Greening Earth Society (GES)

Background

The Greening Earth Society was a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization created by the Western Fuels Association (WFA) in 1997 “as a vehicle for advocacy on climate change, the environmental impact of CO2, and fossil fuel use” (this according to an archived version of the GES website).¹ GES described itself as a “not-for-profit membership organization comprised of rural electric cooperatives and municipal electric utilities, their fuel suppliers, and thousands of individuals.” According to SourceWatch, the group ceased operations some time in 2005.²

A 1998 report by the Clearinghouse on Environmental Advocacy and Research found that the Greening Earth Society and Western Fuels are essentially the same organization. They are both are located at the same office suite in Arlington, VA, share the same leader—Fred Palmer—several WFA board members serve as the board for GES, and they have the same “manager of communications and governmental affairs,” Ned Leonard. Both Ned Leonard and Fred Palmer are registered lobbyists for Western Fuels Association.³ See the full CLEAR report here (PDF).⁴

Fred Palmer, former Senior Vice President of Government Relations for Peabody Energy and current Heartland Institute senior fellow on energy and climate served as the president of the Greening Earth Society.⁵ ⁶

World Climate Report (WRC)

The GES regularly published articles by prominent man-made climate change skeptics, many of which appeared in the GES-funded journal World Climate Report, and the group has also produced videos suggesting that an increase in carbon dioxide would be beneficial to mankind. Climate change deniers writing for World Climate Report included Patrick Michaels (WCR Chief Editor), Sallie Baliunas, Robert Balling, John Christy, Robert Davis (Assistant Editor), and Thomas Gale Moore.⁷

Stance on Climate Change

“Scientific facts stand in stark contrast to the ideology of climate-change-is-catastrophic. […] There is no evidence that the rate of global warming is increasing.”⁸

Funding

The Greening Earth Society openly declared their funding from energy and fossil fuel companies:

“The bulk of our financial support comes from rural electric cooperatives, municipal electric utilities, and their fuel suppliers, including Western Fuels Association, Inc., which created Greening Earth Society in 1997 as a vehicle for advocacy on climate change, the environmental impact of CO2, and fossil fuel use.”⁹

Key People

Frederick Palmer — President, board of directors.¹⁰

Scientific Advisors

Listed scientific advisors, from 1998-2001, included:

Actions

November 13, 1998

The Greening Earth Society released a 30-minute video titled “The Greening of the Planet Earth Continues” at the annual meeting of Basin Electric. The video was a sequel to one earlier released by the Western Fuels Association titled “The Greening of Planet Earth.” The video release was followed by a panel discussion with climate change skeptics Patrick Michaels, Robert Balling, Sallie Baliunas, and Sylvan Wittwer, all associated with the Greening Earth Society at the time.

The video, still promoted by the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change, “further explores issues addressed in our first video, The Greening of Planet Earth, which has been distributed to more than 30,000 people worldwide.”¹²

According to the description, “expert scientists assert that CO2 is not a pollutant, but a nutrient to life on earth,” and increasing CO2 means “faster plant growth, greater agricultural yields and improved water-use efficiency in plants. Evidence shows a picture of the ongoing industrial evolution of humankind as the gree[n]ing of planet earth continues.”¹³

Greening Earth Society Contact & Location

As of March 5, 2005 the main contact information for the Greening Earth Society was:¹⁴

333 John Carlyle Street, Suite 530
Alexandria, VA 22314
703-684-4748
703-684-6297 (fax)
800-529-4503 (Toll Free)

[email protected]

Other Resources

“Greening Earth Society,” SourceWatch.
“Greening Earth Society”, Wikipedia.
ExxonSecrets Factsheet: Greening Earth Society, GES.

Resources

1
“Join GES,” Greeningearthsociety.org. Archived March 8, 2005. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/8BURx
2
“About Us, Greening Earth Society. Archived March 8, 2005. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/fxiXy
3
“Western Fuels Association’s Astroturf Empire Coal industry campaign multiplies efforts to re-spin global warming,” CLEAR, November 10, 1998. Archived June 29, 2002. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/L87sa
4
“The Greening of Planet Earth Continues” (PDF), Clearinghouse on Environmental Advocacy and Research, November 13, 1998. Retrieved from Documentcloud.org. Archived (PDF) February 24, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmogBlog.
5
“Board Members,” FutureGen Alliance. Archived September 5, 2008. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/uSu3B
6
“FREDERICK D. PALMER,” The Heartland Institute. Archived January 11, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/shv71
7
“The Greening of Planet Earth Continues” (PDF), Clearinghouse on Environmental Advocacy and Research, November 13, 1998. Retrieved from Documentcloud.org. Archived (PDF) February 24, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmogBlog.
8
“Promises, Promises,” Greeningearthsociety.org. Archived March 15, 2005. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/6r0xy
9
“Join GES,” Greeningearthsociety.org. Archived March 8, 2005. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/8BURx
10
“Board Members,” FutureGen Alliance. Archived September 5, 2008. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/uSu3B
11
“Scientific Advisers,” Greening Earth Society. Archived November 2000. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/sN3tY
12
“The Greening of Planet Earth Continues,” CO2 Science. Archived January 26, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/bwUbv
13
“The Greening of Planet Earth Continues,” CO2 Science. Archived January 26, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/bwUbv
14
“Contact Us,” Greening Earth Society. Archived March 5, 2005. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/AHbzT

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