Heartland Institute
Encyclopedia
The Heartland Institute is a libertarian
, American public policy think tank
based in Chicago, Illinois which advocates free market
policies. The Institute is designated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit by the Internal Revenue Service
and advised by a 15 member board of directors, which meets quarterly. As of 2011, it has a full-time staff of 40, including editors and senior fellows. The Institute was founded in 1984 and conducts research and advocacy work on issues including government spending
, taxation, healthcare, tobacco
policy, global warming
, information technology
and free-market environmentalism
.
In the 1990s, the group worked with the tobacco company Philip Morris
to question the science linking secondhand smoke
to health risks, and to lobby against government public health reforms. More recently, the Institute has focused on questioning the scientific consensus on climate change
, and has sponsored meetings of climate change skeptics.
. Since 1993 it has focused on reaching elected officials and opinion leaders in all 50 states. In addition to research, the Heartland Institute features an Internet application called PolicyBot which serves as a clearinghouse for research from other conservative think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation
, the American Legislative Exchange Council
, and the libertarian Cato Institute
. The Institute's president and CEO is Joseph L. Bast.
, arguing that global warming
is not occurring and, further, that warming would be beneficial if it did occur. The institute is a member organization of the Cooler Heads Coalition
, which describes itself as "an informal and ad-hoc group focused on dispelling the myths of global warming." In Merchants of Doubt
, Naomi Oreskes
and Erik M. Conway
wrote that the Heartland Institute was known "for its persistent questioning of climate science, for its promotion of 'experts' who have done little, if any, peer-reviewed climate research, and for its sponsorship of a conference in New York City in 2008 alleging that the scientific community's work on global warming is fake."
Since 2008 the Heartland Institute has sponsored the twice-yearly International Conference on Climate Change
, bringing together hundreds of global warming skeptics. Speakers have included Richard Lindzen
, a professor of meteorology at MIT; Roy Spencer, a former NASA scientist; S. Fred Singer, who was founding dean of the School of Environmental and Planetary Sciences at the University of Miami and founding director of the National Weather Satellite Service; Harrison Schmitt
, a former NASA astronaut and Apollo 17 moonwalker; and John Theon, a former NASA administrator. In the first conference, for example, participants criticized the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
and Al Gore
. The BBC
reported that the heavily politicized nature of the Heartland conferences led some "moderate" climate skeptics to avoid them.
In 2008 a bibliography written by Dennis Avery
was posted on Heartland’s Web site, titled "500 Scientists with Documented Doubts of Man-Made Global Warming Scares,” In late April 2008, Heartland reported that the web site DeSmogBlog
had "targeted The Heartland Institute in late April 2008, and in particular two lists posted on Heartland’s Web site of scientists whose published work contradicts some of the main tenets of global warming alarmism." The Sydney Morning Herald
reported that the work of Jim Salinger
, chief scientist at New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, was "misrepresented" as part of a "denial campaign".
In response to criticism, the Heartland Institute changed the title of the list to “500 Scientists Whose Research Contradicts Man-Made Global Warming Scares.” Heartland did not remove any of the scientists' names from the list. Dennis Avery explained, "Not all of these researchers would describe themselves as global warming skeptic"..."but the evidence in their studies is there for all to see.” Heartland’s president, Joseph Bast, wrote “They have no right -- legally or ethically -- to demand that their names be removed from a bibliography composed by researchers with whom they disagree. Their names probably appear in hundreds or thousands of bibliographies accompanying other articles or in books with which they disagree. Do they plan to sue hundreds or thousands of their colleagues? The proper response is to engage in scholarly debate, not demand imperiously that the other side redact its publications.”
to question the link between secondhand smoke
and health risks. Philip Morris used Heartland to distribute tobacco-industry material, and arranged for the Heartland Institute to publish "policy studies" which summarized Philip Morris reports. The Heartland Institute also undertook a variety of other activities on behalf of Philip Morris, including meeting with legislators, holding "off-the-record" briefings, and producing op-eds, radio interviews, and letters. In 1994, at the request of Philip Morris, the Heartland Institute met with Republican
Congressmen to encourage them to oppose increases in the federal excise tax
. Heartland reported back to Philip Morris that the Congressmen were "strongly in our camp", and planned further meetings with other legislators.
