Peter J. Ferrara
Credentials
- J.D., Havard Law School (1979).1“Appointments, January 21, 1984,” Ronald Reagon Presidential Library. Archived March 21, 2005.
- B.A., Harvard College (1976).2“Appointments, January 21, 1984,” Ronald Reagon Presidential Library. Archived March 21, 2005.
Background
Peter Ferrara is a senior fellow for entitlement and budget policy at the Heartland Institute, and senior fellow at the Social Security Institute. Ferrera was formerly the general counsel of the American Civil Rights Union and also a former member of the Policy Board for the Carleson Center for Public Policy.3“Leadership and Staff,” The American Civil Rights Union. Archived June 17, 2013. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmogBlog. 4“Policy Board, Leadership & Staff,” The Carleson Center for Public Policy, Archived January 9, 2012. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmogBlog.
Ferrara heads the Social Security Project of the Free Enterprise Fund, which supports the Bush administration’s effort to privatize Social Security.5Jeffrey H. Birnbaum. “Private-Account Concept Grew From Obscure Roots,” The Washington Post, February 22, 2005.
He served in the White House Office of Policy Development under President Reagan, and as Associate Deputy Attorney General of the United States under President George H.W. Bush.6“Peter Ferrara,” Profile at Forbes.
Stance on Climate Change
“Any speaker, any authority, any journalist or bureaucrat asserting the catastrophic danger of supposed man-caused global warming needs to be asked for their response to Climate Change Reconsidered. If they have none, then they are not qualified to address the subject.”7Peter Ferrara. “Fakegate: The Obnoxious Fabrication of Global Warming,” (Op-Ed), Forbes, March 1, 2012.
Key Quotes
Following President Donald Trump‘s State of the Union Address, Ferrara said in a statement:8“PRESS RELEASE: HEARTLAND INSTITUTE EXPERTS REACT TO PRESIDENT TRUMP’S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS,” The Heartland Institute, January 31, 2018. Archived February 5, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/FeswS
“President Trump challenged Democrats yesterday to join him on bipartisan immigration and infrastructure deals. He has yet to hear any positive response from them. They could not even applaud the lowest unemployment rate for blacks in American history, or higher wages and more jobs for all American workers.”9“PRESS RELEASE: HEARTLAND INSTITUTE EXPERTS REACT TO PRESIDENT TRUMP’S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS,” The Heartland Institute, January 31, 2018. Archived February 5, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/FeswS
October 9, 2017
Following EPA administrator Scott Pruitt‘s announcement that the Trump administration would be scrapping the Clean Power Plan, Ferrara issued the following statement via the Heartland Institute:10“PRESS RELEASE: HEARTLAND INSTITUTE EXPERTS REACT TO EPA SCRAPPING THE CLEAN POWER PLAN,” The Heartland Institute, October 9, 2017. Archived October 10, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/B9m3e
“The move to end the Clean Power Plan is part of President Donald Trump’s pro-growth deregulation effort, which has already helped to cause the stock market to set numerous all-time records and grow the economy at a rate that’s 50 percent faster than at any time under President Barack Obama. This is exactly what the voters wanted when they voted in November.”
May 18, 2014
Following the release of the U.S.’ National Climate Assessment report, Peter Ferrara publishes an opinion piece in Forbes:11Peter Ferrara, “President Obama’s Global Warming Calculated Deception Means Democrats Have Abandoned Working People,” Forbes, May 18, 2014. Archived June 11, 2014.
“How could the scientists involved in the National Climate Assessment, and the U.N.’s IPCC reports, get the basic global warming/climate change science so wrong, as discussed above? During the Soviet Communist era in Russia, under Stalin in the 1930s, the government promoted a peasant, non-scientist named Trofim Lysenko to be the Director of the Soviet Lenin All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Lysenko virulently rejected the rising Mendelian genetics of the time, holding that acquired characteristics of plants, and maybe of animals and even humans, during their lives could be inherited. This fit the reigning Marxist doctrine of the time that human character and traits were malleable, and that the Soviet government was in the process of creating the selfless, modern, new Soviet man, perfectly suited to life under Communism.”
