Craig Rucker

Craig Rucker

Credentials

  • M.P.A., SUNY Albany.1โ€œCFACT Staff,โ€ Committee For a Constructive Tomorrow. Archived November 20, 2014.

Background

Craig Rucker is the co-founder and executive director of the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), which was founded in 1985 to โ€œpromote a positive voice on environment and development issues.โ€2โ€œCFACT Staff,โ€ Committee For a Constructive Tomorrow. Archived November 20, 2014. 3โ€œAbout,โ€ Committee For a Constructive Tomorrow. Archived November 20, 2014.

Rucker’s strong belief in the โ€œpower of the market combined with the applications of safe technologies,โ€ to โ€œoffer humanity practical solutions to many of the world’s pressing concerns,โ€ resulted in โ€œa number of leading scientists, academics, and policy leadersโ€ joining Rucker in his CFACT efforts, according to CFACT’s โ€œAboutโ€ page.4โ€œAbout,โ€ Committee For a Constructive Tomorrow. Archived November 20, 2014. Those who joined Rucker’s CFACT include co-founder David Rothbard, as well as Director of Communications, Marc Morano, and Senior Policy Advisor, Paul Driessen.5โ€œCFACT Staff,โ€ Committee For a Constructive Tomorrow. Archived November 20, 2014.

The Committee For a Constructive Tomorrow has received funding from ExxonMobil, Chevron, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars from foundations associated with Richard Mellon Scaife. In 2011, Craig Rucker received $103,895 from CFACT for his role as executive director, according to 2011 IRS Forms (PDF).6โ€œ2011 Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990 – PDF): Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow,โ€ retrieved from CFACT.org. Archived November 21, 2014.

Rucker has decades of experience providing โ€œexpertise to a wide range of government, academic, media, and industry forums,โ€ with his written work appearing in media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, CNN, USA Today, and the BBC. While at CFACT, Rucker has held the โ€œprimary responsibility for helping build CFACT’s Collegians program on more than 40 campuses across the country,โ€ and has both attended and brought teams of student delegates to UN conferences in Kyoto, Copenhagen, Cancun, Montreal, and more.7โ€œCFACT Staff,โ€ Committee For a Constructive Tomorrow. Archived November 20, 2014.

Stance on Climate Change

โ€œCFACT is committed to educating the public and exposing global warming for what it truly is โ€” a massive redistribution scheme. This scheme is not designed to strengthen the U.S. economy, but to throttle it down.โ€8Craig Rucker. โ€œCFACTโ€™s new billboard exposes global warming โ€” in their own words,โ€ Committee For a Constructive Tomorrow. Archived November 20, 2014.

Key Quotes

2015

On the UN climate agreement reached in 2015:9Michael Bastasch. โ€œSkeptic Warns UN Treaty โ€˜Plants The Seedsโ€™ Of New โ€˜Climate Regimeโ€™,โ€ The Daily Caller, December 14, 2016. Archived March 10, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/myTis

โ€œThis agreement will not meaningfully alter the temperature of the Earth, even under the U.N.โ€™s own computer models.

โ€œThe bad news is that it plants the seeds of a new UN climate regime that left unchecked will swell into a bureaucratic behemoth.โ€

2014

โ€œCFACT students ventured outside the air conditioned comfort of the conference center yesterday and took to the Cancun streets spelling out, โ€œstop energy poverty now!โ€ and voicing their opposition to a climate treaty loud and clear. It is easy for us to envision the harm a global warming treaty would do to the United States and its allies, but do give thought to the devastating trap it will create for the those who have never had electricity.โ€10Craig Rucker. โ€œA Cancun Christmas Carol,โ€ Committee For a Constructive Tomorrow, December 3, 2010. Archived December 1, 2014.

