Steve Milloy

Steven J. Milloy

Photo of Steve Milloy by Zach Roberts (c) 2017.

Credentials

Background

Steve Milloy joined the Heartland Institute’s board of directors in 2020.5โ€œSteven Milloy,โ€ The Heartland Institute. Archived September 21, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/yv2Sc He previously worked as director of external policy and strategy at Murray Energy Corp, which claims to be the largest privately-owned coal producer in the United States.6โ€œSteve Milloy,โ€ LinkedIn. Accessed December 4, 2018. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

Milloy held that position from October 2013 until May 2015 according to LinkedIn. Milloy is the publisher of the website JunkScience.com, a former columnist for Fox News,7Steve Milloy. โ€œPickens Hops Aboard the Public Health Bandwagon,โ€ Fox News, December 11, 2008. Archived February 1, 2011. co-creator and manager of the Free Enterprise Action Fund, a former adjunct scholar with the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the president of the business consulting firm Steven J. Milloy, Inc.8โ€œSteven J. Milloy,โ€ JunkScienceArchive.com. Archived September 22, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/EKYiN Milloy is also a senior policy fellow at the Energy & Environment Legal Institute.9โ€œFellows & Advisors,โ€ Energy and Environment Legal Institute. Archived September 22, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/XSMXY

On his website, Steve โ€œThe Junkmanโ€ Milloy proclaims himself a pioneer fighting against โ€œfaulty scientific data used to advance special, and often hidden, agendas.โ€10โ€œWhat is junk science?โ€œ JunkScience.com. Archived November 21, 2011. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/U2jqj

Milloy and Tobacco

Steve Milloy has been associated with the major American tobacco companies since at least 1997. In 1997, he took over as the executive director of The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition (TASSC), a front group set up by Philip Morris in 1993 and run by the public relations firm APCO & AssociatesThe main objective of TASSC was to question the science showing detrimental effects of cigarette smoke. The idea was for TASSC to create an extensive grassroots campaign where it would be promoted as a legitimate scientific source. 

The coalition created materials and reprinted news articles to distribute to TASSC audiences, found โ€œappropriate scientists/spokespeopleโ€ to participate in and promote the coalition’s message, and established a nationwide media tour defaming โ€œunsound scienceโ€ on radio and television and in newspapers. According to PRWatch.org, Philip Morris budgeted $880,000 for TASSC in 1994.11Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber. โ€œHow Big Tobacco Helped Create ‘the Junkman’โ€ (PDF)PR Watch, Third Quarter 2000, Volume 7, No. 3. Archived July 25, 2015.

When Steve Milloy took over as executive director of TASSC in March 1997, he cited TASSC-sponsored website Junkscience.com, of which he was also publisher, as a tool in promoting the coalition’s message. 12โ€œRe: Annual Report,โ€ The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition, January 7, 1998. Retrieved from Legacy Tobacco Documents Library, Bates #2065254885/4890.

Philip Morris quietly retired TASSC in 1998. However, according to Tim Lambert’s Deltoid blog and The New Republic, Steve Milloy was still under contract as a consultant with Philip Morris through 2005. In both 2000 and 2001 Milloy charged Philip Morris $92,500 in fees and expenses for his consulting work.13Tim Lambert. โ€œThe Big Shill,โ€ Deltoid, January 27, 2006. Archived February 12, 2010.

Syngenta Funding

In February 2012, the Center for Media and Democracy, analyzing documents uncovered as part of a lawsuit against chemical giant Syngenta, found that the company’s PR department had spent millions of dollars to advance messaging about its weed-killer โ€œatrazine.โ€  The documents revealed Milloy was promised at least one cheque for $25,000 by Syngenta in 2008.14Sara Jerving. โ€œSyngenta’s Paid Third Party Pundits Spin the ‘News’ on Atrazine,โ€ PR Watch, February 7, 2012. Archived February 8, 2020. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/wip/VXePL

The email thread shows a Syngenta representative offered to give Milloy talking points on atrazine. Milloy noted that, at the time, he was working through the National Center for Public Policy Research.15Sara Jerving. โ€œSyngenta’s Paid Third Party Pundits Spin the ‘News’ on Atrazine,โ€ PR Watch, February 7, 2012. Archived February 8, 2020. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/wip/VXePL

CMD reported in 2016 that preliminary risk assessments by the EPA had found that routine use of atrazine was likely harming animals and our ecosystems.16Lisa Graves. โ€œIs the EPA Being Pressured on Atrazine? New Findings of Environmental Concerns about Syngentaโ€™s Crop Chemical Removed from EPA Site,โ€ Exposed by CMD, May 11, 2016.

Syn Email Milloy Asking for Grants (Text)

Stance on Climate Change

In the 2006 article, โ€œThe Greenhouse Myth,โ€ Steve Milloy stated that the โ€œdoubling of atmospheric CO2 from pre-Industrial Revolution days might increase global temperature from between 0.5 degrees Centigrade to 1.5 degrees Centigrade โ€“ that is, not much.โ€ He went on to declare that anthropogenic climate change is not based on โ€œactual temperature measurements and greenhouse physics โ€“ rather it comes from manmade computer models relying on myriad assumptions and guesswork.โ€17Steven Milloy. โ€œThe Greenhouse Myth,โ€ Fox News, April 20, 2006. Archived November 6, 2011. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/zxRAD

Comments Surrounding 2021 Capitol Insurrection

As DeSmog previously reported, Milloy retweeted the following message on social media during the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021:

Milloy also posted this on Jan. 7, 2021:

BBC News has fact checked the โ€œGreat Resetโ€ conspiracy theory here, writing, โ€œthe suggestion that politicians planned the virus, or are using it to destroy capitalism is wholly without evidence. So too is the notion that the World Economic Forum has the authority to tell other countries what to do, or that it is coordinating a secret cabal of world leaders.โ€18Jack Goodman and Flora Carmichael. โ€œThe coronavirus pandemic ‘Great Reset’ theory and a false vaccine claim debunked,โ€ BBC News, November 22, 2020. Archived February 11, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/oVijc The conspiracy theory has also been accused of encouraging anti-semitic sentiments.19โ€œ‘The Great Reset’ Conspiracy Flourishes Amid Continued Pandemic,โ€ ADL, December 29, 2020. Archived January 31, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/groid

Milloy also spoke on an OANN show about the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, suggesting that police โ€œjust let this happen so that they could set President Trump up for this impeachment.โ€20โ€œThe FBI knew the Capitol was going to be beset by troublemakers before the events of January 6, but failed to take action to prevent it. โ€ฆโ€ Facebook post by Steve Milloy, January 13. Archived. mp4 on file at DeSmog.