“Those who promote the politically correct theory are favored with billions from government grants and neo-Marxist environmentalist largesse, and official recognition and award. Faked and tampered data and evidence has arisen in favor of the politically correct theory. Is not man-caused, catastrophic global warming now the only theory allowed to be taught in the West?
Those in positions of scientific authority in the West who have collaborated with this new Lysenkoism because they felt they must be politically correct, and/or because of the money, publicity, and recognition to be gained, have disgraced themselves and the integrity of their institutions, organizations and publications.
But there is a more virulent strain at the root of Western Lysenkoism today. Scientists, like Holdren and Michael Mann, can be leftist ideologues as well, posing to manipulate and mislead for the good of the cause. Bottom line: green is the new red. That is why Obama at root is so committed to it.”
March 1, 2012
“While I am not a scientist, and write primarily on economics, tax policy and budget issues, I have been fascinated over the years by Heartland’s work on climate change.”12Peter Ferrara. “Fakegate: The Obnoxious Fabrication of Global Warming,” (Op-Ed), Forbes, March 1, 2012.
Key Deeds
August 7, 2018
Ferrara spoke at the Heartland Institute‘s “America First Energy Conference” (AFEC 2018) in New Orleans, Louisiana.13“Speakers,” America First Energy Conference 2018. Archived August 1, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/mwtga
“The purpose of this event is to promote and expand energy freedom in the United States, as outlined in President Donald Trump’s bold America First Energy Plan, a proposal first released during the 2016 presidential campaign. The president’s plan marks a decisive change in direction from the Obama administration’s ‘war on fossil fuels’ and focus on the theory of catastrophic man-caused climate change,” the conference description reads.14“About,” America First Energy Conference 2018. Archived July 23, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.fo/E4Gnt
Ferrara spoke on a panel titled “Climate Lawsuits Against Energy Companies and the Government.”15“PETER FERRARA, J.D.,” America First Energy Conference 2018. Archived August 1, 2018. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/hV2gE
October 9, 2017
Following EPA administrator Scott Pruitt‘s announcement that the Trump administration would be scrapping the Clean Power Plan, Ferrara issued the following statement via the Heartland Institute:16“PRESS RELEASE: HEARTLAND INSTITUTE EXPERTS REACT TO EPA SCRAPPING THE CLEAN POWER PLAN,” The Heartland Institute, October 9, 2017. Archived October 10, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/B9m3e
“The move to end the Clean Power Plan is part of President Donald Trump’s pro-growth deregulation effort, which has already helped to cause the stock market to set numerous all-time records and grow the economy at a rate that’s 50 percent faster than at any time under President Barack Obama. This is exactly what the voters wanted when they voted in November.”
July 7–9, 2014
Peter Ferrara was a speaker at the Heartland Institute’s Ninth International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC9) in Las Vegas, Nevada.17“Return of Climate Denial-a-Palooza: Heartland Institute Hitches Anti-Science Wagon to Vegas FreedomFest,” DeSmogBlog, July 7, 2014. Archived July 14, 2014. He spoke on Panel 21: “Global Warming as a Social Movement” with Calvin Beisner and Paul Driessen. Video from the panel and the question and answer period that followed can be viewed below.
Panel 21: Global Warming as a Social Movement
Panel 21 Q&A
DeSmogBlog has done in-depth research on the other speakers and sponsors from Heartland’s ICCC9, which can be found here.