; Environment & Climate News, which focuses on "market-based environmental protection"; Health Care News, devoted to consumer-driven health care reform and edited by Ben Domenech
; and Infotech and Telecom News, which covers the technology and telecommunications industries from a free market perspective. The five monthly publications have a circulation total of nearly 200,000.
MediaTransparency
reported that the Heartland Institute received funding from politically conservative foundations such as the Castle Rock Foundation
, the Sarah Scaife Foundation
, the John M. Olin Foundation
, and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation.
Oil and gas companies have contributed to the Heartland Institute, including over $600,000 from ExxonMobil
between 1998 and 2005. Greenpeace reported that the Heartland Institute received almost $800,000 from ExxonMobil. By 2008, ExxonMobil had stopped funding to Heartland. Joseph Bast, president of the Heartland Institute, argued that ExxonMobil was simply distancing itself from Heartland out of concern for its public image.
The Heartland Institute has also received funding and support from the tobacco company Philip Morris
.
The Independent
reported that Heartland's receipt of donations from Exxon and Philip Morris indicates a "direct link"..."between anti-global warming sceptics funded by the oil industry and the opponents of the scientific evidence showing that passive smoking can damage people's health."
As of 2006, the Walton Family Foundation (run by the family which founded Wal-Mart
) had contributed approximately $300,000 to the Heartland Institute. The Heartland Institute published an op-ed in the Louisville Courier-Journal defending Wal-Mart against criticism over its treatment of workers. The Walton Family Foundation donations were not disclosed in the op-ed, and the editor of the Courier-Journal stated that he was unaware of the connection and would probably not have published the op-ed had he known of it. The St. Petersburg Times
described the Heartland Institute as "particularly energetic defending Wal-Mart." Heartland has stated that its authors were not "paid to defend Wal-Mart" and did not receive funding from the corporation; it did not disclose the $300,000+ received from the Walton Family Foundation.
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
, American public policy think tank
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
based in Chicago, Illinois which advocates free market
Free market
A free market is a competitive market where prices are determined by supply and demand. However, the term is also commonly used for markets in which economic intervention and regulation by the state is limited to tax collection, and enforcement of private ownership and contracts...
policies. The Institute is designated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit by the Internal Revenue Service
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
and advised by a 15 member board of directors, which meets quarterly. As of 2011, it has a full-time staff of 40, including editors and senior fellows. The Institute was founded in 1984 and conducts research and advocacy work on issues including government spending
Government spending
Government spending includes all government consumption, investment but excludes transfer payments made by a state. Government acquisition of goods and services for current use to directly satisfy individual or collective needs of the members of the community is classed as government final...
, taxation, healthcare, tobacco
Tobacco smoking
Tobacco smoking is the practice where tobacco is burned and the resulting smoke is inhaled. The practice may have begun as early as 5000–3000 BCE. Tobacco was introduced to Eurasia in the late 16th century where it followed common trade routes...
policy, global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
, information technology
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
and free-market environmentalism
Free-market environmentalism
Free-market environmentalism is a position that argues that the free market, property rights, and tort law provide the best tools to preserve the health and sustainability of the environment...
.
In the 1990s, the group worked with the tobacco company Philip Morris
Philip Morris
- Philip/Phillip Morris :*Altria Group, conglomerate company previously known as Philip Morris Companies Inc., named after the 19th century tobacconist**Philip Morris USA, tobacco company wholly owned by Altria Group...
to question the science linking secondhand smoke
Passive smoking
Passive smoking is the inhalation of smoke, called secondhand smoke or environmental tobacco smoke , from tobacco products used by others. It occurs when tobacco smoke permeates any environment, causing its inhalation by people within that environment. Exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke causes...
to health risks, and to lobby against government public health reforms. More recently, the Institute has focused on questioning the scientific consensus on climate change
Scientific opinion on climate change
The predominant scientific opinion on climate change is that the Earth is in an ongoing phase of global warming primarily caused by an enhanced greenhouse effect due to the anthropogenic release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases...
, and has sponsored meetings of climate change skeptics.