โ€œRenewable energy schemes can no longer be justified by claims that we are rapidly running out of fossil fuels that are causing dangerous man-made global warming. Hydraulic fracturing has obliterated the depletion myth, while climate change fears are belied by a 16-year hiatus from planetary warming, historic lows in hurricane and tornado activity, and the abject failure of CO2-focused climate computer models.โ€11Craig Rucker. โ€œNot so bright lights,โ€ Committee For a Constructive Tomorrow, August 14, 2013. Archived December 1, 2014.

2013

โ€œPresident Obamaโ€™s alternative strategy of using the EPA and other agencies to wage a backdoor war on carbon energy through misdirection and pretext, robs the people and their elected representatives, who would not support these restrictions voluntarily, of their constitutional prerogatives. Green movement radicals have always been at their core, fundamentally anti-democratic.

โ€œObservational science just isnโ€™t there for global warming extremism. The UKโ€™s Met Office data shows no warming for the past 16 years. NOAAโ€™s data shows any warming there may have been, has been confined to only three quarters of a degree. How much (if any) of that little bit of warming is due to your over the top car driving, air traveling, warm single family home lifestyle is more than debatable.

โ€œWhat should Washington due about warming? Harken to Hippocrates and ‘first, do no harm.’ From CFACTโ€™s considered perspective, Washington should find the courage to do nothing.โ€12Craig Rucker. โ€œGlobal warming? Washington should find the courage to do nothing,โ€ Committee For a Constructive Tomorrow, February 2, 2013.

Key Actions

October 31โ€“November 12, 2021

Rucker, representing CFACT, attended the twenty-sixth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland. According to Peter Murphy, one of CFACT’s other representatives shown in the official provisional list of registered participants (PLOP), CFACT activists handed out copies of Marc Morano‘s Climate Hustle 2 film during the event.13Peter Murphy. “COP 26: Armageddon awaits at the UN Climate Conference,” CFACT, November 3, 2021. Archived November 3, 2021. Archive URL:https://archive.ph/tx2Qo 14“Provisional list of registered participants” (PDF), UNFCCC, November 1, 2021. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

Murphy wrote:15Peter Murphy. “COP 26: Armageddon awaits at the UN Climate Conference,” CFACT, November 3, 2021. Archived November 3, 2021. Archive URL:https://archive.ph/tx2Qo

“CFACT got to ask the only question permitted by NGOs. I stepped forward and asked them to comment about scientific findings which show that increased carbon emissions actually boost crop yields, which have led to record harvests for feeding the world. This would mean that CO2 isnโ€™t just a ‘problem,’ but a benefit to helping feed the world. The panelists were having none of it โ€” with one of them saying that any impact from CO2 has only a’negative’ effects, particularly on Africa, the region he represented.

Call that real climate denial.”

Listed CFACT representatives included:

February 25โ€“March 3, 2021

Craig Rucker published an article in the Boston Herald, Inside Sources, and The Chippewa Herald arguing against tax incentives for electric vehicles. In the articles, Rucker echoed talking points of several anti-EV initiatives that have been backed by industry, as documented by DeSmog’s Koch vs Clean project.16Craig Rucker. โ€œLifting the veil on electric vehicle subsidies,โ€ Boston Herald, February 27, 2021. Archived March 9, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/C3b8g 17Craig Rucker. โ€œElectric Vehicle Subsidies and Other Fantasies,โ€ InsideSources, February 25, 2021. Archived March 9. 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/EvixQ 18Craig Rucker. โ€œOpinion: Electric Vehicle Subsidies and Other Fantasies,โ€The Chippewa Herald, March 3, 2021. Archived March 9, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/EvixQ 19Ben Jervey. โ€œKoch-funded Group, Fueling US Forward, Echoes America Rising Squared in Misleading Attack on Electric Cars,โ€ DeSmog, July 10, 2017.