June 9, 2014
Peter Ferrara publishes an opinion piece in Forbes titled, “President Obama’s Plan To “De-develop” America Shifts Into High Gear.” Within it, he suggests that decision-makers in government and business review the “double peer reviewed” Climate Change Reconsidered II, published by the Heartland Institute, and also attend the Ninth International Conference on Climate Change at Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas July 7-9:
“For decision-makers in government and business who need to be sure and make responsible decisions, the full truth of the issue is completely and thoroughly discussed in the thousands of pages of Climate Change Reconsidered II, authored by dozens of serious, top scientists serving on the Nongovernmental International Panel of Climate Change (NIPCC), and published this year in ultimately 3 volumes of thousands of pages each by the Heartland Institute. These volumes are “double peer reviewed,” in that they discuss thousands of peer reviewed articles published in scientific journals, and are themselves peer reviewed. Last year, the Cato Institute published a thorough, comprehensive refutation of the publicly released draft of the National Climate Assessment, The Missing Science from the Draft National Assessment on Climate Change, by Patrick J. Michaels, et. al. You can learn more by attending the Ninth International Conference on Climate Change, to be held at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, July 7-9, with more than 1,000 scientists from around the world (where I will be speaking).”18Peter Ferrara, “President Obama’s Plan To “De-develop” America Shifts Into High Gear,” Forbes, June 9, 2014. Archived June 23, 2014.
May 18, 2014
Peter Ferrara publishes an opinion piece in Forbes titled, “President Obama’s Global Warming Calculated Deception Means Democrats Have Abandoned Working People,” in response to the release of the National Climate Assessment report.
Ferrara claims that his opinion piece “is a well-informed, well-reasoned understanding of the National Climate Assessment report, which is an exercise in political science, not climate science. What you will not see in the report are the basic truths below regarding climate science, over which reasonable people cannot differ!”19Peter Ferrara, “President Obama’s Global Warming Calculated Deception Means Democrats Have Abandoned Working People,” Forbes, May 18, 2014. Archived June 11, 2014.
Referencing the National Climate Assessment’s usage of the term “carbon pollution” to describe CO2, Ferrara goes on to say, “Plants need CO2 to grow and conduct photosynthesis, which is the natural process that creates food for animals and fish at the bottom of the food chain. Indeed, the increased atmospheric concentration of CO2 as the industrial revolution has flourished worldwide has increased agricultural output and production over the last 20 years by well over $1 trillion. As a result, the only documented effects of increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere so far have been positive.”20Peter Ferrara, “President Obama’s Global Warming Calculated Deception Means Democrats Have Abandoned Working People,” Forbes, May 18, 2014. Archived June 11, 2014.
May 21–23, 2012
Ferrara was a speaker at the Heartland Institute‘s Seventh International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC7) where he gave a speech titled “The Economic Implications of High Cost Energy” which can be viewed below.
DeSmogBlog researched the co-sponsors behind Heartland’s ICCC7 and found that they had collectively received over $67 million from ExxonMobil, the Koch Brothers and the conservative Scaife family foundations.
2005
Ferrera Admitted that he took money from lobbyist Jack Abramoff to write Op-Ed pieces boosting the lobbyist’s clients.
“I do that all the time,” Ferrara says. “I’ve done that in the past, and I’ll do it in the future.”
Ferrara said “he doesn’t see a conflict of interest in taking undisclosed money to write Op-Ed pieces because his columns never violated his ideological principles.”21Eamon Javers. “Op-Eds for Sale,” Businessweek, December 16, 2005. Archived May 5, 2012, with WebCite.
Affiliations
- The Heartland Institute — Senior fellow for legal affairs. Former senior fellow for entitlement and budget policy.22“Heartland Experts: Peter Ferrara,” The Heartland Institute. Archived February 29, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.fo/xqZR2 23“PETER FERRARA,” Heartland Institute. Archived August 14, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.fo/D8aOb
- National Tax Limitation Foundation — Senior advisor for entitlement reform and budget policy.24“PETER FERRARA,” Heartland Institute. Archived August 14, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.fo/D8aOb
- Social Security Institute — Senior fellow.25“Heartland Experts: Peter Ferrara,” The Heartland Institute. Archived February 29, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.fo/xqZR2
- George Mason University — Associate professor of law, 1987-91.26“Peter Ferrara Named Senior Fellow by The Heartland Institute,” PRWeb, April 27, 2011.
