Roy Cordato

Credentials

• Ph.D., economics, George Mason University (1986).¹“Biography,” The John Locke Foundation. Archived October 30, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/5M5Dt
• M.A., Economics, University of Hartford (1980). ²“Biography,” The John Locke Foundation. Archived October 30, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/5M5Dt
• Bachelors of Music Education, Hartt School of Music (1975).³“Biography,” The John Locke Foundation. Archived October 30, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/5M5Dt

Background

Roy Cordato’s is retired senior economist, and vice president for research at the John Locke Foundation. He retired from his full-time position at JLF in June 2019.⁴“Biography,” The John Locke Foundation. Archived October 30, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/5M5Dt ⁵“Roy Cordato,” Climateconferences.heartland.org. Archived October 30, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/Cr5wq

He was the Lundy Professor of Business Philosophy at Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina from 1993 to 2000. He was senior economist at the Institute for Research on the Economics of Taxation (IRET) from 1987 to 1993.⁶“Roy Cordato,” Climateconferences.heartland.org. Archived October 30, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/Cr5wq

Cordato also worked as a full-time economics professor at the University of Hartford and at Auburn University, and as adjunct faculty at Johns Hopkins University.⁷“Roy Cordato,” Climateconferences.heartland.org. Archived October 30, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/Cr5wq

In 2000 he received the Freedoms Foundation’s Leavey Award in Free Enterprise Education (not to be confused with the similarly-named Freedom Foundation). He is also a member of the Mont Pelerin Society and former executive board member of the Association of Private Enterprise Education.⁸“Roy Cordato: About the Author,“ Foundation for Economic Education. Archived October 31, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.ph/CuNJD

DeSmog reported in 2007 that Cordato became one of those “duped” by promoting a climate research paper that was proven to be a hoax. His background is in music and economics, however has regularly commented on climate change issues.⁹Kevin Grandia. “Anatomy of a Dupe – the John Locke Foundation,” DeSmog, November 10, 2007. ¹⁰Kevin Grandia. “’The death of global warming’ – spoof puts the fun back into lying about science,” DeSmog, November 7, 2007.

Stance on Climate Change

2006

Cordato declared on an episode of the John Locke Foundation’s Carolina Journal Radio:

“You look at the models used to predict future warming, and you take those models and go back one hundred years and plug in the data and predict the warming we have today, they way overpredict. They’re totally wrong with respect to the amount of warming we’ve had in the past one hundred years. And we see this over and over and over again. Hyperbole, using hysteria to get through a particular policy agenda.”¹¹Kevin Grandia. “Who is Roy Cordato,” DeSmogBlog, November 15, 2007 (see video).

In another episode:¹²“JLF’s Roy Cordato discusses global warming,” YouTube video uploaded by user “mkokai1,” December 8, 2006. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

“It seems quite clear. Seems to be absolutely no disagreement on this. There is no policy regarding CO2 reductions that North Carolina could implement that would have any impact on the climate for now or the next several centuries.

“And, the fact is, is that even if they implemented these policies in conjunction with every other state, and even every other nation in the world, there still wouldn’t be a measurable impact globally

“I think what the state should do is, first of all, acknowledge this in a report that we looked at this, we looked at the science and scientists agree, or disagree rather, on the extent of future global warming. But there is one area where they all seem to agree and that is, is that nothing the state is considering will have any impact on the climate. What we should then do is look at ways that we can strengthen the economy, which is how we will be able to deal with whatever happens in the future in terms of climate.

“Historically we have dealt with climate issues extreme weather, extreme heat extreme cold through a capital stock and growth of the economy and prosperity, which has brought us air conditioning and central heating, and all the good things that we have now that they didn’t have 100 years ago to shelter us from the vagaries of weather.”

Key Quotes

In an article in the Carolina Journal, Cordato said public concern over global warming had been declining:.¹³“Climate Change Commission Gets a Cold Shoulder,” Carolina Journal Online, August 4, 2010. Archived November 6, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/hcL28

“Now polls show people are more likely to believe there are ghosts or that aliens will attack the Earth,” Cordato claimed.