Kara McKinney: [00:02:49] โ€œWhat do you think that the FBI should have done to help prevent some of this, the breaching that we saw at the Capitol? We know that there were some calls for increased law enforcement presence, but that was denied by D.C. officials. โ€ [00:03:01]

Steve Milloy: [00:03:06] โ€œYeah, well, I mean, somebody really dropped the ball here, and instead of rushing to impeach the President, they should be rushing to investigate why the FBI didn’t do anything. The FBI has hundreds of agents it could have deployed. The Capitol Policeโ€”they have thousands of people they could have deployed. There’s also the National Guard. I mean, why was none of this done? Where was D.C. police? It almost makes you wonder, like they just let this happen so that they could set President Trump up for this impeachment.โ€ [00:03:30]

[00:03:30] โ€œThis is awful. This is terrible. This is much worse than anything President Trump said at that rally, which, by the way, he said you know do everything peacefully.โ€ [00:03:42]

[00:05:20] โ€œYeah. You know, President Trump is really getting the bum’s rush here. You know, Democrats and weak kneed Republicans did this to Richard Nixon in 1974. They acted on this so-called smoking gun tape, which had nothing to do with Watergate, ironically. And President Trump is getting the same treatment here. And, you know, people laugh when you say Deep State. No, it’s real. There’s something going on here.โ€ [00:05:44]

[00:05:44]โ€œAnd they want to get you know, they want to get rid of President Trump so fast that no one has a chance to actually look into what happened.โ€ [00:05:50]

Key Quotes

January 9, 2023

Milloy posted on X, formerly Twitter, in response to a New York Times article on clean energy, suggesting “Wind power made the trans-Atlantic slave trade possible,” and “Modern ‘clean’ energy has been a disaster.”21NYTimes airhead @ezraklein[…],” Twitter.com. Post by user @JunkScience, January 9, 2023.

March 17,ย 2019

Responding to claims that a mother of one of the children suing the federal government for climate change inaction was herself an anti-pipeline protester, Milloy alleged that the parent was:

โ€œa case in point of an activist using her child as a human shield behind which she advances her intellectually and morally bankrupt political agenda. Their science and economics is so bad that they gotta use kids.โ€22Chris White. โ€œEco-Activistโ€™s Sordid Criminal History Sheds Light On Parentsโ€™ Role In Childrenโ€™s Climate Crusade,โ€ The Daily Caller, March 17, 2019. Archived March 19, 2019. Archive.is URL: http://archive.is/8PBDR

April 26, 2018

โ€œI do have a bias,โ€ Milloy told reporter Carolyn Kormann at The New Yorker. โ€œIโ€™m all for the coal industry, the fossil-fuel industry. Wealth is what makes people happy, not pristine air, which youโ€™ll never get.โ€23Carolyn Kormann. โ€œScott Pruittโ€™s Crusade Against โ€œSecret Scienceโ€ Could Be Disastrous for Public Health,โ€ The New Yorker, April 26, 2018. Archived July 2, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/s0wvM

April 24, 2018

Discussing Scott Pruitt‘s โ€œsecret scienceโ€ initiative that would severely limit the data the EPA uses,  Steve Milloy told E&E news that he also had a role to play:24โ€œPruitt to unveil ‘secret science’ effort today โ€” sources,โ€ E&E News, April 24, 2018. Archived April 24, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.li/6eQLq

โ€œI look at it as one of my proudest achievements. The reason this is anywhere is because of Steve Milloy,โ€ he said.

March 13, 2018

Milloy celebrated Trump’s appointment of Mike Pompeo as new Secretary of State on Twitter:25โ€œMike Pompeo is a climate skeptic. WINNING!โ€ Twitter post by user @JunkScience, March 13, 2018. Archived .png on file at DeSmog.

February 13, 2018

On Twitter, Milloy describes the termination of the EPA Climate Change Research Program under the new budget as โ€œWinningโ€:26โ€œWinningโ€ฆ @realDonaldTrump’s budget would terminate the EPA Climate Change Research Program,โ€ Twitter post by user @JunkScience, February 13, 2018. Archived .png on file at DeSmog.

December 29, 2017

In a statement to OneNewsNow, Milloy described efforts by U.S. Mayors to sign on to a climate pact to tackle climate change at a local level following President Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, as a wasted effort:27โ€œ’Meaningless symbolism’ cheaper at the local level,โ€ OneNewsNow, December 29, 2017. Archived January 4, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/9KGMo

โ€œYou could stop all greenhouse gas emissions from the United States today and keep them shut down until the year 2100 and it would hardly make any difference in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere,โ€ Milloy said in his statement to OneNewsNow.

โ€œSo it’s not going to have any effect on climate. I’m not quite sure what they’re trying to accomplish. I just assume this is more virtue signaling/resistance activity going on.โ€28โ€œ’Meaningless symbolism’ cheaper at the local level,โ€ OneNewsNow, December 29, 2017. Archived January 4, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/9KGMo

September 1, 2015 

โ€œVirtually every environmental policy I’ve seen since the early 1990s has been basically politics and not science.โ€29โ€œPower Hour: Steve Milloy on the Science and Policy of Emissions,โ€ Center for Industrial Progress, September 1, 2015.

June, 2015

โ€œI think it [the encyclical] is going to be a big mistake for him [Pope Francis]. I think he is going to come out with a document that is going to be ripped to shreds.โ€30Suzanne Goldenberg. โ€œRepublicans’ leading climate denier tells the pope to butt out of climate debate,โ€ The Guardian, June 11, 2015.

April 22, 2014

Speaking at The Heritage Foundation’s Happy Earth Day: Dispelling Environmental Myths and Celebrating Human Achievement event, Milloy, at 36:03 states:31โ€œHappy Earth Day: Dispelling Environmental Myths and Celebrating Human Achievement,โ€ YouTube video uploaded by user โ€œThe Heritage Foundation,โ€ April 22, 2014.

โ€œCoal is ground-zero in the environmental wars, and it is the most important battle that weโ€™re fighting today. The overarching eco-myth that I will debunk is the one about coal being a dirty form of energy that our country can do without. First, I am going to talk about the need for coal and then discuss the wanton and reckless smearing and elimination of it. The coal industry helps generate about 40% of the U.S.โ€™ electricity. Coal makes the lowest cost and most reliable electricity. The coal industry, directly or indirectly, employs about 800,000 people, generates 50 billion dollars in labor income, and contributes about 100 billion dollars to GDP. Yet, these impressive statistics donโ€™t somehow come close to doing justice to the benefits America, and the world, derive from the tremendous natural resource that is coal, of which we are blessed to have a several hundred-year supply.โ€32โ€œHappy Earth Day: Dispelling Environmental Myths and Celebrating Human Achievement,โ€ YouTube video uploaded by user โ€œThe Heritage Foundation,โ€ April 22, 2014.