โ€œZero-emission fantasies also ignore the essential role of fossil fuels in manufacturing ZEVs,โ€ Rucker claimed. โ€œFrom mining and processing the myriad metals and minerals for battery modules, wiring, drive trains and bodies, to actually making the components and finished vehicles, every step requires oil, natural gas, or coal.โ€20Craig Rucker. โ€œLifting the veil on electric vehicle subsidies,โ€ Boston Herald, February 27, 2021. Archived March 9, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/C3b8g

He also claimed: โ€œa 2015 study found the richest 20% of Americans received 90% of these generous EV subsidies. Lobbyists are clearly more valuable than engineers for EV manufacturers and drivers.โ€21Craig Rucker. โ€œLifting the veil on electric vehicle subsidies,โ€ Boston Herald, February 27, 2021. Archived March 9, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/C3b8g

April 6, 2020

Rucker, representing CFACT, is signatory to an American Energy Alliance letter to President Donald Trump supporting the Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule which would scrap federal fuel economy mandates under the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) program.22CAFE-Coaliton-to-Trump-April-2020-9 (PDF), American Energy Alliance.

Describing CAFE, the letter contends: โ€œThose families and individuals who prefer or need trucks, SUVs, and crossovers pay more to subsidize those who buy smaller vehicles or electric vehicles under the existing mandate. This significant, needless, and unjust cost is a very real regressive tax on American families that has made our country worse off.โ€23CAFE-Coaliton-to-Trump-April-2020-9 (PDF), American Energy Alliance.

July 11, 2019

Craig Rucker, representing CFACT,ย wasย a signatoryย to anย American Energy Allianceย open letter to President Trump, congratulating him for rolling backย Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards and urging him not to cut a deal with California to allow them to operate with separate regulations.24โ€œDear Mr. President:โ€ (PDF), American Energy Alliance, July 11, 2019. Archived .pdf on file at Desmog.

โ€œYour efforts to reform this mandate will save consumers money, preserve their choices, and ensure that the federal government, and not a single state, sets national policy,โ€ the letter reads.25โ€œDear Mr. President:โ€ (PDF), American Energy Alliance, July 11, 2019. Archived .pdf on file at Desmog.

โ€œThe existing mandate makes cars more expensive. โ€ฆ In short, because of the mandate, those consumers who prefer trucks, SUVs, or crossovers pay more to subsidize those who buy smaller vehicles or electric vehicles.โ€26โ€œDear Mr. President:โ€ (PDF), American Energy Alliance, July 11, 2019. Archived .pdf on file at Desmog.

September 13, 2018

Crag Rucker dressed up as Al Gore and led a CFACT march against the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco.27โ€œCFACT exposes ‘climate zombies’ at California conference,โ€ CFACT, September 14, 2018. Archived September 17, 2018. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/A4JA5

โ€œI (Craig Rucker), as Al Gore, stepped to the fore and said, ‘I ride around the world in personal jets and limoโ€™s, everyone else should take public transportation.’ ‘Save the Earth stop global warming’ the climate zombies replied,โ€ Rucker wrote at CFACT.28โ€œCFACT exposes ‘climate zombies’ at California conference,โ€ CFACT, September 14, 2018. Archived September 17, 2018. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/A4JA5

Rucker and the CFACT group repeated a number of myths around global warming, claiming โ€œClimate models have never been right, but that doesnโ€™t matter. [โ€ฆ] Sea levels have risen at the same rate for centuries. Polar bears are increasing. Who cares?โ€29โ€œCFACT exposes ‘climate zombies’ at California conference,โ€ CFACT, September 14, 2018. Archived September 17, 2018. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/A4JA5

August 7, 2018

Rucker spoke at the Heartland Institute‘s โ€œAmerica First Energy Conferenceโ€ (AFEC 2018) in New Orleans, Louisiana.30โ€œSpeakers,โ€ America First Energy Conference 2018. Archived August 1, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/mwtga

