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'This is What People Power Looks Like' — A Fracking Campaigner's Account of the Preston New Road Climate Rally


It’s nearly 11 o’clock and people are arriving in droves at Maple Farm. Cars are lining up patiently and...


 Paul Driessen



Paul Driessen is a Senior Policy Advisor for the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) and maintains associations with a range of organizations devoted to the denial of man-made climate change including the Heartland Institute, the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise (CDFE), the Atlas Economic Research Foundation (now Atlas Network), and others. He is a founding member of Climate Exit (Clexit), a group that contends that “the world must abandon this suicidal Global Warming crusade.” [1], [2]

Driessen is known for his first book, Eco-Imperialism: Green Power Black Death, where he discusses what he considers negative aspects of the environmental movement. He has been a prolific author in a variety of news sources, promoting the use of fossil fuels and downplaying the risks of climate change. [3]

According to his biographical note at Eco-Imperialism.com, he “abandoned their cause when he recognized that the environmental movement had become intolerant in its views, inflexible in its demands, unwilling to recognize our tremendous strides in protecting the environment, and insensitive to the needs of billions of people who lack the food, electricity, safe water, healthcare and other basic necessities that we take for granted.” [4]

Driessen previously worked with the United States Senate, Department of the Interior and an energy trade association. [4]



“No Real-World evidence supports a 'dangerous manmade climate change' thesis. In fact, a moderately warmer planet with more atmospheric carbon dioxide would hugely benefit crop, forest and other plant growth, wildlife and humans – with no or minimal climate effect. A colder planet with less CO2 would punish them. And a chillier CO2-deprived planet with less reliable, less affordable energy (from massive wind, solar and biofuel projects) would threaten habitats, species, nutrition and the poorest among us.” [5]


“Climate has always changed. It is far better to have energy, technology, modern housing and wealth to adapt to, survive, recover from and even thrive amid inevitable warming, cooling and weather events, than to forego these abilities (on the absurd assumption that humans can control climate and weather) – and be forced to confront nature’s onslaughts the way previous generations had to.” [44]


“As to climate change, numerous studies demonstrate that there is no credible evidence that manmade carbon dioxide is causing dangerous global warming. Moreover, rising CO2 emissions from China, India and other rapidly developing nations vastly exceed any imaginable US reductions.” [6]

June, 2009

“[Christopher] Monckton would have focused on the science. But it is morality that truly requires serious debate. Climate Armageddon claims are being used to justify malignant policies that have no rational basis.

“Global average temperatures peaked in 1998 and since have cooled slightly, despite steadily rising CO2 levels. Except in its Western Peninsula, Antarctica is gaining ice, and Antarctic sea ice reached an all-time high in 2007. Arctic ice is seasonably normal, and in 2008 the Northern Hemisphere was covered by more snow than ever before recorded.” [7]



“[M]illions of Americans appear perfectly willing to sacrifice their livelihoods, living standards, liberties and country on the altar of manmade climate Armageddon. Are they insane? Are they on drugs?” [8]

“Fracking-induced earth tremors are akin to vibrations from a dump truck on your street. No groundwater contamination has ever been traced to hydraulic fracturing. Methane in tap water results from water wells improperly drilled through gas-prone rock formations and was an issue long before fracking. Air emissions are below what we find in residential neighborhoods during non-rush hours.” [9]


“EPA’s war on coal has already cost thousands of jobs in mines, power plants and dependent businesses. Low oil prices amid a tepid, over-regulated, climate-fixated, crony-corporatist American, European and international economy have already killed thousands of US oil patch jobs. [10]


“Climate Hustle is the perfect antidote to the destructive, demoralizing climate alarmism that dominates political decisions and obsesses the Obama White House and EPA. You owe it to yourself to see it.” [11]


“No presidency has ever come close to the Obama Administration in employing the rule to advance its ideologies and agendas. No industry has been so favored as renewable energy over the past seven years. No sector has been so thoroughly vilified and subjugated as fossil fuels during that period.” [12]

May 17, 2015

“A couple degrees warmer would be good for humanity and planet, especially with more plant-fertilizing carbon dioxide in the air. […] But a couple degrees colder would bring serious adverse consequences for habitats, wildlife, agriculture and humanity.” [13]