At 39:52 Milloy goes on to say:

โ€œOf the many guises of the โ€œWar on Coal,โ€ global warming is perhaps the most used excuseโ€ฆ Simple math shows that the Obama war on coal, for purposes of climate control, is futile. Even if U.S.โ€™ CO2 emissions stopped today and were to be zero for the remainder of this century, atmospheric CO2 levels would only decrease by about 3%. There would be no measurable impact on global climate, at a cost of 25% of global GDP. We can debate the science of global warming to our heartโ€™s content, and we should, but the reality is worldwide hydrocarbon use is increasing. By itself, China is adding the equivalent of the entire U.S. coal fleet between now and 2020, India is adding 71 gigawatts of coal power between now and 2018โ€”almost as much as the Obama EPA has already shuttered. Obamaโ€™s unilateral actions are all based on โ€œjunk scienceโ€ that will accomplish nothing except hurt our standard of living, devastate coal communities, raise electricity prices for all, and cause power outages.โ€33โ€œHappy Earth Day: Dispelling Environmental Myths and Celebrating Human Achievement,โ€ YouTube video uploaded by user โ€œThe Heritage Foundation,โ€ April 22, 2014.

June 21, 2012

โ€œThere’s really only about 25 of us doing this. A core group of skeptics. It’s a ragtag bunch, very Continental Army. I’m happy to be a denier.โ€34โ€œThe Battle Over Climate Science,โ€ Pop Sci, June 21, 2012.

May 26, 2011

โ€œYes, what logic [โ€ฆ] brilliant. [โ€ฆ] I donโ€™t know anything โ€ฆ so rather than keeping my big fat mouth shut until I learn something, I’ll side with the likes of Al Gore, Osama bin Laden, Charles Manson, the Discovery Channel gunman, Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, Harry Reid, Henry Waxman, Bobby Rush and every other whacked out, intellectually and morally bankrupt believer in global warming.โ€35Steve Milloy. โ€œChris Christie: New Jersy’s Al Gore,โ€ JunkScience.com, May 26, 2011.

February 1, 2006

โ€œOur opposition to global warming alarmism is based on three points. First, we don’t believe the available scientific data indicate that human activity is measurably changing global climate – history shows that natural climate change can be far more significant than any slight change in climate that may have occurred over the last 200 years.

โ€œSecond, even if human activity is altering global climate to some extent, such climate change might actually be beneficial – historically, civilization has fared better in warmer climatic conditions as opposed to cooler climatic conditions.

โ€œThird, even if humans are undesirably affecting global climate, the best path forward may be adaptation to that climate change rather than harming the global economy through the expenditure of hundreds of billion dollars under the questionable rationale that greenhouse gas regulation can act as some sort of global thermostat.โ€36โ€œGE Loses Bid to Block Global Warming Shareholder Resolution; Mutual Fund Calls On GE to Stop Advocating Global Warming Regulation,โ€ PR Newswire, February 1, 2006. Archived August 13, 2014.

โ€œWhen the Clean Air Act was enacted in 1970, air pollution in the U.S. was more of an aesthetic than a public health problem. That is even more the case today. Few people realize this after 30 years of non-stop junk science-fueled alarmism from environmental activists.โ€37โ€œSeries 1: Q and A With Steve Milloy,โ€ The Cato Institute. Archived February 1, 2006. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/BzEFP

Key Deeds

February 9, 2022

Milloy wrote an article at The Washington Times criticizing Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s America COMPETES, Act, short for America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology and Economic Strength act as a “climate trap.” 38Steve Milloy. “America COMPETES Act: Nancy Pelosiโ€™s climate trap,” The Washington Times, February 9, 2022. Archived November 7, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/dIzFE

“COMPETES could essentially doom America to dependence on Communist China, our major geopolitical opponent, to satisfy the Paris Climate Accord obligations and the Green New Deal agenda,” Milloy claimed.39Steve Milloy. “America COMPETES Act: Nancy Pelosiโ€™s climate trap,” The Washington Times, February 9, 2022. Archived November 7, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/dIzFE

“Republicans should run away from COMPETES as fast and as far as possible. If they canโ€™t bring themselves do that, they should jettison any provisions or general approval of anything climate, especially the Paris Climate Accord,” he concluded.40Steve Milloy. “America COMPETES Act: Nancy Pelosiโ€™s climate trap,” The Washington Times, February 9, 2022. Archived November 7, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/dIzFE

November 29, 2020

Milloy wrote an article at the Wall Street Journal titled โ€œHow to Stop the Paris Climate Accord,โ€ where he warned that if Joe Biden were to bring back the US into the accord that โ€œitโ€™s possible it will take on the weight of law.โ€41Steve Milloy. โ€œHow to Stop the Paris Climate Accord,โ€ Wall Street Journal, November 29, 2020. Archived December 4, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/j1FKb

To prevent the accord โ€œfrom taking on such undue power,โ€ Milloy suggested, โ€œMr. Trump should submit it to the Senate, and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell should schedule a quick vote.โ€ He added, โ€œIt would certainly be rejectedโ€”ratification requires a two-thirds voteโ€”and it is unlikely any court could subsequently resurrect a legislatively tossed treaty.โ€42Steve Milloy. โ€œHow to Stop the Paris Climate Accord,โ€ Wall Street Journal, November 29, 2020. Archived December 4, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/j1FKb

October 22, 2018

Milloy joined forces with Heartland Institute Senior Fellow Fred Palmer to create an activist shareholder group called Burn More Coal, established for the purpose of preventing the closure of coal-fired power plants. BMCโ€™s motto includes the phrase, โ€œCoal is Life.โ€43Michael Bastasch. โ€œUtility Shareholders Fight To Keep Us Coal Fleet From Disappearing,โ€ The Daily Caller, November 13, 2018. Archived November 14, 2018. Archive.is URL: http://archive.is/dDzlq

The group filed a shareholder proposal with Duke Energy demanding an economic justification for the planned decommissioning of some of Duke’s coal plants:

โ€œWhat will be the actual benefit to anyone or anything of it? Global CO2 emissions are higher now than ever and increasing.โ€44Michael Bastasch. โ€œUtility Shareholders Fight To Keep Us Coal Fleet From Disappearing,โ€ The Daily Caller, November 13, 2018. Archived November 14, 2018. Archive.is URL: http://archive.is/dDzlq