History and leadership
In its early years, the Heartland Institute focused on policies relevant to the Midwestern United StatesMidwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
. Since 1993 it has focused on reaching elected officials and opinion leaders in all 50 states. In addition to research, the Heartland Institute features an Internet application called PolicyBot which serves as a clearinghouse for research from other conservative think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation
Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation is a conservative American think tank based in Washington, D.C. Heritage's stated mission is to "formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong...
, the American Legislative Exchange Council
American Legislative Exchange Council
The American Legislative Exchange Council is a politically conservative 501 non-profit Policy Organization, consisting of both state legislators and members of the private sector. ALEC's mission statement describes the organization's purpose as the advancement of free-market principles, limited...
, and the libertarian Cato Institute
Cato Institute
The Cato Institute is a libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Edward H. Crane, who remains president and CEO, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the conglomerate Koch Industries, Inc., the largest privately held...
. The Institute's president and CEO is Joseph L. Bast.
Global warming
The Heartland Institute questions the scientific consensus on climate changeScientific opinion on climate change
The predominant scientific opinion on climate change is that the Earth is in an ongoing phase of global warming primarily caused by an enhanced greenhouse effect due to the anthropogenic release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases...
, arguing that global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
is not occurring and, further, that warming would be beneficial if it did occur. The institute is a member organization of the Cooler Heads Coalition
Cooler Heads Coalition
The Cooler Heads Coalition was originally a project of the National Consumer Coalition in the United States, a project of the nonprofit organization Consumer Alert. The Cooler Heads Coalition is now financed and operated by the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Its objective is described as...
, which describes itself as "an informal and ad-hoc group focused on dispelling the myths of global warming." In Merchants of Doubt
Merchants of Doubt
Merchants of Doubt is a 2010 book by the American science historians Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway. It identifies parallels between the climate change debate and earlier controversies over tobacco smoking, acid rain and the hole in the ozone layer...
, Naomi Oreskes
Naomi Oreskes
Naomi Oreskes is an American science historian, and Professor of History and Science Studies at the University of California San Diego. She has worked on studies of geophysics, environmental issues such as global warming, and the history of science...
and Erik M. Conway
Erik M. Conway
Erik M. Conway is the historian at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. He is the author of several books....
wrote that the Heartland Institute was known "for its persistent questioning of climate science, for its promotion of 'experts' who have done little, if any, peer-reviewed climate research, and for its sponsorship of a conference in New York City in 2008 alleging that the scientific community's work on global warming is fake."
Since 2008 the Heartland Institute has sponsored the twice-yearly International Conference on Climate Change
International Conference on Climate Change
The International Conference on Climate Change is a conference series sponsored by the Heartland Institute which aims to bring together global warming skeptics who dissent with the scientific consensus that human-produced greenhouse gases, predominantly carbon dioxide, are causing the Earth's...
, bringing together hundreds of global warming skeptics. Speakers have included Richard Lindzen
Richard Lindzen
Richard Siegmund Lindzen is an American atmospheric physicist and Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Meteorology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Lindzen is known for his work in the dynamics of the middle atmosphere, atmospheric tides and ozone photochemistry. He has published more than...
, a professor of meteorology at MIT; Roy Spencer, a former NASA scientist; S. Fred Singer, who was founding dean of the School of Environmental and Planetary Sciences at the University of Miami and founding director of the National Weather Satellite Service; Harrison Schmitt
Harrison Schmitt
Harrison Hagan "Jack" Schmitt is an American geologist, a retired NASA astronaut, university professor, and a former U.S. senator from New Mexico....
, a former NASA astronaut and Apollo 17 moonwalker; and John Theon, a former NASA administrator. In the first conference, for example, participants criticized the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a scientific intergovernmental body which provides comprehensive assessments of current scientific, technical and socio-economic information worldwide about the risk of climate change caused by human activity, its potential environmental and...
and Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
. The BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
reported that the heavily politicized nature of the Heartland conferences led some "moderate" climate skeptics to avoid them.