- Cato Institute — Senior fellow and former associate policy analyst, 1988-91.27“Peter J. Ferrara,” Profile at the Cato Institute. Accessed May 5, 2012.
- Heritage Foundation — Senior fellow, 1993 – 1994.28“BOARD OF SCHOLARS,” Virginia Institute for Public Policy. Archived February 18, 2007.
- National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) — Senior fellow (until 1995).29“BOARD OF SCHOLARS,” Virginia Institute for Public Policy. Archived February 18, 2007.
- International Center for Law and Economics — Past director.30Peter Ferrara. “The Tax-Cut Critics,” National Review, May 20, 2003.
- Virginia Club for Growth — Past president. The group appears to be defunct.31“CHAPTER PRESIDENT’S WELCOME,” Virginai Club for Growth. Archived October 8, 2003. 32“BOARD OF SCHOLARS,” Virginia Institute for Public Policy. Archived February 18, 2007.
- Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) — Senior policy advisor, social security and medicare.33“Peter Ferrara,” Profile at ipi.org. Accessed May 5, 2012.
- The American Civil Rights Union — Former legal director, general counsel (2013).34“Leadership and Staff,” The American Civil Rights Union. Archived June 17, 2013. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmogBlog.
- The Carleson Center for Public Policy — Formerly listed as a senior fellow (2012).35“Policy Board, Leadership & Staff,” The Carleson Center for Public Policy, Archived January 9, 2012. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmogBlog.
- Free Enterprise Fund — Director, Social Security Project.
- Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) — Past senior policy advisor on social security.36“THE NEW PROGRESSIVISM: PERSONAL SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNTS
FOR WORKING PEOPLE,” (PDF), U.S. Social Security Administration, September 6, 2001. - Virginia Institute for Public Policy — Past member, board of scholars.37“BOARD OF SCHOLARS,” Virginia Institute for Public Policy. Archived February 18, 2007.
- Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge — Former counsel (1983 – 1992).38“BOARD OF SCHOLARS,” Virginia Institute for Public Policy. Archived February 18, 2007.
- White House Office of Policy Development — Served during the Reagan Administration.39“BOARD OF SCHOLARS,” Virginia Institute for Public Policy. Archived February 18, 2007.
Social Media
- @peterferrera1 on Twitter.
Publications
According to a press release announcing his appointment at the Heartland Institute, Ferrara has written studies and reports for the Cato Institute, The Heritage Foundation, National Center for Policy Analysis, Family Research Council, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and a wide range of other institutions and publications.40“Peter Ferrara Named Senior Fellow by The Heartland Institute,” PRWeb, April 27, 2011.
He has also written in The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, Forbes, The American Spectator, National Review, Human Events, The Weekly Standard, Policy Review, and elsewhere.
Books
- Peter J. Ferrara. For Social Security, the Crisis Continues, Heritage Foundation, 1985.
- America’s Ticking Bankruptcy Bomb (2011).
- Stop the Raid: Social Security, the Biggest Rip Off in History (2008).
- Common Cents, Common Dreams: A Layman’s Guide to Social Security Privatization (1999).
- A New Deal for Social Security (1998).
- Free the Mail: Ending the Postal Monopoly (1990).
- Religion and the Constitution: A Reinterpretation (1983).
- Social Security: The Inherent Contradiction (1980).
Sourcewatch lists some of Ferrara’s publications:
- Peter J Ferrara, “The Choctaw revolution: Lessons for Federal Indian policy”, Americans for Tax Reform Foundation, January 1998, ISBN 0966583418
- John C. Goodman , Peter J. Ferrara , “The Clinton Health Plan”, National Center for Policy Analysis, May 1994, ISBN 1568080182
- Peter J. Ferrara, “Common Cents, Common Dreams: A Layman’s Guide to Social Security Privatization”, National Book Network, September, 1999, ISBN 1882577760
- George Bittlingmayer , Allan C. Carlson , Peter J. Ferrara , Vaclav Klays , Nancie G. Marzulla , Patrick Minford , Virginia Postrel , Fred L. Smith, Jr., Samuel R. Staley , Walter E. Williams, “Competition or Compulsion?: The Market Economy Versus the New Social Engineering”, Hillsdale College Press, September 2001, ISBN 0916308588
- Peter J. Ferrara, “Conservatives Back Bush Idea for Social Security,” Human Events, January 23, 2004.