โ€œThe purpose of this event is to promote and expand energy freedom in the United States, as outlined in President Donald Trumpโ€™s bold America First Energy Plan, a proposal first released during the 2016 presidential campaign. The presidentโ€™s plan marks a decisive change in direction from the Obama administrationโ€™s ‘war on fossil fuels’ and focus on the theory of catastrophic man-caused climate change,โ€ the conference description reads.31โ€œAbout,โ€ America First Energy Conference 2018. Archived July 23, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.fo/E4Gnt

Rucker spoke on a panel titled โ€œBattling Russia and America’s Big Green Machine.โ€32โ€œCRAIG RUCKER,โ€ America First Energy Conference 2018. Archived August 1, 2018. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/4jyDA

April 24, 2018

Rucker posed with Will Happer and Marc Morano for a photo at the Environmental Protection Agency’s headquarters the afternoon Scott Pruitt unveiled a โ€œsecret scienceโ€ initiative that would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from using any studies that do not make the raw data public.33Josh Siegel. โ€œScott Pruitt announces new EPA rule to combat ‘secret science’,โ€ Washington Examiner, April 24, 2018. Archived April 24, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.li/d7avT

A range of Pruitt’s conservative allies attended the event at EPA headquarters, however press was not invited. Among those present was Lamar Smith, who tried to create a similar rule through legislation, but it failed to pass. Senator Mike Rounds, who authored a similar bill in the Senate, also attended. Emails released under a Freedom of Information Act request revealed Lamar Smith’s staff coordinated with Pruitt on the rule, E&E News reported.34โ€œPruitt to unveil ‘secret science’ effort today โ€” sources,โ€ E&E News, April 24, 2018. Archived April 24, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.li/6eQLq

Critics have noted that the rule would prevent the EPA from using all available data, with examples including data from patients that needs to be kept private and data subject to industry confidentiality.

โ€œAdministrator Pruitt is very clearly trying to exclude and ignore longstanding pollution and medical science that is peer-reviewed, embraced by the National Academy of Sciences among others, and also based on health data that people were promised would be kept confidential,โ€ John Walke, the clean air director of the Natural Resources Defense Council, told the Washington Examiner.35Josh Siegel. โ€œScott Pruitt announces new EPA rule to combat ‘secret science’,โ€ Washington Examiner, April 24, 2018. Archived April 24, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.li/d7avT

April 23, 2018

The Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, represented by Craig Rucker, was among 22 groups signed on to an open letter asking President Trump to ignore recent criticism of EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.36โ€œCoalition letter to the President on Scott Pruitt,โ€ (PDF) Heartland Institute, 2018. Archived .pdf on file with DeSmog.

In a speech to the U.S. Senate, a group of Democratic senators identified the organizations as front groups for the Koch Brothers and other wealthy donors, nicknamed the โ€œWeb of Deceit.โ€ The senators outlined how, in addition to funding from the Koch network, many of the groups use untraceable โ€œdark moneyโ€ funneled through groups like Donors Capital Fund and Donors Trust to influence legislation, particularly with regards to climate and pollution.

Senator Whitehouse outlined it as โ€œa web of deceit conceived and bankrolled by the Koch brothers and other self-interested billionaires to advocate for very selfish and unpatriotic policies.โ€ Whitehouse added: โ€œThis web of deceit has infiltrated and populated the Trump administration, and it is swamping the interests of everyday Americans.37Senator Whitehouse. โ€œTime to wake up: Web of Deceitโ€ April 23, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.li/HzIsa

The full list of pro-Pruitt signatories and their respective organizations is as follows:

April 3, 2018

Craig Rucker co-wrote an Op-Ed with David Rothbard in the Reno Gazette Journal where they criticized electric cars and renewable energy. The Op-Ed was published on April 3, 2018, the same day Rothbard passed away.38โ€œIs your neighbor’s Tesla costing you money?: Rothbard, Rucker,โ€ Reno Gazette Journal, April 3, 2018. Archived April 15, 2018.