In 2008 a bibliography written by Dennis Avery
Dennis Avery
For the Indiana State Representative, see Dennis Avery Dennis T. Avery is the director of the Center for Global Food Issues at the Hudson Institute, where he edits Global Food Quarterly....
was posted on Heartland’s Web site, titled "500 Scientists with Documented Doubts of Man-Made Global Warming Scares,” In late April 2008, Heartland reported that the web site DeSmogBlog
DeSmogBlog
The DeSmogBlog, founded in January 2006, is a non-profit internet project and blog that focuses on topics related to global warming. The site describes itself as "the world's number one source for accurate, fact based information regarding Global Warming misinformation campaigns." DeSmogBlog...
had "targeted The Heartland Institute in late April 2008, and in particular two lists posted on Heartland’s Web site of scientists whose published work contradicts some of the main tenets of global warming alarmism." The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
reported that the work of Jim Salinger
Jim Salinger
M. Jim Salinger is an Auckland-based climate change scientist who formerly worked for the Crown Research Institute NIWA ....
, chief scientist at New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, was "misrepresented" as part of a "denial campaign".
In response to criticism, the Heartland Institute changed the title of the list to “500 Scientists Whose Research Contradicts Man-Made Global Warming Scares.” Heartland did not remove any of the scientists' names from the list. Dennis Avery explained, "Not all of these researchers would describe themselves as global warming skeptic"..."but the evidence in their studies is there for all to see.” Heartland’s president, Joseph Bast, wrote “They have no right -- legally or ethically -- to demand that their names be removed from a bibliography composed by researchers with whom they disagree. Their names probably appear in hundreds or thousands of bibliographies accompanying other articles or in books with which they disagree. Do they plan to sue hundreds or thousands of their colleagues? The proper response is to engage in scholarly debate, not demand imperiously that the other side redact its publications.”
Smoking
In the 1990s, the Heartland Institute worked with Philip MorrisPhilip Morris
- Philip/Phillip Morris :*Altria Group, conglomerate company previously known as Philip Morris Companies Inc., named after the 19th century tobacconist**Philip Morris USA, tobacco company wholly owned by Altria Group...
to question the link between secondhand smoke
Passive smoking
Passive smoking is the inhalation of smoke, called secondhand smoke or environmental tobacco smoke , from tobacco products used by others. It occurs when tobacco smoke permeates any environment, causing its inhalation by people within that environment. Exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke causes...
and health risks. Philip Morris used Heartland to distribute tobacco-industry material, and arranged for the Heartland Institute to publish "policy studies" which summarized Philip Morris reports. The Heartland Institute also undertook a variety of other activities on behalf of Philip Morris, including meeting with legislators, holding "off-the-record" briefings, and producing op-eds, radio interviews, and letters. In 1994, at the request of Philip Morris, the Heartland Institute met with Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Congressmen to encourage them to oppose increases in the federal excise tax
Excise
Excise tax in the United States is a indirect tax on listed items. Excise taxes can be and are made by federal, state and local governments and are far from uniform throughout the United States...
. Heartland reported back to Philip Morris that the Congressmen were "strongly in our camp", and planned further meetings with other legislators.
Budgetary
The Heartland Institute is a critic of the current Federal budget and tax code. Several of Heartland Institute's budgetary views include privatization of Federal services to a competitive marketplace, changing the tax code to a more simplified version of the current code, and implementing Taxpayer Savings Grants.Education
The Heartland Institute supports the availability of charter schools, providing education tax credits to attend private schools, and expanding federal vouchers for low-income students to attend a public or private school of their family's choosing. The Heartland Institute argues that market reforms should be introduced into the public education system to increase competition and provide more options and greater choice for parents and their children.Healthcare
The Heartland Institute advocates for free-market reforms in healthcare and opposes federal control over the healthcare industry. Heartland supports Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), replacing federal tax deductions for employer-based healthcare with a refundable tax credit to allow individual choice over health insurance, removing state and Federal healthcare regulations aimed at providers and consumers of healthcare, and reducing litigation costs which are associated with malpractice suits.Publications
The Heartland Institute publishes five monthly public policy newspapers aimed at state legislators. These include: Budget and Tax News, which advocates lower taxes and balanced budgets for states and the federal government; School Reform News, which calls for greater competition and school choiceSchool choice
School choice is a term used to describe a wide array of programs aimed at giving families the opportunity to choose the school their children will attend. As a matter of form, school choice does not give preference to one form of schooling or another, rather manifests itself whenever a student...