February 9, 2015

“Not using fossil fuels is tantamount to not using energy. It is economic suicide and eco-manslaughter.” [14]

August 15, 2013

“What a difference that extra 120 ppm has made for plants, and for animals and humans that depend on them. The more carbon dioxide there is in the atmosphere, the more it is absorbed by plants of every description –- and the faster and better they grow, even under adverse conditions like limited water, extremely hot air temperatures, or infestations of insects, weeds and other pests. As trees, grasses, algae and crops grow more rapidly and become healthier and more robust, animals and humans enjoy better nutrition on a planet that is greener and greener.” [15]

January, 2009

“Imposing excessive new regulations, or closing coal-fired power plants, would produce few health or environmental benefits. But it would exact huge costs on society – and bring factories, offices and economies to a screeching halt in states that are 80-98% dependent on coal: Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.” [16]

February, 2004

“The day the world runs out of oil is much farther in the future than green activists care to admit. That is clear from data compiled by Dr. Robert Bradley, Jr. at the Institute for Energy Research…” [17]

“Had today’s technophobic zealots [environmental activists] been in charge in previous centuries, we would have to roll human progress back to the Middle Ages – and beyond, since even fire, the wheel and organic farming pose
risks, and none would have passed the “absolute safety” test the zealots demand. Putting them in charge now would mean an end to progress, and perpetual deprivation for inhabitants of developing nations.” [17]


March 28, 2018

Paul Driessen and Ron Arnold co-published the second edition of their book, Cracking Big Green: To Save the World from the Save-The-Earth Money Machine. [65]

The book bills itself as “A stunning expose of Big Green - the modern environmental movement and its hidden financial masters.” [65]

The first version of their book, bearing the same title, was published in 2014 by the pro-fossil-fuel, climate change denial organization CFACT. [66]


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 “end ties to anti-science propagandists and funders of climate science misinformation.” 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. [62]

Driessen was among a group of climate change deniers who responded with their own open letter, calling for the AMNH “not to cave in to this pressure.” The letter was signed by numerous individuals with ties to groups funded by the Mercer Family Foundation such as Will Happer of the CO2 Coalition; Richard Lindzen, a fellow at the Cato Institute; and Craig 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. [63]

The letter reads: [64]

“The 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 Earth’s atmosphere with more carbon dioxide.

“Make no mistake, the agitators are not defending science from quackery — quite the contrary!”

November 9, 2017

Driessen spoke on two panels at the Heartland Institute's “America First Energy Conference” at the Marriott Hotel in Houston, Texas: [55]

PANEL 1B: ENERGY AND PROSPERITY | Presentation – “Fossil Fuels Are the True Foundation of Sustainability, Prosperity… and Morality”

PANEL 3B: PEACE DIVIDEND: BENEFITS OF ENDING THE WAR ON FOSSIL FUELS | Presentation –“Benefits Derived from Ending the War on Fossil Fuels”

The event description read as follows: [52]

“At the America First Energy Conference, we plan to examine—one year and one day after Trump’s shocking Election Day victory—the following:

“Where does Trump’s America First Energy Plan stand?

“How much progress has been made in implementing it, and what remains to be done?

“What scientific and economic evidence is there that the plan is putting the nation on the right path for economic growth, environmental protection, or both?” [52]

In a fundraising letter obtained by DeSmog, Fred Palmer had promoted the event as having the goal to “review the scientific and economic evidence that exposes the fraud inherent in the Obama-era regulation regime” while discussing “the overwhelming benefits of fossil fuels to us all.” [53]

Many of the other speakers have regularly spoken at the Heartland Institute's past ICCCs. Notable speakers include Joe Bast, Fred Palmer, Roger Bezdek, H. Sterling Burnett, Hal Doiron, Paul Driessen, John Dale Dunn, Myron Ebell, Heartland's new President Tim Huelskamp, Craig Idso, David Legates, Jay Lehr, Anthony Lupo, Ross McKitrick, Steve Milloy, Todd Myers, John Nothdurt, David Schnare, and numerous others. [54]

As reported at the Houston Chronicle, speakers notably included two Trump Administration officials: Richard W. Westerdale II of the State Department and Vincent DeVito of the Department of Interior. David Bernhardt, deputy secretary of the Interior Department, was also formerly listed as a Heartland conference speaker, but apparently withdrew. [56]