The move came as Duke plans to retire 14 coal plants by 2020 to comply with federal and state environmental regulations and under pressure from low natural gas prices and increasing demand for renewable energy.45Michael Bastasch. โ€œUtility Shareholders Fight To Keep Us Coal Fleet From Disappearing,โ€ The Daily Caller, November 13, 2018. Archived November 14, 2018. Archive.is URL: http://archive.is/dDzlq

In an interview with The Daily Caller, Palmer said:

โ€œThere is a cabal in the utility industry that wants to decarbonize independent of federal policy. Itโ€™s as if Al Gore were running the utility industry.โ€46Michael Bastasch. โ€œUtility Shareholders Fight To Keep Us Coal Fleet From Disappearing,โ€ The Daily Caller, November 13, 2018. Archived November 14, 2018. Archive.is URL: http://archive.is/dDzlq

August 7, 2018

Milloy spoke at the Heartland Institute‘s โ€œAmerica First Energy Conferenceโ€ (AFEC 2018) in New Orleans, Louisiana.47โ€œSpeakers,โ€ America First Energy Conference 2018. Archived August 1, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/mwtga

โ€œThe purpose of this event is to promote and expand energy freedom in the United States, as outlined in President Donald Trumpโ€™s bold America First Energy Plan, a proposal first released during the 2016 presidential campaign. The presidentโ€™s plan marks a decisive change in direction from the Obama administrationโ€™s ‘war on fossil fuels’ and focus on the theory of catastrophic man-caused climate change,โ€ the conference description reads.48โ€œAbout,โ€ America First Energy Conference 2018. Archived July 23, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.fo/E4Gnt

Milloy moderated a session titled โ€œClimate Lawsuits Against Energy Companies and the Governmentโ€ and spoke on Panel 6, titled โ€œReforming the EPA: Lots of Progress, More to Do.โ€49โ€œSTEVE MILLOY, M.H.S., J.D.,โ€ America First Energy Conference 2018. Archived August 1, 2018. Archive URL: https://archive.fo/UY8tx

April 30, 2018

Milloy wrote an article at USA Today downplaying recent controversies affecting EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt:50Steve Milloy. โ€œScott Pruitt should stay at EPA,โ€ USA Today, April 30, 2018. Archived May 7, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.li/wCfdY

โ€œPresident Trump should ignore calls to fire Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt. As mountains are made of molehills and double standards are everywhere, regulatory reform accomplishments are vilified for partisan reasons,โ€ Milloy wrote.51Steve Milloy. โ€œScott Pruitt should stay at EPA,โ€ USA Today, April 30, 2018. Archived May 7, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.li/wCfdY

While Milloy conceded that Pruitt โ€œ made some avoidable but minor errors in judgment,โ€ he countered that it was pale in comparison to Obama era EPA‘s โ€œpartisan and junk science-fueled war against the coal industry.โ€ Milloy argued that โ€œWhat Pruitt is really ‘guilty’ of is effectively executing Trumpโ€™s campaign promises and executive orders to rein in the rogue EPA.โ€œ52Steve Milloy. โ€œScott Pruitt should stay at EPA,โ€ USA Today, April 30, 2018. Archived May 7, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.li/wCfdY

โ€œSo Scott Pruitt flew first class a few times and got a deal on a condo lease? Give me a break,โ€ he concluded.53Steve Milloy. โ€œScott Pruitt should stay at EPA,โ€ USA Today, April 30, 2018. Archived May 7, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.li/wCfdY

April 24, 2018

Speaking with E&E News, Milloy claimed that he had a key role to play in the โ€œsecret scienceโ€ initiative unveiled by Scott Pruitt that would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from using any studies that do not make the raw data public.  Milloy wouldn’t speak about the EPA event, however said:54โ€œPruitt to unveil ‘secret science’ effort today โ€” sources,โ€ E&E News, April 24, 2018. Archived April 24, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.li/6eQLq

โ€œIf I was going to be there, I would be very excited. I look at it as one of my proudest achievements. The reason this is anywhere is because of Steve Milloy,โ€ he said.55โ€œPruitt to unveil ‘secret science’ effort today โ€” sources,โ€ E&E News, April 24, 2018. Archived April 24, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.li/6eQLq

Pruitt introduced the initiative, which would still be subject to a 30-day comment period:56โ€œPruitt to unveil ‘secret science’ effort today โ€” sources,โ€ E&E News, April 24, 2018. Archived April 24, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.li/6eQLq

โ€œThe science that we use is going to be transparent, reproducible and able to be analyzed by those in the marketplace,โ€ Pruitt said. โ€œThis is the right approach. Today is a red letter today. It’s a banner day. It’s an agency taking responsibility for how we do our work and respect the process to make sure we can enhance confidence in our decision making.โ€

Milloy also posed for a photo with Marc Morano while he was at the EPA HQ:

March 5, 2018

Milloy posed for a photo with Chris Horner, Marc Morano, and Steve Goddard/Tony Heller at what appeared to be an event promoting Morano’s new book,The Politically Incorrect Guide to Climate Change, by Regnery Publishing. Horner had written the first version of the book in 2007.57โ€œHot Off The Press,โ€ The Deplorable Climate Science Blog, March 7, 2018. Archived March 10, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/rocSl

Heller described them as the โ€œThe Washington DC global warming scam demolition team.โ€ He also tweeted the image:58โ€œHot Off The Press,โ€ The Deplorable Climate Science Blog, March 7, 2018. Archived March 10, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/rocSl

February 4, 2018

In January 2018, more than 200 scientists endorsed an open letter calling on the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) to remove climate change denier Rebekah Mercer from its board and to โ€œend ties to anti-science propagandists and funders of climate science misinformation.โ€ The New York Times reported that those among the AMNH letter calling for Mercer to step down were Michael E. Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, and Katharine Hayhoe, director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University.59Robin Pogrebin and Somini Sengupta. โ€œA Science Denier at the Natural History Museum? Scientists Rebel,โ€ The New York Times, January 25, 2018. Archived February 13, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/tAIv4

Milloy was among a group of climate change deniers who responded with their own open letter, calling for the AMNH โ€œnot to cave in to this pressure.โ€ The letter was signed by numerous individuals with ties to groups funded by the Mercer Family Foundation such as Will Happer of the CO2 CoalitionRichard Lindzen, a fellow at the Cato InstituteCraig Idso, the chairman of the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change. There are a number of signatories affiliated with the Heartland Institute, which has received over $5.78 million from the Mercer Family Foundation since 2008.60Graham Readfearn. โ€œClimate Science Deniers Defend New Yorkโ€™s American Museum of Natural History From Calls to Drop Trustee Rebekah Mercer,โ€ DeSmog, February 6, 2018.

The letter reads:61mnh18-feb4-petitionletter (PDF – Untitled). Retrieved from Watts Up With That.