- Allan C. Carlson, Peter Ferrara, David Hartman, John Mueller, Joe Wilson, Mrs. Charmaine C. Yoest, “Family Tax Equity”, Family Research Council, July 10, 2003.
- Peter J. Ferrara, Free the Mail: Ending the Postal Monopoly, editor (1989)
- Peter J. Ferrara, “Issues ’94: The Candidate’s Briefing Book”, Alliance Book Corporation, December 1994, ISBN 9995949733
- Peter J. Ferrara, “More Than a Theory: Medical Savings Accounts at Work,” Cato Institute, Policy Analysis no. 220,March 14, 1995.
- Peter J. Ferrara, A New Deal for Social Security, coauthor (1998)
- Peter J. Ferrara, “The Next Steps for Medicare Reform”, Cato Institute, Policy Analysis no. 305 , April 29, 1998.
- Peter J. Ferrara, Michael Tanner, “A New Deal for Social Security”, Cato Institute, September 1998, ISBN 1882577620
- Peter J.Ferrara, “Parker v. District of Columbia amicus curiae brief”, Americn Civil Rights Union, June 16, 2006.
- Peter J. Ferrara, “A Plan for Privatizing Social Security,” Cato Institute, Social Security Paper no. 8,April 30, 1997.
- Peter J. Ferrara, “Religion & the Constitution: A Reinterpretation”, Rowman & Littlefield, January 1983, ISBN 0942522060
- Peter J. Ferrara, “Social Security: The Inherent Contradiction”, National Book Network, June 1980, ISBN 0932790240
- Peter J. Ferrara, Social Security: Prospects for Real Reform, editor (1985)
- Peter J. Ferrara, “Social Security Reform: The Family Plan”, Heritage Foundation, December 1982, ISBN 9993853666
Other Resources
- “Peter J. Ferrara,” SourceWatch.
- “Peter Ferrara,” Wikipedia.
Resources
- 1“Appointments, January 21, 1984,” Ronald Reagon Presidential Library. Archived March 21, 2005.
- 2“Appointments, January 21, 1984,” Ronald Reagon Presidential Library. Archived March 21, 2005.
- 3“Leadership and Staff,” The American Civil Rights Union. Archived June 17, 2013. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmogBlog.
- 4“Policy Board, Leadership & Staff,” The Carleson Center for Public Policy, Archived January 9, 2012. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmogBlog.
- 5Jeffrey H. Birnbaum. “Private-Account Concept Grew From Obscure Roots,” The Washington Post, February 22, 2005.
- 6“Peter Ferrara,” Profile at Forbes.
- 7Peter Ferrara. “Fakegate: The Obnoxious Fabrication of Global Warming,” (Op-Ed), Forbes, March 1, 2012.
- 8“PRESS RELEASE: HEARTLAND INSTITUTE EXPERTS REACT TO PRESIDENT TRUMP’S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS,” The Heartland Institute, January 31, 2018. Archived February 5, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/FeswS
- 9“PRESS RELEASE: HEARTLAND INSTITUTE EXPERTS REACT TO PRESIDENT TRUMP’S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS,” The Heartland Institute, January 31, 2018. Archived February 5, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/FeswS
- 10“PRESS RELEASE: HEARTLAND INSTITUTE EXPERTS REACT TO EPA SCRAPPING THE CLEAN POWER PLAN,” The Heartland Institute, October 9, 2017. Archived October 10, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/B9m3e
- 11Peter Ferrara, “President Obama’s Global Warming Calculated Deception Means Democrats Have Abandoned Working People,” Forbes, May 18, 2014. Archived June 11, 2014.
