The Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) is a US-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1985 that

advocates An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. Howeve ...

for

free-market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any o ...

solutions to

environmental issues Environmental issues are effects of human activity on the biophysical environment, most often of which are harmful effects that cause environmental degradation. Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment on t ...

. According to its mission statement, CFACT also seeks to protect

private property rights Property rights are constructs in economics for determining how a resource or economic good is used and owned, which have developed over ancient and modern history, from Abrahamic law to Article 17 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Re ...

, promote economic policies that reduce pollution and protect wildlife, and provide an "alternative voice on issues of environment and development". The organization rejects the

scientific consensus on climate change There is a strong scientific consensus that the Earth is warming and that this warming is mainly caused by human activities. This consensus is supported by various studies of scientists' opinions and by position statements of scientific org ...

Personnel and funding

CFACT is governed by a Board of Directors that includes founding president

David Rothbard David Mark Rothbard (November 6, 1964 – March 30, 2018) was President of the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), a US non-profit organization he founded with Craig Rucker in 1985 "to promote a positive voice on environment and devel ...

. Staffers include communications director

Marc Morano Marc Morano (born 1968) is a former Republican political aide who founded and runs the website ClimateDepot.com. ClimateDepot is a project of the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), a US non-profit organisation that promotes climate ...

and policy analyst Paul Driessen, the author of ''"

Eco-Imperialism Green imperialism or eco-imperialism or eco-colonialism or environmental imperialism is a derogatory epithet alluding to what is perceived as a Western strategy to influence the internal affairs of mostly developing nations in the name of e ...

: Green Power, Black Death"''. Total revenues over the years 2009 through 2011 have averaged around $3 million, as reported on the organization's IRS Form 990 and its 2011 annual audited financial statement. In 2010, nearly half of CFACT's funding came from

Donors Trust Donors Trust is an American nonprofit donor-advised fund. It was founded in 1999 with the goal of "safeguarding the intent of libertarian and conservative donors". As a donor advised fund, Donors Trust is not legally required to disclose the i ...

, a nonprofit

donor-advised fund In the United States, a donor-advised fund (commonly called a DAF) is a charitable giving vehicle administered by a public charity created to manage charitable donations on behalf of organizations, families, or individuals. To participate in a don ...

with the goal of "safeguarding the intent of libertarian and conservative donors". In 2011, CFACT received a $1.2 million grant from Donors Trust, 40% of CFACT's revenue that year.

Peabody Energy Peabody Energy is a coal mining and energy company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Its primary business consists of the mining, sale, and distribution of coal, which is purchased for use in electricity generation and steelmaking. Peabod ...

funded CFACT before its bankruptcy as did

Robert E. Murray Robert Edward Murray (January 13, 1940October 25, 2020) was an American mining engineer and businessman. He founded and was the chief executive officer of Murray Energy, a mining corporation based in St. Clairsville, Ohio, until it filed for b ...

Murray Energy American Consolidated Natural Resources, previously known as Murray Energy, is a US-based coal mining company. It is the fourth largest coal producer in the country, and the largest privately-owned coal company. Founded in 1988 by Robert E. Murra ...

before its bankruptcy.

Advocacy activities

CFACT is a member organization of the

Cooler Heads Coalition The Cooler Heads Coalition is a politically conservative "informal and ad-hoc group" in the United States, financed and operated by the Competitive Enterprise Institute. The group, which rejects the mainstream scientific opinion on climate change, ...

, which rejects

climate science Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "place, zone"; and , '' -logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. This modern field of stud ...

, is known to promote falsehoods about climate change and has been characterized as a leader in efforts to stop the government from addressing climate change. CFACT chapters have protested in defense of oil exploration and in opposition to the

Kyoto Protocol The Kyoto Protocol was an international treaty which extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that (par ...

. CFACT supports drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as well as

hydraulic fracturing Fracking (also known as hydraulic fracturing, hydrofracturing, or hydrofracking) is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of bedrock formations by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of "frac ...

(fracking) in natural gas and oil-rich regions of the country.

Collegians for a Constructive Tomorrow

Collegians for a Constructive Tomorrow is a student-led branch of CFACT led by National Director Bill Gilles.

''Climate Hustle'' documentary

The 2016 documentary film '' Climate Hustle'', co-written and presented by

climate change denial Climate change denial, or global warming denial, is Denial (Freud), denial, dismissal, or doubt that contradicts the scientific consensus on climate change, including the extent to which it is Attribution of recent climate change, caused by hum ...

group ClimateDepot, was produced by "CFACT Presents", with the organization's president and executive director, David Rothbard and Craig Rucker, receiving executive producer credits. Aired in around 400 theaters across the United States on May 2, 2016, the film mocks climate science through a series of interviews with

climate change denier Climate change denial, or global warming denial, is denial, dismissal, or doubt that contradicts the scientific consensus on climate change, including the extent to which it is caused by humans, its effects on nature and human society, or t ...

s as well as commentary by Morano. ''Ars Technica'' likened the film's style to a "

Gish Gallop The Gish gallop is a rhetorical technique in which a person in a debate attempts to overwhelm their opponent by providing an excessive number of arguments with no regard for the accuracy or strength of those arguments. In essence, it is prioriti ...

", calling it "a fast-paced, uninterrupted delivery of superficial and false claims about climate science" which forms "an 80-minute-long list of all the climate 'skeptic' blogosphere's favorite claims".

Copenhagen Climate Challenge 2009

During the

COP15 The 2022 United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was planned to be held in April 2022 in Kunming, China, but was postponed, for a fourth time, to the third quarter of 2022 a ...

conference in Copenhagen, CFACT hosted a rival event in Copenhagen called the ''

Copenhagen Climate Challenge During the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009 (COP15), there was a rival conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, for climate change denial, deniers, called the Copenhagen Climate Challenge, which was organised by the ''Committee for a Constr ...

'', which was attended by about 50 people. According to Lenore Taylor of ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatewat ...

'', Professor Ian Plimer, "a star attraction of the two-day event", attracted an audience of 45.

CFACT Europe

CFACT Europe is CFACT's European branch. It was founded by German historian Holger Thuss who is also connected to the

Heartland Institute The Heartland Institute is an American conservative and libertarian public policy think tank known for its rejection of both the scientific consensus on climate change and the negative health impacts of smoking. Founded in 1984, it worked wit ...

. Thuss is also president of the climate change denial European Institute for Climate and Energy in

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a po ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow 501(c)(3) organizations Organizations established in 1985 Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C. Organizations of environmentalism skeptics and critics Libertarian organizations based in the United States Libertarian think tanks Political and economic think tanks in the United States Climate change denial