; Environment & Climate News, which focuses on "market-based environmental protection"; Health Care News, devoted to consumer-driven health care reform and edited by Ben Domenech
Ben Domenech
Ben Domenech is an American conservative writer and blogger who co-founded the RedState group blog. In March 2006, he was hired to write a conservative blog for washingtonpost.com but resigned after three days amid allegations of plagiarism during his college years...
; and Infotech and Telecom News, which covers the technology and telecommunications industries from a free market perspective. The five monthly publications have a circulation total of nearly 200,000.
Funding
According to its brochures, the Heartland Institute receives money from approximately 1,600 individuals and organizations, and no single corporate entity donates more than 5% of the operating budget. Heartland states that it does not accept government funds and does not conduct contract research for special-interest groups.MediaTransparency
MediaTransparency
MediaTransparency was a left leaning political project begun in 1999 which monitors the financial ties of conservative think tanks to conservative foundations in the United States. Its database tracks over 50,000 grants awarded since 1985, which total more than $3.2 billion USD. It was run by...
reported that the Heartland Institute received funding from politically conservative foundations such as the Castle Rock Foundation
Castle Rock Foundation
The Castle Rock Foundation is a conservative foundation started in 1993 with an endowment of $36.6M from the Adolph Coors Foundation. It ranked as Colorado's 15th largest foundation by assets at the end of 2001...
, the Sarah Scaife Foundation
Sarah Scaife Foundation
The Sarah Scaife Foundation is one of the American Scaife Foundations. It is controlled by Richard Mellon Scaife. The foundation does not award grants to individuals. It concentrates its efforts towards causes focused on public policy at a national and international level...
, the John M. Olin Foundation
John M. Olin Foundation
John M. Olin Foundation was a grant-making foundation established in 1953 by John M. Olin, president of the Olin Industries chemical and munitions manufacturing businesses. Unlike most non-profit foundations, the John M. Olin Foundation was charged to spend all of its assets within a generation of...
, and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation.
Oil and gas companies have contributed to the Heartland Institute, including over $600,000 from ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil
Exxon Mobil Corporation or ExxonMobil, is an American multinational oil and gas corporation. It is a direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company, and was formed on November 30, 1999, by the merger of Exxon and Mobil. Its headquarters are in Irving, Texas...
between 1998 and 2005. Greenpeace reported that the Heartland Institute received almost $800,000 from ExxonMobil. By 2008, ExxonMobil had stopped funding to Heartland. Joseph Bast, president of the Heartland Institute, argued that ExxonMobil was simply distancing itself from Heartland out of concern for its public image.
The Heartland Institute has also received funding and support from the tobacco company Philip Morris
Philip Morris
- Philip/Phillip Morris :*Altria Group, conglomerate company previously known as Philip Morris Companies Inc., named after the 19th century tobacconist**Philip Morris USA, tobacco company wholly owned by Altria Group...
.
The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
reported that Heartland's receipt of donations from Exxon and Philip Morris indicates a "direct link"..."between anti-global warming sceptics funded by the oil industry and the opponents of the scientific evidence showing that passive smoking can damage people's health."
As of 2006, the Walton Family Foundation (run by the family which founded Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
) had contributed approximately $300,000 to the Heartland Institute. The Heartland Institute published an op-ed in the Louisville Courier-Journal defending Wal-Mart against criticism over its treatment of workers. The Walton Family Foundation donations were not disclosed in the op-ed, and the editor of the Courier-Journal stated that he was unaware of the connection and would probably not have published the op-ed had he known of it. The St. Petersburg Times
St. Petersburg Times
The St. Petersburg Times is a United States newspaper. It is one of two major publications serving the Tampa Bay Area, the other being The Tampa Tribune, which the Times tops in both circulation and readership. Based in St...
described the Heartland Institute as "particularly energetic defending Wal-Mart." Heartland has stated that its authors were not "paid to defend Wal-Mart" and did not receive funding from the corporation; it did not disclose the $300,000+ received from the Walton Family Foundation.
See also
List of scientists opposing the mainstream scientific assessment of global warmingExternal links
- Heartland's official website
- International Conference on Climate Change website at Heartland Institute
- Sourcewatch - More detailed funding information