- 12Peter Ferrara. “Fakegate: The Obnoxious Fabrication of Global Warming,” (Op-Ed), Forbes, March 1, 2012.
- 13“Speakers,” America First Energy Conference 2018. Archived August 1, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/mwtga
- 14“About,” America First Energy Conference 2018. Archived July 23, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.fo/E4Gnt
- 15“PETER FERRARA, J.D.,” America First Energy Conference 2018. Archived August 1, 2018. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/hV2gE
- 16“PRESS RELEASE: HEARTLAND INSTITUTE EXPERTS REACT TO EPA SCRAPPING THE CLEAN POWER PLAN,” The Heartland Institute, October 9, 2017. Archived October 10, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/B9m3e
- 17“Return of Climate Denial-a-Palooza: Heartland Institute Hitches Anti-Science Wagon to Vegas FreedomFest,” DeSmogBlog, July 7, 2014. Archived July 14, 2014.
- 18Peter Ferrara, “President Obama’s Plan To “De-develop” America Shifts Into High Gear,” Forbes, June 9, 2014. Archived June 23, 2014.
- 19Peter Ferrara, “President Obama’s Global Warming Calculated Deception Means Democrats Have Abandoned Working People,” Forbes, May 18, 2014. Archived June 11, 2014.
- 20Peter Ferrara, “President Obama’s Global Warming Calculated Deception Means Democrats Have Abandoned Working People,” Forbes, May 18, 2014. Archived June 11, 2014.
- 21Eamon Javers. “Op-Eds for Sale,” Businessweek, December 16, 2005. Archived May 5, 2012, with WebCite.
- 22“Heartland Experts: Peter Ferrara,” The Heartland Institute. Archived February 29, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.fo/xqZR2
- 23“PETER FERRARA,” Heartland Institute. Archived August 14, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.fo/D8aOb
- 24“PETER FERRARA,” Heartland Institute. Archived August 14, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.fo/D8aOb
- 25“Heartland Experts: Peter Ferrara,” The Heartland Institute. Archived February 29, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.fo/xqZR2
- 26“Peter Ferrara Named Senior Fellow by The Heartland Institute,” PRWeb, April 27, 2011.
- 27“Peter J. Ferrara,” Profile at the Cato Institute. Accessed May 5, 2012.
- 28“BOARD OF SCHOLARS,” Virginia Institute for Public Policy. Archived February 18, 2007.
- 29“BOARD OF SCHOLARS,” Virginia Institute for Public Policy. Archived February 18, 2007.
- 30Peter Ferrara. “The Tax-Cut Critics,” National Review, May 20, 2003.
- 31“CHAPTER PRESIDENT’S WELCOME,” Virginai Club for Growth. Archived October 8, 2003.
- 32“BOARD OF SCHOLARS,” Virginia Institute for Public Policy. Archived February 18, 2007.
- 33“Peter Ferrara,” Profile at ipi.org. Accessed May 5, 2012.
- 34“Leadership and Staff,” The American Civil Rights Union. Archived June 17, 2013. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmogBlog.
- 35“Policy Board, Leadership & Staff,” The Carleson Center for Public Policy, Archived January 9, 2012. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmogBlog.
- 36“THE NEW PROGRESSIVISM: PERSONAL SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNTS
FOR WORKING PEOPLE,” (PDF), U.S. Social Security Administration, September 6, 2001. - 37“BOARD OF SCHOLARS,” Virginia Institute for Public Policy. Archived February 18, 2007.
- 38“BOARD OF SCHOLARS,” Virginia Institute for Public Policy. Archived February 18, 2007.
- 39“BOARD OF SCHOLARS,” Virginia Institute for Public Policy. Archived February 18, 2007.
- 40“Peter Ferrara Named Senior Fellow by The Heartland Institute,” PRWeb, April 27, 2011.
