Holly Swanson

Image credit: Dumb Bandana / YouTube / Freedom Force International

Holly Swanson

Credentials

  • DeSmog has no information on Swansonโ€™s educational background.

Background

Holly Swanson is a conservative author and political activist who has described herself as a โ€œleading authority on the undisclosed political agenda of the environmental, now green, movement.โ€1โ€œInconvenient Lie Day 2 โ€“ Holly Swanson,โ€ YouTube video uploaded by user Dumb Bandana on September 11, 2017. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

Swanson’s work has focused on criticizing the environmental movement, which she has compared to communism, claiming it is a โ€œpolitical movementโ€ that is โ€œnot about the environment.โ€2โ€œInconvenient Lie Day 2 โ€“ Holly Swanson,โ€ YouTube video uploaded by user Dumb Bandana on September 11, 2017. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog. She has stated that environmentalists are โ€œtargetingโ€ and โ€œindoctrinatingโ€ schoolchildren, and claimed that โ€œschools are on the verge of a complete takeover.โ€3โ€œAmerican Youth Indoctrinated Under Pretense of Environmental Education,โ€ YouTube video uploaded by user Millennial Millie on December 18, 2016. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

Holly Swanson has been described as the founder of the now-defunct group4Business Entity Data for entity: OPERATION GREEN OUT, Registry number 440491-95. Oregon Secretary of State. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. “Operation Green Out,” a campaign โ€œto get Green politics out in the open and out of Americaโ€™s schools, starting with Education for Sustainability.โ€ In 2009 Swanson told the National Association of Scholars that Operation Green Out was the โ€œleading organization in this specific issue area,โ€ and that the campaign was โ€œgrowing rapidlyโ€ as more Americans recognized that the โ€œGreen agenda mirrors communism.โ€5Ashley Thorne. โ€œAn Interview with Holly Swanson,โ€ National Association of Scholars, October 15, 2009. Archived September 28, 2020. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/AcXP8

Swanson has denied mainstream climate science, saying in 2016 that the โ€œscientific debate on global warming is far from over.โ€6Holly Swanson. โ€œTeaching Communism in Public Schools,โ€ News With Views, June 22, 2016. Archived September 28, 2020. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/rgdBS She has also claimed that CO2 is โ€œactually not that harmful.โ€7โ€œHow The Globalists Condition Children To Accept Global Government (With Author Holly Swanson),โ€ YouTube video uploaded by user World Alternative Media on December 8, 2016. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

In September 2020, Swanson was featured8Michelle Stirling. โ€œA Review of โ€œClimate Hustle 2โ€ โ€“ New Marc Morano/CFACT Movie,โ€ Friends of Science Calgary. Archived September 28, 2020. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/DUDxP in Climate Hustle 2, a documentary produced by CFACT and starring Climate Depotโ€™s Marc Morano.9Ben Jervey. โ€œClimate Hustle 2: Showcasing a Thinning Roster of Climate Science Deniers,โ€ DeSmog, September 24, 2020.

Swanson also appeared in the 2017 documentary “Global Warming: An Inconvenient Lie,” along with prominent climate deniers such as Timothy F. (Tim) Ball, William Happer, Christopher Monckton, and Willie Soon.10“Global Warming: An Inconvenient Lie,” IMDb, 2017.

In 2003, Swanson published the book, โ€œSet Up & Sold Out: Find Out What Green Really Means.โ€11Ashley Thorne. โ€œAn Interview with Holly Swanson,โ€ National Association of Scholars, October 15, 2009. Archived September 28, 2020. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/AcXP8 In a review, the pro-free-market organization Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) said that the book โ€œlays bare the radical left wing agenda of the Green Movement.โ€12โ€œHolly Swansonโ€™s Books,โ€ Goodreads. Archived September 28, 2020. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/8j38F

Stance on Climate Change

April 27, 2017

Speaking on InfoWars, the fake news operation founded by Alex Jones, Swanson said:13โ€œHolly Swanson Describes Earth Day and What Your Children Are Being Taught in School,โ€ YouTube video uploaded by user NewsBlip on April 27, 2017. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

โ€œClimate change is no longer framed in physical or environmental terms, but as a social, ethical and political issueโ€ฆ[B]y framing climate and by promoting consensus science, rather than factual scienceโ€ฆ thereโ€™s still a strong and heavy debate going on into the severity of what the climate issue, how it will impact, but it is being taught as fact in our schools.โ€

This video is no longer posted on YouTube.