โ€œThe Earth has supported abundant life many times in the geological past when there were much higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It is quite likely that future generations will benefit from the enrichment of Earthโ€™s atmosphere with more carbon dioxide.

โ€œMake no mistake, the agitators are not defending science from quackery โ€” quite the contrary!โ€

February 3, 2018

As reported at ThinkProgress, Steve Milloy went to twitter to defend Joe McCarthy and Donald Trump. He first tweeted, โ€ ‘There is no greater Left-wing invented slur than โ€˜McCarthyism.’โ€ Milloy’s defense came after FBI director James Comey defended the FBI‘s pushback agains the Nunes memo.62Joe Romm. โ€œTrump EPA transition adviser defends โ€˜heroic Joe McCarthyโ€™,โ€ ThinkProgress, February 4, 2018. Archived February 8, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/lEfE2

Milloy’s tweets below:

November 9, 2017

Milloy was a speaker at the Heartland Institute’s  โ€œAmerica First Energy Conferenceโ€ at the Marriott Hotel in Houston, Texas. Milloy either spoke on or moderated four sessions:63โ€œSTEVE MILLOY,โ€ America First Energy Conference. Archived November 21, 2017. Archive.is URL: http://archive.is/2hsTU

The event description read as follows:64โ€œAbout,โ€ America First Energy. Archived October 11, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/8bTTJ

โ€œAt the America First Energy Conference, we plan to examineโ€”one year and one day after Trumpโ€™s shocking Election Day victoryโ€”the following:

โ€œWhere does Trumpโ€™s America First Energy Plan stand?

โ€œHow much progress has been made in implementing it, and what remains to be done?

โ€œWhat scientific and economic evidence is there that the plan is putting the nation on the right path for economic growth, environmental protection, or both?โ€65โ€œAbout,โ€ America First Energy. Archived October 11, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/8bTTJ

According to CNBC, Milloy laid out an eight-point plan to reform the EPA while at the conference, with his suggestions including requiring Congressional approval and judicial review on all major EPA regulations.66โ€œClimate skeptics and coal boosters gather to cheer Trump’s energy agenda โ€” and hold his feet to the fireโ€ CNBC, November 16, 2017. Archived November 18, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/w2Dwv

In a fundraising letter obtained by DeSmog, Fred Palmer had promoted the event as having the goal to โ€œreview the scientific and economic evidence that exposes the fraud inherent in the Obama-era regulation regimeโ€ while discussing โ€œthe overwhelming benefits of fossil fuels to us all.โ€67October 2017 Fundraising letter by Fred Palmer. On file at DeSmog.

Many of the other speakers have regularly spoken at the Heartland Institute’s past ICCCs. Notable speakers listed so far include Joe Bast, Fred PalmerRoger BezdekH. Sterling BurnettHal Doiron, Paul DriessenJohn Dale DunnMyron Ebell, Heartland’s new President Tim HuelskampCraig IdsoDavid LegatesJay LehrAnthony LupoRoss McKitrickSteve MilloyTodd MyersJohn Nothdurt, David Schnare, and numerous others.68โ€œSPEAKERS,โ€ America First Energy. Archived October 10, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/OJWeX

Scott Pruitt also addressed the conference in a recorded video, personally thanking Heartland for โ€œwhat you’re doing to advance energyโ€ and โ€œfor what you’re doing to advance natural resources.69โ€œScott Pruitt,โ€ America First Energy ConferenceArchived November 20, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/X4F6m

The Climate Investigations Center put up a parody of the America First Energy conference website, complete with profiles on the individual speakers and highlighting their corporate funding and ties to groups such as the Cooler Heads Coalition (CHC).70โ€œAmerica First Energy Conference Stacked with Climate Change Deniers,โ€ Climate Investigations Center, November 6, 2017. Archived November 20, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/mISrd

May 25, 2017

The Daily Signal reported that Steve Milloy opposed an investor-led proposal that would cause ExxonMobil to measure how GHG-reduction regulations would affect the company’s assets.71Chris White. โ€œMajor Exxon Investor Warns Shareholders Not to Give In to Global Warming Hysteria,โ€ The Daily Signal, May 25, 2017. Archived May 25, 2017. Archive.is URL:https://archive.is/cbSla

โ€œItโ€™s kind of ironic that you have a president who wants to roll back regulations against oil producers, yet companies like Exxon want more rules to be heaped on them,โ€ said Milloy.72Chris White. โ€œMajor Exxon Investor Warns Shareholders Not to Give In to Global Warming Hysteria,โ€ The Daily Signal, May 25, 2017. Archived May 25, 2017. Archive.is URL:https://archive.is/cbSla

The Signal noted that Milloy, an Exxon shareholder, would speak in opposition to the measure at Exxon’s upcoming meeting. In April, E&E News reported Milloy had submitted a resolution through the Free Enterprise Action Fund requesting that Exxon block stockholders from filing resolutions.73โ€œDear Mr. Goldberg:โ€ (PDF), United States SEC, March 13, 2017. Retrieved from Eenews.net.

March 23 – 24, 2017

Milloy spoke on two panels at the Heartland Institute‘s 12th International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC12).74โ€œSTEVEN J. MILLOY,โ€ Climateconference.heartland.org. Archived April 6, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/GRMpV

Panel 4A: Human Health Effects

Panel 6: Resetting Climate Policy

February 23, 2017

Steve Milloy was a speaker on a CPAC 2017 panel sponsored by the Energy and Environment Legal Institute (E&E Legal) titled โ€œFake Climate News Camouflaging an Anti-Capitalist Agenda โ€“ and What President Trump Plans To Do About It,โ€ according to the CPAC agenda (PDF).75โ€œCPAC-2017-Agenda-Finalโ€ (PDF) CPAC.conservative.org, March 8, 2017. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

E&E News reported that the panel included fellow climate change deniers Tony Heller (AKA Steven Goddard) and James Delingpole. According to E&E News, Milloy said that he hoped that the Trump administration would completely end scientific research at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).76Amanda Reilly. โ€œCLIMATE: Conservatives predict ‘real war’ with environmentalists,โ€ E&E News, February 23, 2017. Archived March 8, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/MOpl2

Video of the event was posted on the the Energy & Environment Legal Institute’s (E&E Legal) Facebook page:77โ€œJoin the Energy and Environmental Legal Institute live now!โ€ Energy & Environment Legal Institute, February 23, 2017 via Facebook. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

Milloy accused the EPA of doing โ€œthe science it wantsโ€ and said it โ€œcan’t be responsible for producing science and then regulatingโ€ based on that science. He added that being selected by Trump to the EPA transition team was โ€œa dream come true after fighting EPA for 25 years.โ€78Amanda Reilly. โ€œCLIMATE: Conservatives predict ‘real war’ with environmentalists,โ€ E&E News, February 23, 2017. Archived March 8, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/MOpl2

