Nigel Farage and Liz Truss were at the UK launch of a US-based climate change denying lobbying group in December.
The Heartland Institute, the US-based free market think tank known for denying scientific evidence for climate change has formed a UK branch.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was “a special guest of honour” at the launch of the London group. The new group will be headed by Lois Perry, a climate science denier who briefly served as Ukip leader from May to June last year.
Liz Truss was at the launch event, along with Tory MP Christopher Chope, and Tory Shadow Trade Minister Andrew Griffith.
The Heartland Institute has said it will leverage its “science-based work” to push back at “climate alarmism” and net zero initiatives in the UK.
What is the Heartland Institute?
The Heartland Institute was founded in 1984 by Chicago investor David H Padden.
In the 1990s, the group worked with US tobacco company Phillip Morris to attempt to discredit the health risks of secondhand smoke and lobby against smoking bans.
From 2008 onwards, Heartland started to organise lavish conferences at hotels in Times Square and Washington DC questioning the scientific consensus on climate change.
The Heartland Institute has received hundreds of millions of dollars from oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil and climate denier billionaires Charles and David Koch.
In 2012, the group launched a controversial billboard campaign comparing believers in global warming to “murderers and madmen” such as the Unabomber, Charles Manson and Osama bin Laden.
Following severe backlash, Heartland pulled the plug on the campaign within 24 hours, but showed just how extreme it is in its denial of climate science.
Trump administration
The group was involved in Project 2025, an ultra-conservative initiative set up by right-wing think tank The Heritage Foundation, which drafted a 900-page agenda for what it wants Trump to adopt in office.
The former chief executive of the Heartland Institute, Joseph Bast, was a guest at the White House at Donald Trump’s announcement that the United States would withdraw from the Paris agreement.
Heartland became so influential with the Trump administration that the institute began advising the Environmental Protection Agency on climate change issues.
Heartland has already published a listicle outlining the 10 climate policies Trump should modify or repeal once he returns to office next week.
This includes reclassifying the Paris Agreement as a treaty requiring Senate approval, meaning it would not be legally binding unless the Senate votes to ratify it.
Heartland wants Trump to remove Obama and Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) determination that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are threats to public health.
They also want to limit reliance on wind and solar power in the national electricity grid for “security reasons” and expand oil, gas and coal production, lifting restrictions on drilling in specific areas.
Reform UK links
In the lead up to the general election, Reform promoted climate science denial, referring to climate change having “happened for millions of years, before human-made CO2 emissions”.
Farage also called for a referendum to abolish the UK’s target of reaching net zero emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050, which his party then adopted as a manifesto pledge.
Speaking at Heartland’s 40th anniversary fundraising event in September last year, Farage encouraged the institute to set up branches in Britain and Europe. He also urged the US to re-elect Trump and “drill baby drill” for more fossil fuels.
Lois Perry, the executive director of London’s new branch of the Heartland Institute, has said she believes climate change “is happening” but “is not man-made”.
She also previously ran anti-net zero group CAR26, which claimed carbon dioxide is “essential to all life” and that its “welcome growth has greened our planet saving countless human and other lives”.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
To reach hundreds of thousands of new readers we need to grow our donor base substantially.
That’s why in 2024, we are seeking to generate 150 additional regular donors to support Left Foot Forward’s work.
We still need another 117 people to donate to hit the target. You can help. Donate today.