December 3, 2016

During a speech at a Freedom Force International event,14โ€œAn Inconvenient Lie Day 2 โ€“ Holly Swanson,โ€ YouTube video uploaded by user Dumb Bandana on September 11, 2017. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog. Holly Swanson described climate change as:15โ€œThe 3rd Congress of Freedom Force,โ€ Freedom Force International. Archived September 28, 2020. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/xuqcW

โ€œ…a powerful powerful organizing tool, and the ambiguity of the fact of โ€˜oh itโ€™s a hot summer day, oh thatโ€™s global warming, oh thereโ€™s a tornado, oh thatโ€™s global warming,โ€™ anything can be twisted into creating fear.โ€16โ€œInconvenient Lie Day 2 โ€“ Holly Swanson,โ€ YouTube video uploaded by user Dumb Bandana on September 11, 2017. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

June 22, 2016

In an op-ed on News With Views, a fake news site that promotes conspiracy theories, Holly Swanson wrote:17Holly Swanson. โ€œTeaching Communism in Public Schools,โ€ News With Views, June 22, 2016. Archived September 28, 2020. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/rgdBS

โ€œThe scientific debate on global warming is far from over. Prominent scientists have changed their position based on evidence. After dire predictions about global warming did not come to pass and false claims were exposed, the environmental movement renamed the issue โ€˜climate-changeโ€™. Climate-change is a general idea that can be twisted to impose more pieces of the Green agenda in schools and elsewhere.โ€

Key Quotes

December 3, 2016

Speaking on “green politics” in schools at a Freedom Force International event, Holly Swanson said:18โ€œInconvenient Lie Day 2 โ€“ Holly Swanson,โ€ YouTube video uploaded by user Dumb Bandana on September 11, 2017. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

โ€œWe need to challenge the false hysteria, especially created among our children, the Green movement is scaring our children into conformity and compliance so they will learn under a communist model of education to support communism.

[…]

โ€œWe absolutely must get green politics out of our schools and we need to do that immediately, if not sooner. Every single day we are losing children to this movement because we donโ€™t understand what green really means, itโ€™s green communism.โ€19โ€œInconvenient Lie Day 2 โ€“ Holly Swanson,โ€ YouTube video uploaded by user Dumb Bandana on September 11, 2017. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

Speaking to World Alternative Media, a fringe news operation, after the event, Swanson said:20โ€œHow The Globalists Condition Children To Accept Global Government (With Author Holly Swanson),โ€ YouTube video uploaded by user World Alternative Media on December 8, 2016. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

โ€œI think the whole carbon tax initiative is to condition people that global warming is real, that everybody has to do their part to combat climate change, and from what I have heard from the scientists today, my goodnessโ€ฆthe case that global warming is not only happening on the scale that has been presented but many of the components of CO2 and the claims that have been made, CO2 is actually not harmful.โ€21โ€œHow The Globalists Condition Children To Accept Global Government (With Author Holly Swanson),โ€ YouTube video uploaded by user World Alternative Media on December 8, 2016. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

June 22, 2016

In an op-ed on News With Views, a fake news site that promotes conspiracy theories, Holly Swanson wrote:22Holly Swanson. โ€œTeaching Communism in Public Schools,โ€ News With Views, June 22, 2016. Archived September 28, 2020. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/rgdBS

โ€œThe Greens are promoting the idea that social justice and the โ€˜equitable distribution of wealth and goodsโ€™ is necessary to save the planet. The goal is to take control of all wealth and goods.โ€23Holly Swanson. โ€œTeaching Communism in Public Schools,โ€ News With Views, June 22, 2016. Archived September 28, 2020. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/rgdBS

[…]

โ€œThe Green movementโ€™s invasion of our schools is occurring on a national scale. Steps to politically indoctrinate Americaโ€™s children are underway. Teaching communism in our schools is harmful and a violation of the public trust. Free thought, individual freedom and the democratic process are at risk.โ€24Holly Swanson. โ€œTeaching Communism in Public Schools,โ€ News With Views, June 22, 2016. Archived September 28, 2020. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/rgdBS

The article was later republished in the fall 2017 issue of an American Agri-Womenโ€™s publication, The Voice.25Holly Swanson. โ€œTeaching Communism in Public Schools,โ€ The Voice, Fall 2017. Archived September 28, 2020. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

October 15, 2009

In an interview with Ashley Thorne of the National Association of Scholars, a conservative non-profit organization, Holly Swanson said:26Ashley Thorne. โ€œAn Interview with Holly Swanson,โ€ National Association of Scholars, October 15, 2009. Archived September 28, 2020. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/AcXP8