Scott Pruitt also addressed the conference in a recorded video, personally thanking Heartland for “what you're doing to advance energy” and “for what you're doing to advance natural resources. [57]

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). [58]

September 13, 2017

Driessen wrote an article at the Heartland Institute blog, claiming that Hurricane Harvey was not made worse or caused by man-made climate change. [49]

Among those Driessen quotes for support are Roger Pielke, Jr. who he describes as a “weather historian” (Pilke's background is in political science, public policy, and mathematics), Roy Spencer of the Cornwall Alliance, and skeptical meteorologists Joe Bastardi and John Coleman. [49], [51]

Driessen's blog piece is in stark contrast to the views of climatologists including Michael E Mann, who said that climate change has indeed increased the severity of hurricanes like Harvey due to factors like sea level rise attributable to climate change and increased ocean temperatures. [50]


Paul Driessen is listed as a contributor to Climate Change: The Facts 2017, a book released by the Institute for Public Affairs (IPA) and edited by Jennifer Marohasy. While investigating the authors, DeSmog noted that one of the IPA's listed “leading experts” involved in the book is New Zealand’s Ken Ring, who in addition to being a described “long range weather forecaster” has written “two, possibly three, books about cats” including Pawmistry: How to Read Your Cat’s Paws in 1998. [46]

According to the book description: [47]

“Climate Change: The Facts 2017 brings together contributions on the latest climate science from some of the world’s leading experts in the field including John Abbot, Sallie Baliunas, Paul Driessen, Tony Heller, Craig Idso, Clive James, Pat Michaels, Jo Nova, Ian Plimer, Tom Quirk, Peter Ridd, Ken Ring, Nicola Scafetta, Willie Soon, Roy Spencer, and Anthony Watts.

There are also essays by Matt Ridley, and Bjørn Lomborg on the economics of climate change, and by Simon Breheny on how the freedom to discuss climate change science is under threat.”

Prior versions of the book featured contributions from a range of prominent climate change deniers, and describes mainstream climate change research as “pseudo-science.” [48]

March 24, 2017

Paul Driessen was a speaker at the Heartland Institute's 12th International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC12). He spoke on the panel on “Sustainability.” [45]

October 15, 2016

Driessen wrote an article at Townhall titled “Stormy Climate Deception” where he claims there is “No Real-World evidence supports a 'dangerous manmade climate change' thesis.” According to Driessen, “a moderately warmer planet with more atmospheric carbon dioxide would hugely benefit crop, forest and other plant growth, wildlife and humans – with no or minimal climate effect.” [18]

As evidence, he links to a book that he co-authored with climate change denier Roy Spencer titled “Miracle Molecule: Carbon Dioxide GAs of Life.” Spencer works as an advisor to the Cornwall Alliance, an evangelical climate change denial group that claims environmentalism is “one of the greatest threats to society and the church today.” [19], [20]


Paul Driessen is listed as a “Founding Member” of group named Climate Exit (Clexit) led by climate change denier Christopher Monckton. According to Clexit's founding statement (PDF), “The world must abandon this suicidal Global Warming crusade. Man does not and cannot control the climate.” [21], [2]

Desmog reports on how the group grew in the wake of the UK's decision to leave the EU. A key member of Clexit's “60 well-informed science, business and economic leaders” is Hugh Morgan, a former board member of the Reserve Bank of Australia and former CEO of Western Mining Corporation with close ties to Australia's Liberal party. [22], [23]


“If the Paris climate accord is ratified, or enforced locally by compliant governments, it will strangle the leading economies of the world with pointless carbon taxes and costly climate and energy policies, all with no sound basis in evidence or science […]” [2]

July 23, 2016

Paul Driessen writes in Townhall that the upcoming climate conference in Marrakech, Morocco will be “a lot of hot air, just like its predecessors.” [44]

Driessen says  “The true purposes [of the conferences] are to pressure industrialized nations to end most fossil fuel use by 2050; intentionally replace free enterprise capitalism with a 'more equitable' system; 'more fairly' redistribute the world’s wealth and natural resources; and ensure that poor countries develop 'sustainably' and not 'too much' – all under the direction and control of UN agencies and environmentalist pressure groups.” [44]