Under the Trump administration, Milloy said, global warming deniers would be able to participate in debates to kill key climate polices from the Obama administration including the endangerment finding;79Amanda Reilly. โ€œCLIMATE: Conservatives predict ‘real war’ with environmentalists,โ€ E&E News, February 23, 2017. Archived March 8, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/MOpl2

โ€œThe endangerment finding needs to be repealed,โ€ he said. โ€œIf it’s not, then President Trump is going to be forced to issue his own climate policy.โ€80Amanda Reilly. โ€œCLIMATE: Conservatives predict ‘real war’ with environmentalists,โ€ E&E News, February 23, 2017. Archived March 8, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/MOpl2

New Republic reported that Milloy also denied that air pollution was a problem. โ€œMy particular interest is air pollution,โ€ Milloy said. โ€œThese people validate and rubber-stamp the EPAโ€™s conclusion that air pollution kills people.โ€81Emily Atkin. โ€œAir Pollution Denial Is the New Climate Denial,โ€ New Republic, March 15, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/aQ7BX

December 12, 2016

Steve Milloy was an attendee at a private meeting also attended by Trump’s EPA Transition team lead Myron Ebell on Capitol Hill. E&E News reported that the event was not open to the public or to the press and Ebell refused to give any details. The event was hosted by the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) and held in the hearing room of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee. The EPW committee is chaired by Senator James Inhofe who, like Trump, has described human-caused climate change as a hoax.82George Cahlink. โ€œTrump EPA adviser Myron Ebell meets with Hill aides,โ€ E&E News, December 12, 2016.

DeSmog reported that the event featured the โ€œWho’s Who of Climate Science Deniers.โ€ Australian Senator Malcolm Roberts, who spoke at the event, also wrote that the meeting was a gathering of the Cooler Heads Coalition and listed some of the participants on Facebook:83Graham Readfearn. โ€œDonald Trumpโ€™s Aide at EPA Myron Ebell Meets with Whoโ€™s Who of Climate Science Deniers,โ€ DeSmog, December 13, 2016. 84โ€œYesterday I spoke at an event for the Competitive Enterprise Institute called Cooler Heads Coalition in Washington. [โ€ฆ]โ€ Facebook post by Malcolm Roberts – QLD Senate – One Nation, December 13 at 6:38 pm. Archived image on file at DeSmog.

Malcolm Roberts Facebook Post

Names mentioned above included:

DeSmog also noted that three of the attendeesโ€”Myron Ebell, Randy Randol, and Steve Milloyโ€”had all been part of the Global Climate Science Communications Team in the late 1990s, a group organized by the American Petroleum Institute. According to an early memo, the group said โ€œvictory will be achieved when [โ€ฆ] Average citizens ‘understand’ (recognize) uncertainties in climate science; recognition of uncertainties becomes part of the ‘conventional wisdom’.โ€85โ€œGlobal Climate Science Communications Plan (1998),โ€ SourceWatch.

May 18, 2016

Steve Milloy was a signatory to a full page color advertisement in The New York Times titled โ€œAbuse of Powerโ€ (PDF) sponsored by The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI).86โ€œCEI Runs โ€œAbuse of Powerโ€ Ad In New York Times,โ€ Competitive Enterprise Institute, May 18, 2016. Archived May 31, 2016. The ad serves as an open letter from 43 signatories including organizations and individuals in response to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Claude Walker, and the coalition of Attorneys General investigating groups denying man-made climate change.87โ€œAbuse of Power: All Americans have the right to support causes they believe inโ€ (PDF), Competitive Enterprise Institute. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

โ€œAttempts to intimidate CEI and our allies and silence our policy research are unconstitutional,โ€ said CEI president Kent Lassman. โ€œThe First Amendment protects us and everyone has a duty to respect it โ€“ even state attorneys general. CEI will continue to fight for all Americans to support the causes in which they believe.โ€88โ€œCEI Runs โ€œAbuse of Powerโ€ Ad In New York Times,โ€ Competitive Enterprise Institute, May 18, 2016. Archived May 31, 2016.

The Competitive Enterprise Institute received a subpoena from AG Walker on April 7, 2016. On April 20, CEI filed an objection to the subpoena calling it โ€œoffensive,โ€ โ€œun-American,โ€ and โ€œunlawful,โ€ and are contending that AG Walker is โ€œviolating CEIโ€™s First Amendment rights.โ€89โ€œCEI Runs โ€œAbuse of Powerโ€ Ad In New York Times,โ€ Competitive Enterprise Institute, May 18, 2016. Archived May 31, 2016.

The โ€œfreedom of speechโ€ argument was echoed by ExxonMobil’s legal team, as well as numerous other conservative groups including the Pacific Legal Foundation, and Heritage Foundation and the recently-formed Free Speech in Science Project, a group created by the same lawyers who defended the Competitive Enterprise Institute in the past.90Steve Horn. โ€œExxon’s Lawyer in Climate Science Probe Has History Helping Big Tobacco and NFL Defend Against Health Claims,โ€ DeSmog, May 10, 2016.

The CEI letter lists the following signatories:

September 1, 2015

Alex Epstein hosted Steve Milloy on the Center for Industrial Progress’s podcast titled โ€œPower Hourโ€ in an episode titled โ€œSteve Milloy on the Science and Policy of Emissions.โ€91โ€œPower Hour: Steve Milloy on the Science and Policy of Emissions,โ€ Center for Industrial Progress, September 1, 2015.

Milloy says that โ€œVirtually every environmental policy I’ve seen since the early 1990s has been basically politics and not science,โ€ and discusses his believe that the EPA‘s attempts to clean the air are unnecessary, especially with regards to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) produced largely by automobiles and coal-fired power plants.92โ€œPower Hour: Steve Milloy on the Science and Policy of Emissions,โ€ Center for Industrial Progress, September 1, 2015.

On the program (at 48:00) Milloy also admits that he โ€œwas in the coal industry.โ€ He goes on to claim that โ€œno air pollution in the world comes anywhere close to smoking a cigarette. Even in China, where you breathe the worst air all day, that’s equivalent to one or two cigarettes.โ€ He continues that โ€œwe know what the risks are from smoking.โ€ These statements are interesting given his long-standing support of the tobacco industry.93โ€œPower Hour: Steve Milloy on the Science and Policy of Emissions,โ€ Center for Industrial Progress, September 1, 2015.