โ€œThere may be hidden costs in the pursuit of ‘clean energy,’ and they may affect consumers more than expected,โ€ the Rucker and Rothbard wrote in the opinion piece, pointing the finger at Californiaโ€™s Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) mandate.39โ€œIs your neighbor’s Tesla costing you money?: Rothbard, Rucker,โ€ Reno Gazette Journal, April 3, 2018. Archived April 15, 2018.

โ€œRealistically, the ZEV mandate means cash-strapped consumers in heartland America will be paying more to buy a conventional car,โ€ they wrote. โ€œIf ZEV mandates increase, more Americans could be compelled to purchase electric cars โ€” or face escalating auto prices. That could mean even middle class Americans struggling to afford a car. But that might well be the grand intention of those pushing so hard for electric cars โ€” to simply price conventional automobiles out of reach for everyday Americans.โ€40โ€œIs your neighbor’s Tesla costing you money?: Rothbard, Rucker,โ€ Reno Gazette Journal, April 3, 2018. Archived April 15, 2018.

July 2017

Craig Rucker promoted the Australian premier of Climate Hustle with Marc Morano through a CFACT mailer. Rucker and CFACT president and founder David Rothbard are set to accompany Morano on the trip.41โ€œTaking the Facts Down Under,โ€ Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow. Retrieved from mailchimp. Archive.is URL: https://archive.fo/IyM20

Rucker said: โ€œCFACT has a lot of fans and followers in Australia who have long wanted us to make a trip. We were beckoned to come and are excited to premiere our film Climate Hustle.โ€42Graham Readfearn. โ€œNotorious Climate Science Denier Marc Morano Flying to Australia With Misleading Climate Hustle Movie,โ€ DeSmog, July 6, 2017.

Event dates were also listed on Joanne Nova‘s blog:43โ€œFinally, see ‘Climate Hustle’ in Australia โ€” Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney.โ€ JoNova, June 27, 2017. Archived July 7, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/nvByX

July 12- Melbourne, Australia
Village Roadshow Theatrette- State Library of Victoria
Doors open at 5:30 PM, film to start at 6:00 PM
Reception and Q/A session to follow

July 15- Brisbane, Australia
Sponsored by the Australian Institute for Progress
New Farm Cinema
Doors open at 4:30 PM

July 18- Sydney, Australia
Club Five Dock
Doors open at 7:00 PM

Before the film’s Australian debut, Climate scientist Professor Will Steffen reviewed portions of the film for DeSmog.44Graham Readfearn. โ€œNotorious Climate Science Denier Marc Morano Flying to Australia With Misleading Climate Hustle Movie,โ€ DeSmog, July 6, 2017.

Steffen is an emeritus professor at Australian National University and a member of the not-for-profit Climate Council. He said: โ€œThis is just the usual rubbish from the usual suspects – a re-hash of misleading and downright incorrect arguments that denialists have trotted out for a long time.โ€45Graham Readfearn. โ€œNotorious Climate Science Denier Marc Morano Flying to Australia With Misleading Climate Hustle Movie,โ€ DeSmog, July 6, 2017.

Reviewing a section that downplays the role of carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, Steffen noted it โ€œmisrepresents how the carbon cycle worksโ€ by ignoring how oceans and land absorb CO2 โ€“ a very basic and well-known mechanism in the carbon cycle.46Graham Readfearn. โ€œNotorious Climate Science Denier Marc Morano Flying to Australia With Misleading Climate Hustle Movie,โ€ DeSmog, July 6, 2017.

Steffen added, โ€œWhat the film didn’t say is that both oxygen and nitrogen, which comprise about 99 per cent of the atmospheric gases, are transparent to UV, visible and heat radiation. They don’t play a role in the energy balance at the Earth’s surface.โ€47Graham Readfearn. โ€œNotorious Climate Science Denier Marc Morano Flying to Australia With Misleading Climate Hustle Movie,โ€ DeSmog, July 6, 2017.