โ€œThe word ‘Green’ or ‘the Greens’ characterizes a global political movement which includes, but is not limited to, the Green Party, the Global Green Parties, the environmental, now Green movement, the sustainability movement, the progressives, the Earth Charter and more. These groups are aligned and share a revolutionary agenda.โ€27Ashley Thorne. โ€œAn Interview with Holly Swanson,โ€ National Association of Scholars, October 15, 2009. Archived September 28, 2020. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/AcXP8

Regarding Earth Day, Holly Swanson said:28Ashley Thorne. โ€œAn Interview with Holly Swanson,โ€ National Association of Scholars, October 15, 2009. Archived September 28, 2020. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/AcXP8

โ€œEarth Day, Earth Week and Earth Month are all part of the Green indoctrination process. Earth Day is a partisan event and does not belong in publicly funded schools.โ€29Ashley Thorne. โ€œAn Interview with Holly Swanson,โ€ National Association of Scholars, October 15, 2009. Archived September 28, 2020. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/AcXP8

March 27, 2008

In a WorldNetDaily op-ed, “Opening the school door to communism,” Holly Swanson wrote:30Holly Swanson. โ€œOpening the school door to communism,โ€ WND, March 27, 2009. Archived September 28, 2020. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/LCH1z

โ€œ‘Education for Sustainability’ is a political tool to change the cultural, religious, social, economic and political structure of our nation. This is not common knowledge because these programs have been presented as nonpartisan environmental education โ€“ but this is not accurate. This movement is advancing a partisan agenda that mirrors Green Party goals and communism.โ€

Key Deeds

2020

Holly Swanson appeared in Marc Moranoโ€™s 2020 documentary Climate Hustle 2: Rise of the Climate Monarchy, produced by the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT). In the film, Swanson accused the environmental movement of โ€œteaching children to be against their parents as well as our political system.โ€31Climate Hustle 2: Rise of the Climate Monarchy. CFACT/ CDR Communications, Inc., 2020

In the film, Swanson said that the goal of the environmental movement was to โ€œuse alleged nonpartisan environmental education to politically indoctrinate America’s children. And then, again, graduate a nation of obedient voters who will vote to impose this on the American people.โ€ She described this as โ€œeco-child abuse, pure and simple.โ€

2017

Holly Swanson appeared in the climate denial documentary “Global Warming: An Inconvenient Lie,” along with prominent climate deniers such as Timothy F. (Tim) Ball, William Happer, Christopher Monckton, and Willie Soon.32“Global Warming: An Inconvenient Lie,” IMDb, 2017.

April 27, 2017

Holly Swanson gave an interview to Millie Weaver of InfoWars, a fake news website founded and hosted by Alex Jones.33โ€œHolly Swanson Describes Earth Day and What Your Children Are Being Taught in School,โ€ YouTube video uploaded by user NewsBlip on April 27, 2017. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

In the interview, Swanson criticized Earth Day:34โ€œHolly Swanson Describes Earth Day and What Your Children Are Being Taught in School,โ€ YouTube video uploaded by user NewsBlip on April 27, 2017. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

โ€œโ€ฆenvironmental and climate literacy is recognised as the engine for creating Green votersโ€ฆ that means using our public education system to indoctrinate our children to vote Green, to vote for the policies and the political ideology of the green movement.โ€35โ€œHolly Swanson Describes Earth Day and What Your Children Are Being Taught in School,โ€ YouTube video uploaded by user NewsBlip on April 27, 2017. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

She went on to claim:36โ€œHolly Swanson Describes Earth Day and What Your Children Are Being Taught in School,โ€ YouTube video uploaded by user NewsBlip on April 27, 2017. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

โ€œChildren are learning that in order for them to survive they need to become political activists, social justice activists, and they need to work to end our free market system, work to end the use of fossil fuels.โ€37โ€œHolly Swanson Describes Earth Day and What Your Children Are Being Taught in School,โ€ YouTube video uploaded by user NewsBlip on April 27, 2017. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

December 3, 2016

Swanson was a speaker at a “3rd Congress of Freedom Force International” event titled โ€œGlobal Warming; an Inconvenient Lieโ€. The organization described the event as โ€œa gathering of the worldโ€™s top experts on this subject who completely demolished the myth of anthropogenic (man-caused) global-warming.โ€ 38โ€œThe 3rd Congress of Freedom Force,โ€ Freedom Force International. Archived September 28, 2020. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/xuqcW

In her speech, titled โ€œThey Call It Education: Global Warming and Political Indoctrination,โ€ Holly Swanson described the green movement as advancing a โ€œpolitical agenda under the guise of environmental protection.โ€ She continued:39โ€œInconvenient Lie Day 2 โ€“ Holly Swanson,โ€ YouTube video uploaded by user Dumb Bandana on September 11, 2017. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog. (Note: The original video no longer appears to be available on YouTube.)