Key Deeds

March 2008

Cordato was a speaker at the Heartland Institute’s First International Conference on Climate Change. His speech was titled “Cap and Trade, Carbon taxes, and the Myth of Efficient CO2 Reduction”:

Affiliations

• The John Locke Foundation (JLF) — Former vice president for research and resident scholar.¹⁴“Biography,” The John Locke Foundation. Archived October 30, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/5M5Dt
• The Institute for Research on the Economics of Taxation (IRET) — Senior economist, (1987 – 1993).¹⁵“Roy Cordato,” Climateconferences.heartland.org. Archived October 30, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/Cr5wq
• The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) — Former contributor to The Freeman, a FEE publication (discontinued in 2016). Member of the FEE Faculty Network.¹⁶“Archive for Roy Cordato,” The Freeman. Archived October 24, 2012. ¹⁷“The Freeman,” Foundation for Economic Education. Archive October 31, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/h8jjW ¹⁸“Roy Cordato: About the Author,“ Foundation for Economic Education. Archived October 31, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.ph/CuNJD
• Mont Pelerin Society (MPS) — Member.¹⁹“Roy Cordato: About the Author,“ Foundation for Economic Education. Archived October 31, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.ph/CuNJD
• The Ludwig von Mises Institute — Author.²⁰“Roy Cordato Literature Archive,” Ludwig von Mises Institute. Archived December 16, 2011.
• Association of Private Enterprise Education — Former executive board member.²¹“Roy Cordato,” Climateconferences.heartland.org. Archived October 30, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/Cr5wq
• Heartland Institute — Listed on “who we are” page.²²“Roy Cordato,” Heartland Institute. Archived November 6, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/6Kos6

Social Media

• @RoyCordato on Twitter
• Roy Cordato on LinkedIn
• Roy Cordato on Facebook

Publications

According to Google Scholar, Cordato has not published any articles on the subject of climate change in peer-reviewed journals.

One of Cordato’s articles for The Freeman gives a positive review of Climate Confusion. The book is authored by Roy Spencer and sets itself apart by “forsaking blindingly technical statistics” and describing issue of climate change in “simple terms.”

Cordato has spread his message of global warming skepticism through news sources including The Christian Science Monitor, The Washington Times, Investor’s Business Daily, The Journal of Commerce, The Congressional Record, The Orange County Register, Human Events, National Review Online, The Washington Examiner, Tax Notes and numerous others.

Other Resources

Resources

• 1
  “Biography,” The John Locke Foundation. Archived October 30, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/5M5Dt
• 2
  “Biography,” The John Locke Foundation. Archived October 30, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/5M5Dt
• 3
  “Biography,” The John Locke Foundation. Archived October 30, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/5M5Dt
• 4
  “Biography,” The John Locke Foundation. Archived October 30, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/5M5Dt
• 5
  “Roy Cordato,” Climateconferences.heartland.org. Archived October 30, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/Cr5wq
• 6
  “Roy Cordato,” Climateconferences.heartland.org. Archived October 30, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/Cr5wq
• 7
  “Roy Cordato,” Climateconferences.heartland.org. Archived October 30, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/Cr5wq
• 8
  “Roy Cordato: About the Author,“ Foundation for Economic Education. Archived October 31, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.ph/CuNJD
• 9
  Kevin Grandia. “Anatomy of a Dupe – the John Locke Foundation,” DeSmog, November 10, 2007.
• 10
  Kevin Grandia. “’The death of global warming’ – spoof puts the fun back into lying about science,” DeSmog, November 7, 2007.
• 11
  Kevin Grandia. “Who is Roy Cordato,” DeSmogBlog, November 15, 2007 (see video).
• 12
  “JLF’s Roy Cordato discusses global warming,” YouTube video uploaded by user “mkokai1,” December 8, 2006. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.
• 13
  “Climate Change Commission Gets a Cold Shoulder,” Carolina Journal Online, August 4, 2010. Archived November 6, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/hcL28
• 14
  “Biography,” The John Locke Foundation. Archived October 30, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/5M5Dt
• 15
  “Roy Cordato,” Climateconferences.heartland.org. Archived October 30, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/Cr5wq
• 16
  “Archive for Roy Cordato,” The Freeman. Archived October 24, 2012.
• 17
  “The Freeman,” Foundation for Economic Education. Archive October 31, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/h8jjW
• 18
  “Roy Cordato: About the Author,“ Foundation for Economic Education. Archived October 31, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.ph/CuNJD
• 19
  “Roy Cordato: About the Author,“ Foundation for Economic Education. Archived October 31, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.ph/CuNJD
• 20
  “Roy Cordato Literature Archive,” Ludwig von Mises Institute. Archived December 16, 2011.
• 21
  “Roy Cordato,” Climateconferences.heartland.org. Archived October 30, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/Cr5wq
• 22
  “Roy Cordato,” Heartland Institute. Archived November 6, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/6Kos6