CO2 Coalition

The CO2 Coalition is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit advocacy organization in the United States founded in 2015.[1] Its climate change denialist claims[2] conflict with the scientific consensus on climate change.

CO2 Coalition
Motto"Carbon Dioxide is Essential for Life"
Founder(s)Roger Cohen, William Happer, Rodney W. Nichols
Established2015 (2015)
FocusEnvironmental policy
Key peopleGregory Wrightstone, Executive Director
Location
Arlington, Virginia
,
United States
Websiteco2coalition.org

History

The CO2 Coalition is a successor to the George C. Marshall Institute, a think tank focusing on defense and climate issues which closed in 2015. William O'Keefe, a chief executive officer of the Marshall Institute and former CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, continued as CEO of the CO2 Coalition. William Happer, an emeritus professor of physics known for disagreeing with the consensus on climate change, was another CO2 Coalition founder from the Marshall Institute. Happer said the association with climate contrarianism had negatively affected Marshall Institute funding, viz: "Many foundations that would normally have supported defense would not do it because of the Marshall name being associated with climate". The defense activities of the Marshall Institute were moved to the Center for Strategic and International Studies[3][4][5]

In its first four years, the CO2 Coalition received over $1 million in contributions from foundations that support conservative causes and from energy industry officials.[4]

In 2023, John Clauser joined the board of the CO2 Coalition.[6][7]

Activities

The CO2 Coalition was one of over 40 organizations to sign a letter dated May 8, 2017, to President Donald Trump thanking him for his campaign promise to withdraw from the Paris Agreement,[8] which Trump announced on June 1, 2017.

In 2021 the CO2 Coalition submitted a public comment opposing climate change disclosure rules by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Coalition asserted "There is no 'climate crisis' and there is no evidence that there will be one," and further "Carbon dioxide, the gas purported to be the cause of catastrophic warming, is not toxic and does no harm."[9] Both assertions are at odds with the scientific consensus on climate change.

In 2022 the Coalition submitted a public comment on climate-related risks to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, concluding "Real science demonstrates there is no climate emergency and there are no climate-related financial or other risks caused by fossil fuels and CO2."[10] The comment criticized the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment reports and U.S. National Climate Assessments, the authoritative consensus summaries of climate science that inform public policy:[11][12]

Frankly, the "science" cited to support of the CFTC inquiry and possible action is merely government opinion by the International Panel for Climate Change [sic] (IPCC) and the U.S. Global Climate Research Program [sic] (USGCRP), which is not science and cannot be used as the scientific basis for any CFTC or other government action."[13]

In 2023 a CO2 Coalition booth was ejected from the National Science Teaching Association annual convention. The Coalition distributed a children's comic book teaching about carbon dioxide as an essential part of life. Climate scientist Andrew Dessler said "By focusing 100 percent on this idea that plants need CO2, they’re intentionally misleading people by avoiding the real problems of CO2, which they didn’t talk about at all."[14] The Coalition also distributed a pamphlet challenging what it called "NSTA's embrace of the hypothesis of 'harmful man-made warming' despite its basis in flawed science and government opinions...."[14][15] In the contract for appearing at the convention, the organization had agreed its materials would be consistent with the NSTA position on climate change.[14]

As of February 2023 the CO2 Coalition had published twelve white papers, six 'climate issues in-depth', eight science policy briefs, coalition member testimonies, and coalition member publications.[16] The group continues to speak publicly and issue press releases on issues relating to energy production, climate change, and advocating for fossil fuels.[17]

See also

References
  1. "About". CO2 Coalition. Archived from the original on 2023-03-14. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
  2. Climate denial and disinformation:
  3. Vaidyanathan, Gayathri (December 10, 2015). "Think tank that cast doubt on climate change science morphs into smaller one". E&E News. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  4. Waldman, Scott (February 28, 2019). "Trump adviser created group to defend CO2". E&E News. Retrieved 2023-02-20.
  5. "William O'Keefe". C-SPAN video library. Retrieved 2023-02-20.
  6. Cho, Seunghan (June 26, 2023). "노벨물리학상 수상자 "정치인들, 잘못된 과학정보 만들어내"" [Nobel laureate in physics: "Politicians create false scientific information"]. The Korea Economic Daily (in Korean). Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved 2023-07-28.
  7. "Nobel Laureate John Clauser Elected to CO2 Coalition Board of Directors" (Press release). CO2 Coalition. May 5, 2023. Archived from the original on 2023-05-08. Retrieved 2023-08-08.
  8. "Letter to President Trump in support of campaign commitments to withdraw from the Paris Climate Treaty" (PDF). May 8, 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 12, 2017 – via Competitive Enterprise Institute.
  9. "Comments on Climate Change Disclosures". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. June 1, 2021. Retrieved 2023-02-19, contains the CO2 Coalition Statement Regarding SEC Regulation of Climate Change Disclosures.
  10. "Coalition Comment on the CFTC Climate-Related Financial Risk". CO2 Coalition (Press release). August 8, 2022. Retrieved 2023-03-24.
  11. Harris, Rebecca. "Climate explained: how the IPCC reaches scientific consensus on climate change". The Conversation. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  12. "What Specific Costs and Risks Do We Face from Climate Change?". Eos.
  13. Happer, William; Linzen, Richard; CO2 Coalition (August 8, 2022). "Responses and Declaration on the "CFTC Climate-Related Financial Risk RFI"" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-03-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. Joselow, Maxine (April 11, 2023). "Climate deniers ejected from teachers conference for pro-carbon comic". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
  15. CO2 Coalition (March 23, 2023). "Challenging the National Science Teaching Association's Position Statement on Climate Change" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-04-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. "Publications Archive". CO2 Coalition. Retrieved 2023-02-11.
  17. "News Posts Archive". CO2 Coalition. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
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