Dr. Andrew King, a climate scientist at Monash University in Melbourne, also had an opportunity to look at the film. He described the section on carbon dioxide’s role as โ€œmuddled.โ€48Graham Readfearn. โ€œNotorious Climate Science Denier Marc Morano Flying to Australia With Misleading Climate Hustle Movie,โ€ DeSmog, July 6, 2017.

โ€œWhilst there are certainly other potential drivers of changes in the climate we know that over the last century we have greatly increased the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere and, through detection and attribution analyses, we know that the rising levels of atmospheric CO2 and other greenhouse gases have driven the rise in global temperature,โ€ King said. โ€œChanges in other potential drivers, like solar activity, simply can’t explain the 1C rise in global temperature we have observed.โ€49Graham Readfearn. โ€œNotorious Climate Science Denier Marc Morano Flying to Australia With Misleading Climate Hustle Movie,โ€ DeSmog, July 6, 2017.

Nova also listed some groups involved in organising the trip included the Galileo Movement (once managed by current One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts), the Australian Environment Foundation, the Australian Tax Payers Alliance, and the Australian Institute for Progress.50โ€œFinally, see ‘Climate Hustle’ in Australia โ€” Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney.โ€ JoNova, June 27, 2017. Archived July 7, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/nvByX

May 8, 2017

Rucker, representing CFACT, is a signatory to an open letter to President Donald J. Trump urging him โ€œto withdraw fully from the Paris Climate Treaty and to stop all taxpayer funding of UN global warming programs.โ€51โ€œDear Mr. Presidentโ€ (PDF), retrieved from Competitive Enterprise Institute. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

DeSmog reported that the 40 groups represented in the letter, including the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), The Heartland Institute, and the Heritage Foundation, have received a combined total of millions of dollars from the Koch Brothers, ExxonMobil, and other industry groups.52Graham Readfearn. โ€œConservative Groups Pushing Trump To Exit Paris Climate Deal Have Taken Millions From Koch Brothers, Exxon,โ€ DeSmog, May 10, 2017.

Analysis also showed that the groups accepted about $80 million through Donors Capital Fund and Donors Trust, two groups that have been confirmed is a key financial source for key U.S-based cliamate change denial groups.53Susanne Goldberg. โ€œConservative groups spend up to bn a year to fight action on climate change,โ€ The Guardian, December 20, 2013. Archived May 12, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/TB2yy

March 23, 2017

Craig Rucker was a moderator at the Heartland Institute‘s Twelfth International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC12). He was present at two panels on March 23, including a breakfast keynote featuring Walter Cunningham and a presentation by Jay Lehr, as well as Panel 2B. View videos below.54โ€œCRAIG RUCKER,โ€ ClimateConference.heartland.org. Archived April 4, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/jjL1X

Breakfast Keynote, Cunningham, and Lehr:

Panel 2B: Cost-Benefit Analysis:

December 12, 2016

Craig Rucker was an attendee at a private meeting also attended by Trump’s EPA Transition team lead Myron Ebell on Capitol Hill. E&E News reported that the event was not open to the public or to the press and Ebell refused to give any details. The event was hosted by the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) and held in the hearing room of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee. The EPW committee is chaired by Senator James Inhofe who, like Trump, has described human-caused climate change as a hoax.55George Cahlink. โ€œTrump EPA adviser Myron Ebell meets with Hill aides,โ€ E&E News, December 12, 2016.

DeSmog reported that the event featured the โ€œWho’s Who of Climate Science Deniers.โ€ Australian Senator Malcolm Roberts, who spoke at the event, also wrote that the meeting was a gathering of the Cooler Heads Coalition and listed some of the participants on Facebook:56Graham Readfearn. โ€œDonald Trumpโ€™s Aide at EPA Myron Ebell Meets with Whoโ€™s Who of Climate Science Deniers,โ€ DeSmog, December 13, 2016. 57โ€œYesterday I spoke at an event for the Competitive Enterprise Institute called Cooler Heads Coalition in Washington. [โ€ฆ]โ€ Facebook post by Malcolm Roberts – QLD Senate – One Nation, December 13 at 6:38 pm. Archived image on file at DeSmog.