โ€œThe communist model of education uses every subject, every day, and the entire school experience to reinforce communist beliefs and values.

โ€œNow, this is what happening in Americaโ€™s schools under the pretense of environmental education, and specifically education for sustainability programs, specifically climate change education, specifically environmental literacy, and other politicized instruction that is designed to train our children to adopt future beliefs in the present.

โ€œIn other words, teach them to be vegetarians now so they wonโ€™t question that agenda in the future. Teach them that private property is a hazard to the environment so they will accept the abolishment of private property, which is communism. Teach them that they need to walk, bike, or skateboard so they will accept the end to the fossil fuel era.

โ€œTeach them this, scare them to death that if they do not conform and comply with this demand, they are not only creating a dead planet, they are putting themselves, their own life in jeopardy.โ€40โ€œInconvenient Lie Day 2 โ€“ Holly Swanson,โ€ YouTube video uploaded by user Dumb Bandana on September 11, 2017. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

Below is a list of other climate science deniers who attended the event, and the titles of their presentations:41โ€œThe 3rd Congress of Freedom Force,โ€ Freedom Force International. Archived September 28, 2020. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/xuqcW

  • Lord Christopher Monckton โ€“ “Global Warming Is A Monstrous Hoax”
  • William Happer  โ€“ “The Real Inconvenient Truth: More CO2 Benefits the Earth”
  • Tim Ball โ€“ “Global Warming Is the Biggest Deception in History”
  • G. Edward Griffin โ€“ “Why Do They Deceive?”
  • Holly Swanson โ€“ They Call It Education; Global Warming and Political Indoctrination
  • Dan Happel โ€“ They Call It Green; Global Warming and Agenda-21
  • Patrick Wood โ€“ They Call it Science; Global Warming and Technocracy
  • Alex Newman โ€“ They Call It News; Global Warming and Propaganda
  • Debbie Bacigalupi โ€“ They Call It Smart Growth: Global Warming and The Depopulation of Rural America
  • Elaine Willman โ€“ Native Americans โ€“ Pawns in the Agenda-21 game
  • Jim Lee โ€“ Geoengineering, Weather Modification, and the Weaponization of Nature
  • Michael Shaw โ€“ Agenda-21; Bringing the Soviet System to America
  • Willie Soon โ€“ Man vs. Sun; Put Your Money on the Sun
  • Istvan Marko โ€“ CO2 Is Not Pollution. It is Our Friend.

After the event, Swanson said in interview with Millie Weaver of InfoWars:42โ€œAmerican Youth Indoctrinated Under Pretense of Environmental Education,โ€ YouTube video uploaded by user Millennial Millie on December 18, 2016. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

โ€œOur young people, kindergarteners, six-year olds, do not understand the value of freedom, what makes a society work or not work, why our government systems are so wonderful, they donโ€™t understand that, but they do understand fear. And the idea is to use fear of a dead planet, global catastrophe, to train them, literally train them, to conform to the idea of the environmental movement.โ€

September 18, 2013

Swanson spoke at a rally held by Americans for Prosperity, a sister organization to the Koch-founded FreedomWorks.43โ€œHolly Swanson talks about Agenda 21 & Common Core at AFP Rally,โ€ YouTube video uploaded by user 3:16 Country on September 18, 2013. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

At the event, she described the status of the Education for Sustainability (EfS) curriculum as โ€œa political movementโ€ and โ€œnot an educational movement.โ€

July 2002

At a “Dredge Earth First” rally in Oregon, Swanson said:44โ€œHolly Swanson author Set Up Sold Out 2002,โ€ YouTube video uploaded by user “minersminute” on December 18, 2011. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

โ€œIf we want to keep our freedom, weโ€™re going to have to be as dedicated to keeping it and getting our political leaders back on track as the Greens are to have greened our political leaders. And theyโ€™ve not only greened the judges, theyโ€™re greening the churches, theyโ€™re greening the Republican Party.โ€

Affiliations

Social Media

Swanson does not appear to be active on social media.

Publications

Other Resources

DeSmog’s databases include several profiles of figures or organizations named in this story:

Resources

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