March 2015

Steve Milloy is one of several climate change skeptics cc’d on an email from S. Fred Singer in hopes of countering the documentary film โ€œMerchants of Doubt,โ€ which exposes the network of climate change skeptics and deniers trying to delay legislative action on climate change.

The October, 2014 email was leaked to journalists before the documentary was released. โ€œCan I sue for damages?โ€ Singer asked in the email. โ€œCan we get an injunction against the documentary?โ€

InsideClimate News reports in their article โ€œLeaked Email Reveals Who’s Who List of Climate Denialists,โ€ how โ€œMany of those copied on the email thread, such as Singer and communications specialist Steven Milloy, have financial ties to the tobacco, chemical, and oil and gas industries and have worked to defend them since the 1990s.โ€94Katherine Bagley. โ€œLeaked Email Reveals Who’s Who List of Climate Denialists,โ€ InsideClimate News. March 12, 2015.

InsideClimate News also documented all those who were cc’d on the email, including the following skeptics and groups:

DeSmogBlog covered the emails here: โ€œMerchants of Doubt Film Debuts, Textbook Denial Attack Campaign Led By Fred Singer Ensuesโ€95Kevin Grandia, โ€œMerchants of Doubt Film Debuts, Textbook Denial Attack Campaign Led By Fred Singer Ensues,โ€ DeSmog, March 10, 2015. and DeSmog also archived a full copy of the Singer email thread (PDF).96โ€œFred Singer emails re Merchants of Doubtโ€ (PDF), October 2014. On file at DeSmog.

April 22, 2014

Milloy was a speaker at The Heritage Foundation’s โ€œHappy Earth Day: Dispelling Environmental Myths and Celebrating Human Achievementโ€ event.97โ€œHappy Earth Day: Dispelling Environmental Myths and Celebrating Human Achievement,โ€ YouTube video uploaded by user โ€œThe Heritage Foundation,โ€ April 22, 2014.

See the video footage here:

March 6, 2014

At the 2014 Conservative Political Action Conference, Milloy was a speaker on a panel alongside other mainstays of the climate denial movement, including the Heartland Instituteโ€™s Joe Bast, CFACTโ€™s Marc Morano, CEIโ€™s Marlo Lewis and Frontiers of Freedom president George Landrith. Milloy’s affiliation is listed as Murray Energy.98Brendan DeMelle. โ€œClimate Denier Steve Milloy Now Director at Coal Giant Murray Energy, On CPAC Global Warming Panel Today,โ€ DeSmog, March 6, 2014.

October 31, 2013

Milloy attended a White House meeting at the Federal Department of Labor on behalf of Murray Energy Corp alongside other coal industry personnel and lobbyists to discuss proposed rule changes by the Mine Safety and Health Administration aimed at reducing miners’ exposure to coal dust.

The meeting was to discuss proposed changes to MSHA rules to lower acceptable levels of respirable dust in mines to reduce the risk of workers contracting potentially fatal Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis – also known as black lung disease – and other diseases.

In a follow-up letter, Murray Energy Corporation Corporate Safety Director Pat Brady claimed the proposals, which also included the use of continuous personal dust monitors, were unworkable and would put jobs and coal production in โ€œsubstantial jeopardy.โ€99โ€œRe: Summary of Murray Energy Corporation’s Objections to MSHA’s Proposed Rules on โ€œLowering Miners’ Exposure to Respirable Coal Mine Dust, Including Continuous Personal Dust Monitors, โ€ Murray Energy Corporation, November 19, 2013. Documents via Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the White House.

October 15, 2013

Milloy joined Murray Energy Corp, the largest privately-owned coal producer in the United States, as director of external policy and strategy. As of at least March 2014, the position went undeclared on Milloy’s biography on his JunkScience.com website.100โ€œSteve Milloy,โ€ LinkedIn. Accessed December 4, 2018. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. 101โ€œAbout the Founder and Editor Emeritus, Steve Milloy,โ€ JunkScience.com. Archived March 21, 2014. Archive URL: https://archive.is/IIUv2

December 2012

Milloy joined the American Tradition Institute (now renamed the Energy and Environment Legal Institute) as a senior policy fellow. The ATI and E&E Legal has launched a series of Freedom of Information requests to obtain records and emails from climate scientists and environmental regulators.102โ€œFellows & Advisors,โ€ Energy and Environment Legal Institute. Archived September 22, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/XSMXY 103โ€œPrevious FOIAs,โ€ E&E Legal. Archived September 22, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/yRY4I

January 27, 2012

Milloy will appear in the movie An Inconsistent Truth, hosted by radio talk show host Phil Valentine and directed by Shayne Edwards. The movie suggests that โ€œeverything you’ve been told about global warming is a lie,โ€ and appears focused on discrediting Al Gore.

Skeptics who appear in the film include John Christy, James Inhofe, Fred Singer, and Roy Spencer.104Steve Milloy. โ€œMust-see Cinema: An Inconsistent Truth,โ€ JunkScience.com, January 12, 2012. Archived September 22, 2020.

September 2009

Milloy was criticized for his โ€œCarbon Criminalโ€ campaign that had displayed members of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership who had campaigned for cap and trade in congress on โ€œWanted’ posters.105โ€œWANTED: ‘CARBON CRIMINALSUSCAP CEOs Who Betray America by Lobbying for Cap-and-Tradeโ€ (Media Release), JunkScience.com. September 15, 2009.

March 2008

Milloy was a speaker at the Heartland Institute‘s 2008 International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC1.)106โ€œFirst International Conference on Climate Change, Programโ€ (PDF)Heartland Institute. Archived January 16, 2018.

His speech, titled โ€œHow to Stop Climate Change Legislation in the U.S.โ€ can be viewed below.

November 8, 2007

DemandDebate.com conducted a โ€œsurvey of IPCC Climate Expertsโ€ (PDF). According to the website, โ€œThe survey results indicate that when asked routine questions about the climatic role of manmade CO2, the IPCC scientists surveyed responded for the most part with the Pavlovian manmade-CO2-is-bad view seemingly demanded of them by the IPCC. But when you ask questions that are off the usual script, the supposed consensus seems to readily fall apart.โ€107โ€œSurvey of IPCC Climate Expertsโ€ (PDF), DemandDebate.com, November 8, 2007.

Scholars & Rogues investigated the survey and found that the presentation of the survey data was included โ€œobvious bias,โ€ and gave readers the โ€œcorrectโ€ interpretation of the data, which suggested that the survey may not have been as even and balanced as claimed. They also looked at individual questions presented in the survey, and found that some were โ€œspecifically designed to produce results that can be spun by DemandDebate.com and Mr. Milloy for they own political ends.โ€108Brian Angliss. โ€œWe Berate, You Deride โ€“ DemandDebate.comโ€™s survey on the scientific consensus surrounding global heating,โ€ Scholars & Rogues, November 26, 2007.

