Enterprise Institute (or American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research) is a nonpartisan think-tank that publishes research articles, books and magazine editorials on subject matters ranging from foreign policy, economics, and national defense to political and social issues. Founded by William Baroody, (1916 - 1980), its current chairman isBruce Kovner. The American Enterprise Institute has supplied over 20 scholars for the administration of George W. Bush, including Richard Perle, Michael Ledeen, David Frum, and John Bolton. Some of its members are have liberal leanings, including Ben Wattenberg and Norman Ornstein. It hosts neoconservatives Irving Kristol and Richard Perle.

History

In 1954, Baroody, a statistician who had worked for the government and for the Chamber of Commerce became executive vice-president of the American Enterprise Association; it was a small public policy research organization had been founded by Lewis Herold Brown in 1943.

As the sons of immigrants Baroody saw America as a land of opportunity, and at the Chamber of Commerce he learned that "competition of ideas is fundamental to a free society." He rejected the statism of the New Deal, fearing the growth of governmental regulation and bureaucracy and the centralization of power in Washington. He soon signed up young, brilliant conservative economists including Milton Friedman, Gottfried Haberler, Paul W. McCracken, and Glenn Campbell. In 1962, Baroody became president of the association and changed its name to the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research..

Patient and low-keyed, Baroody had a knack for bringing together people with ideas. As William F. Buckley wrote, "he combined a gentleness of manner with a resolution of purpose and a conciliator's good nature." As head of AEI, Baroody helped to bring conservative ideas into the national public policy debate and helped achieve a new level of acceptance for views that had not previously been taken seriously by government and the media.

Baroody held family values and religion to be particularly important issues and made them the focus of studies at his institute. He believed that the debate on the legitimacy of the free enterprise system was about more than economics, and as a result, AEI paid more attention to religious thought and political theory than did comparable research centers more concerned with economics.

AEI, a tax exempt charitable institution, grew in size and influence under Baroody's leadership. He was a systematic fund-raiser, growing his budget from $115,000 in 1954 to $266,000 in 1960, thanks to corporate donors such as Allen Bradley, General Electric and Eli Lilly, as well as the Pew and Scaife families, among many others. By the late 1970s he had an annual budget of $8 million and about 125 staff employees. He provided ideas needed by such national conservative leaders as Barry Goldwater, Richard M. Nixon, and Gerald R. Ford. He brought tot the AEI such powerful figures as Melvin Laird, Bryce Harlow, Arthur Burns, Herbert Stein,Jeane Kirkpatrick, and Ben Wattenberg. AEI scholars strongly supported free markets; opposed Communism; they favored market solutions instead of the use of government power. By 1980 AEI was the conservative counterpart of the older, more liberal Brookings Institution. Both provided staging points for new ideas and resting points for politicians out of office. Robert H. Bork praised AEI because it helped conservatives like himself who were “intellectually isolated, even beleaguered, on their own campuses.”

While many pundits were bemoaning American decline in the late 1970s , Baroody held was optimistic. Liberal scholar James MacGregor Burns credited Ronald Reagan’s victory in 1980 in part to the success of conservative efforts "to build their intellectual case and to use invigorated and broadened conservative ideas as vehicles to political power." AEI scholars who served in the Reagan administration included Murray Weidenbaum (chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers), Jeane Kirkpatrick (ambassador to the United Nations), James Miller (chairman of the Federal Trade Commission), and David Gergen (director of communications).

Reagan’s eulogy proclaimed, "One of Bill Baroody's greatest accomplishments was in building an institution that said, 'Here is a place where you can develop your ideas,' that said to others, 'Here is a place you can turn to for advice,' that said to all of us who were concerned about our country's future, 'You are not alone.' "

In 1978, Baroody was succeeded as president of AEI by his son William J. Baroody, Jr., and became chairman of AEI's development committee, a post he retained until his death.

Further reading

• Abelson, Donald E. A Capitol Idea: Think Tanks and US Foreign Policy‎ (2006) 367 pages

Notable Scholars & Fellows

Paul WolfowitzJoshua MuravchikFred ThompsonBen WattenbergDouglas BesharovDavid FrumNewt GingrichIrving KristolJeane KirkpatrickMichael LedeenPhilip I. LevyMichael NovakNorman Ornstein [1]Richard PerleSarath RajapatiranaJoel SchwartzJohn YooDan BlumenthalJohn BoltonLynne CheneyFrederick KaganRobert A. GoldwinAyaan Hirsi Ali

See Also

American Enterprise Institute official site

references

Categories: 1960s | Welfare State | United States Political Organizations | Conservatives | Reagan Era