Malcolm Roberts Facebook Post

Names mentioned above included:

DeSmog also noted that three of the attendeesโ€”Myron Ebell, Randy Randol, and Steve Milloyโ€”had all been part of the Global Climate Science Communications Team in the late 1990s, a group organized by the American Petroleum Institute. According to an early memo, the group said โ€œvictory will be achieved when [โ€ฆ] Average citizens ‘understand’ (recognize) uncertainties in climate science; recognition of uncertainties becomes part of the ‘conventional wisdom’.โ€58โ€œGlobal Climate Science Communications Plan (1998),โ€ SourceWatch.

May 18, 2016

Craig Rucker was a signatory to a full page color advertisement in The New York Times titled โ€œAbuse of Powerโ€ (PDF) sponsored by The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI). The ad serves as an open letter from 43 signatories including organizations and individuals in response to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Claude Walker, and the coalition of Attorneys General investigating groups denying man-made climate change.59โ€œCEI Runs โ€œAbuse of Powerโ€ Ad In New York Times,โ€ Competitive Enterprise Institute, May 18, 2016. Archived May 31, 2016. 60โ€œAbuse of Power: All Americans have the right to support causes they believe inโ€ (PDF), Competitive Enterprise Institute. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

โ€œAttempts to intimidate CEI and our allies and silence our policy research are unconstitutional,โ€ said CEI president Kent Lassman. โ€œThe First Amendment protects us and everyone has a duty to respect it โ€“ even state attorneys general. CEI will continue to fight for all Americans to support the causes in which they believe.โ€61โ€œCEI Runs โ€œAbuse of Powerโ€ Ad In New York Times,โ€ Competitive Enterprise Institute, May 18, 2016. Archived May 31, 2016.

The Competitive Enterprise Institute received a subpoena from AG Walker on April 7, 2016. On April 20, CEI filed an objection to the subpoena calling it โ€œoffensive,โ€ โ€œun-American,โ€ and โ€œunlawful,โ€ and are contending that AG Walker is โ€œviolating CEIโ€™s First Amendment rights.โ€62โ€œCEI Runs โ€œAbuse of Powerโ€ Ad In New York Times,โ€ Competitive Enterprise Institute, May 18, 2016. Archived May 31, 2016.

The โ€œfreedom of speechโ€ argument was echoed by ExxonMobil’s legal team, as well as numerous other conservative groups including the Pacific Legal Foundation, and Heritage Foundation and the recently-formed Free Speech in Science Project, a group created by the same lawyers who defended the Competitive Enterprise Institute in the past.63Steve Horn. โ€œExxon’s Lawyer in Climate Science Probe Has History Helping Big Tobacco and NFL Defend Against Health Claims,โ€ DeSmog, May 10, 2016.

The CEI letter lists the following signatories:

July 7โ€“9, 2014

Craig Rucker was a moderator at the Heartland Instituteโ€™s Ninth International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC9) in Las Vegas, Nevada. Rucker was part of Panel Nine’s discussion, โ€œCommunicating Climate Change: The Blogosphere,โ€ with Marc Morano, Tony Heller, and Russell Cook.64โ€œReturn of Climate Denial-a-Palooza: Heartland Institute Hitches Anti-Science Wagon to Vegas FreedomFest,โ€ DeSmog, July 7, 2014. Archived July 14, 2014. 65โ€œ9th International Conference on Climate Change Speakers,โ€ Heartland Institute. Archived July 14, 2014.

View DeSmogโ€™s in-depth research on the other speakers and sponsors from Heartland’s ICCC9.

