British climate denier and coal baron Matt Ridley is the most cited individual in coal giant Peabody Energyโs official submission to the White House addressing the companyโs concerns regarding new policies proposed by the US Government around greenhouse gas emissions and climateย change.
The 71-page document on the governmentโs National Environmental Policy Act, uncovered by DeSmogBlog, declares that greenhouse gases are a โnon-existent harmโ. Ridleyโs opinion articles, such as one professing โfossil fuels will save the worldโ published in the Wall Street Journal, form much of the basis for the coal companyโs arguments submitted inย March.
Ridley writes frequently in the Wall Street Journal and the Times promoting fossil fuels, while at the same time earning considerable wealth from coal mining. The peerโs Blagdon Estate, north of Newcastle, covers a significant part of two opencast mines.
Ridley and the GWPF
But Peabodyโs fondness for British climate deniers doesnโt stop there. An analysis of the 304 footnote citations in the Peabody document finds that Lord Lawsonโs climate denial charity, the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), is also among the top sources cited by the energyย giant.
With 16 citations in total, the GWPFโs March 2015 report โThe Small Print: What The Royal Society Left Outโ is referenced repeatedly. Ridley, an academic advisor to the GWPF, was one of several authors of this report. This puts the GWPF second to the number of Ridleyย citations.
Assuming you donโt count the GWPF report as a point for Ridley, the British peer ties with Paul Ballonoff, an independent consultant in international energy development, for the most cited individual by Peabody; both Ridley and Ballonoff โ author of the 2014 report โA Fresh Look at Climate Changeโ for the Koch-funded Libertarian CATO Institute โ see a total of 17 citationsย each.
Peer-Reviewedย Science
While there are thousands of peer-reviewed scientific documents available on the impacts of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, the Peabody climate change document relies heavily on claims made in newspaper opinion articles and by organisations with known connections to the fossil fuelย industry.
In fact, well-known climate deniers such as Christopher Monckton, Marc Morano, Judith Curry, Patrick Michaels, Ross McKitrick and fossil fuel-funded think tanks such as CATO, the Heartland Institute, the Heritage Foundation, and the George C. Marshall Institute far outweigh the number of sources drawn from mainstreamย science.
Analysis shows that opinion articles published in media outlets were cited as supporting evidence 41 times and groups with historical ties to the fossil fuel industry were cited 64ย times.
Articles cited from peer-reviewed scientific journals made up only 8 percent of the cited evidence backing Peabody’sย arguments.
A full copy of the March 2015 PDF document is available for download here: Peabody Energy submission on greenhouse gas and climate change to theย Whiteย House.
Photo: Ridley’s Shotton Coal Mine by Brendanย Montague