October 2007

Milloy’s project DemandDebate.com produces a video juxtaposing scenes from the Al Gore film โ€œAn Inconvenient Truthโ€ with interviews with climate science sceptics, mostly taken from the film โ€œThe Global Warming Swindle.โ€

In a press release promoting the video, Milloy’s โ€œexpertsโ€ say โ€œthere is no evidence carbon dioxide drives global temperature change.โ€109โ€œAl Gore ‘Debates’ Global Warming for the First Time in YouTube Video; ‘We Debate, You Decide’ environmental education video series launched by DemandDebate.com,โ€ PR Newswire, October 4, 2007. Archived August 13, 2014.

The website project, which appeared to have only been active for a year or so with very little content, claimed its mission was โ€œeducating and empowering students and parents to eliminate bias in environmental education.โ€110โ€œAl Gore ‘Debates’ Global Warming for the First Time in YouTube Video; ‘We Debate, You Decide’ environmental education video series launched by DemandDebate.com,โ€ PR Newswire, October 4, 2007. Archived August 13, 2014.

The DemandDebate website also sold t-shirts with the slogan โ€œI’m more worried about the intellectual climateโ€ and offered resource kits to parents and teachers, which appeared to consist of copies of documentary โ€œThe Great Global Warming Swindleโ€, a film about the โ€œdark side of environmentalismโ€ and a book called โ€œThe Sky’s Not Falling: Why It’s OK To Chill about Global Warmingโ€ written by Holly Fretwell.111โ€œAl Gore ‘Debates’ Global Warming for the First Time in YouTube Video; ‘We Debate, You Decide’ environmental education video series launched by DemandDebate.com,โ€ PR Newswire, October 4, 2007. Archived August 13, 2014.

July 7, 2007

Milloy engineered what he called the โ€œ’Live Earth’ Invasionโ€ and โ€œair raidโ€ where he sponsored a group of college students to attend the Live Earth concert and distribute DemandDebate.com’s message.112โ€œAbout Steve Milloy,โ€ JunkScience.com. Archived January 20, 2012. Archive URL: https://archive.is/uj0D0

This consisted of distributing DebandDebate.com beach balls, and sending an airplane with the banner โ€œDon’t Believe Al Gore. DemandDebate.comโ€ that flew over the event just as Al Gore walked on stage. See their video here.113โ€œCRASH’D: Al Gore’s Live Earth,โ€ YouTube video, uploaded by user โ€œbureaucrashโ€ on July 13, 2007.

February 2006

On behalf of the Free Enterprise Action Fund, Milloy drafted the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission the first climate skeptic shareholder resolution over the challenge of the General Electric Co.

The Free Enterprise Action Fund had called on GE to stop advocating global warming regulation:

โ€œ’We’re not sure GE‘s management performed the necessary due diligence before embracing the global warming hypothesis,’ said Milloy. ‘We asked management for its global warming assessment but management never responded to  our request. We hope shareholders will take advantage of our resolution and send GE CEO Jeff Immelt the message that company policy on global warming must  be supported by factual analysis, not executive bias.’โ€114โ€œGE Loses Bid to Block Global Warming Shareholder Resolution; Mutual Fund Calls On GE to Stop Advocating Global Warming Regulation,โ€ PR Newswire, February 1, 2006. Archived August 11, 2014. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/Wt4h2

The resolution didnโ€™t pass at the shareholder meeting, but had enough votes for GE to include it on the ballot for the following year. Milloy also defended the global warming resolution in 2007115โ€œGE Loses Bid to Block Global Warming Shareholder Proposal; Free Enterprise Action Fund (Ticker: FEAOX) Calls On GE to Justify Lobbying for Global Warming Regulation,โ€ Free Enterprise Action Fund, February 12, 2007. Archived September 21, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/UOkR5 and 2008.116โ€œSEC denies General Electric bid to block global warming shareholder proposal; Amid economic downturn, GE should justify lobbying for economy-harming climate legislation, says Free Enterprise Action Fund (Ticker: FEAOX),โ€ Free Enterprise Action Fund, January 24, 2008. Archived September 21, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/vUWo4

October 1999

Milloy bought up the web domain http://www.cop5.org in advance of a United Nations climate meeting in Bonn, also known as COP5, and redirects the address to his JunkScience.com website.

April 1998

Representatives from the American Petroleum Institute, Chevron, Exxon Corporation and The Southern Company join with a number of conservative think tank operatives to form the Global Climate Science Communications Team. Steve Milloy is a member of the team, representing The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition.

In documents unearthed by Greenpeace, the GCSCT group devises a communications plan, estimated to cost at least $2 million, which aimed to make climate change a โ€œnon-issueโ€ by reaching out to media and the public.

The 1998 API memo noted the โ€œcurrent realityโ€ the industry faced:

Unless ‘climate change’ becomes a non-issue, meaning that the Kyoto proposal is defeated and there are no further initiatives to thwart the threat of climate change, there may be no moment when we can declare victory for our efforts.

February 16, 1996

Milloy registered JunkScience.com. According to PR Watch, Milloy then began calling himself โ€œthe Junkman,โ€ and โ€œhe offered daily attacks on environmentalists, public health and food safety regulators, anti-nuclear and animal rights activists, and a wide range of other targets that he accused of using unsound science to advance various political agendas.โ€117Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber. โ€œHow Big Tobacco Helped Create ‘the Junkman’โ€ (PDF)PR Watch, Third Quarter 2000, Volume 7, No. 3. Archived July 25, 2015.

The JunkScience.com describes โ€œJunk Scienceโ€ as โ€œfaulty scientific data and analysis used to advance special interests and hidden agendas.โ€ The website features a prominent picture of Michael Mann with the header โ€œHide the Declineโ€ and โ€œMann-Made Global Warming.โ€118โ€œWhat is junk science?โ€œ JunkScience.com. Archived November 21, 2011. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/U2jqj

Affiliations

Social Media

Publications

Milloy has published three of his five books through the Cato Institute:

  • Junk Science Judo: Self-defense Against Health Scares and Scams, Cato Institute, 2001.
  • Silencing Science, Cato Institute, 1999, (with Michael Gough).
  • Science Without Sense: The Risky Business of Public Health Research, Cato Institute, 1996

His other books are titled Green Hell: How Environmentalists Plan to Control Your Life and What You Can Do to Stop Them (Regnery Publishing, 2009) and Science-Based Risk Assessment: A Piece of the Superfund Puzzle which was published by the National Environmental Policy Institute in 1995.

Milloy has not published any articles in peer-reviewed journals.

Other Resources

Resources

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