November 19, 2013

Craig Rucker attended COP 19 in Warsaw, Poland with the Committee For a Constructive Tomorrow‘s Marc Morano and Walt Cunningham. Rucker stated that โ€œone of the things [CFACT is] concerned about is that these climate policies do harm people,โ€ and that decarbonization was having a โ€œdevastasting effect on poor people around the globe,โ€ noting that CFACT โ€œsleeps well at nightโ€ because their policies โ€œhelp, not hurt people.โ€66โ€œCFACT COP 19 in Warsaw Poland,โ€ YouTube.com, November 19, 2013.

February 8, 2013

Craig Rucker is a guest on Alex Epstein‘s โ€œPower Hour,โ€ a podcast presented by his for-profit think tank, the Center for Industrial Progress. Rucker is interviewed by Epstein about his โ€œeye-opening adventures at UN global warming events.โ€67โ€œPower Hour: the UN Global Warming Saga with Craig Rucker,โ€ Center for Industrial Progress, February 8, 2013. Archived December 1, 2014.

November 16, 2011

Craig Rucker attends COP17 in Durban, South Africa with the Committee For a Constructive Tomorrow‘s Marc Morano, as well as Lord Christopher Monckton, to โ€œdebunk climate propaganda and provide balanced perspective at [the] UN’s COP17.โ€ 68โ€œCFACT to debunk climate propaganda and provide balanced perspective at UNโ€™s COP17 in Durban, South Africa,โ€ Committee For a Constructive Tomorrow, November 16, 2011. Archived November 21, 2014. In a CFACT press release, journalists who were seeking โ€œto improve upon the annual one-sided climate conference propaganda fest,โ€ were encouraged to speak with CFACT representatives, noting they would be โ€œavailable for all media.โ€69โ€œCFACT to debunk climate propaganda and provide balanced perspective at UNโ€™s COP17 in Durban, South Africa,โ€ Committee For a Constructive Tomorrow, November 16, 2011. Archived November 21, 2014.

August 2, 2002

Rucker was signatory to an open letter by Myron Ebell and Fred L. Smith that congratulated President George W. Bush for not attending the World Summit on sustainable Development in Johannesburg:70โ€œAn Open Letter To President Bush About The World Summit On Sustainable Development,โ€œ Competitive Enterprise Institute, August 2, 2002. Archived November 5, 2002. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/mMFvn

โ€œWe applaud your decision not to attend the summit in person. Although so-called environmental groups may in the next few weeks pressure you to attend, we believe there are good reasons not to give in to this pressure,โ€ they wrote.71โ€œAn Open Letter To President Bush About The World Summit On Sustainable Development,โ€œ Competitive Enterprise Institute, August 2, 2002. Archived November 5, 2002. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/mMFvn

โ€œWe also strongly support your opposition to signing new international environmental treaties or creating new international environmental organizations at the Johannesburg Summit,โ€ the letter added. In our view, the worst possible outcome at Johannesburg would be taking any steps towards creating a World Environmental Organization, as the European Union has suggested.โ€72โ€œAn Open Letter To President Bush About The World Summit On Sustainable Development,โ€œ Competitive Enterprise Institute, August 2, 2002. Archived November 5, 2002. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/mMFvn

March 16, 1989

Craig Rucker and David Rothbard approached the Chemical Manufacturers Association (CMA) requesting โ€œcorporate involvement and supportโ€ towards the Committee For a Constructive Tomorrow’s efforts, according to CMA document‘s minutes. It was documented that Rucker and Rothbard established CFACT to โ€œfight the Public Interest Research Groups.โ€73โ€œChemical Manufacturers Association Minutes,โ€ Chemical Industry Archives, March 16, 1989.

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According to a search for Craig Rucker on Google Scholar, he has not published any research on climate science in a peer-reviewed journal.79โ€œCraig Rucker,โ€ Google Scholar.

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