“Africans are not endangered by manmade climate change […] Pacific islanders likewise face no greater perils from seas rising,” Driessen writes. Instead, he says they are threatened by “the same corrupt leaders who line their own pockets with climate and foreign aid cash, while doing nothing for their people and nothing to modernize their countries.” [44]

According to Driessen, pursuing emissions reductions in developing countries is “callous, immoral, eco-imperialistic and genocidal […] unconscionable crimes against humanity on the poorest among us. They must no longer be tolerated.” [44]

May 18, 2016

Paul Driessen was a signatory to a full page color advertisement in The New York Times titled “Abuse of Power” (PDF) sponsored by The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI). 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. [24], [25]

“Attempts to intimidate CEI and our allies and silence our policy research are unconstitutional,” said CEI president Kent Lassman. “The First Amendment protects us and everyone has a duty to respect it – even state attorneys general.  CEI will continue to fight for all Americans to support the causes in which they believe.” [24]

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 “offensive,” “un-American,” and “unlawful,” and are contending that AG Walker is “violating CEI’s First Amendment rights.”  [24]

The “freedom of speech” 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. [26]

The CEI letter lists the following signatories:


Paul Driessen was a speaker on Panel 5: “Climate Program Impacts,” at the Heartland Institute’s Tenth International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC10) in Washington, D.C., with Cornelis van Kooten and Wolfgang Müller. [27]

View Paul Driessen’s Panel 5 presentation at the Heartland Institute’s ICCC10, below: [28]


Paul Driessen wrote an article in The Washington Times titled “A new Little Ice Age?” suggesting that global cooling would be damaging for man-kind, while global warming would be beneficial. Notably, he cites the research of Habibullo Abdussamatov to back up these claims. Abdussamatov is the same scientist who claimed that current warm temperatures on Mars proved that the sun - and not human activity - is behind the global warming trend on Earth, a theory debunked on realclimate.org. [29], [13]


Paul Driessen is a signatory to an open letter to Pope Francis on climate change. The letter invites the Pope to reconsider his views on climate change before his upcoming encyclical letter on the environment, which is widely expected to call for measures to prevent climate change in the interests of the world’s poor. [30]

The open letter was coordinated and signed by Calvin Beisner of the Cornwall Alliance. According to the letter, “Good climate policy must recognize human exceptionalism, the God-given call for human persons to 'have dominion' in the natural world (Genesis 1:28), and the need to protect the poor from harm, including actions that hinder their ascent out of poverty.”  [30]

Judith Curry comments on her blog Climate Etc. that “Arguably the most effective ‘pushback’ comes from Cal Beisner of the Cornwall Alliance, who coordinated An Open Letter to Pope Francis on Climate Change.” [31]


Paul Driessen is one of several climate change skeptics cc'd on an email from S. Fred Singer in hopes of countering the documentary film “Merchants of Doubt,” which exposes the network of climate change skeptics and deniers trying to delay legislative action on climate change.  [32]

The October, 2014 email was leaked to journalists before the documentary was released. “Can I sue for damages?” Singer asked in the email. “Can we get an injunction against the documentary?” [32]

InsideClimate News reports in their article “Leaked Email Reveals Who's Who List of Climate Denialists,” how “Many 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.”[32]

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

DeSmogBlog covered the emails here: “Merchants of Doubt Film Debuts, Textbook Denial Attack Campaign Led By Fred Singer Ensues” and DeSmogBlog also archived a full copy of the Singer email thread (PDF).


Paul Driessen was a speaker at the Heartland Institute’s Ninth International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC9) in Las Vegas, Nevada. [33]

DeSmogBlog has done in-depth research on the other speakers and sponsors from Heartland's ICCC9. [33]


Paul Driessen was a speaker at the Heartland Institute's 7th International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC7). DeSmogBlog researched the co-sponsors behind Heartland's ICCC7 and found that they had collectively received over $67 million from ExxonMobil, the Koch Brothers and the conservative Scaife family foundations. [34]


Paul Driessen spoke at the Heartland Institute's first International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC1). [35]

Driessen's speech was on “A Human Rights Travesty: Perpetuating Poverty, Disease, and Death to Prevent Speculative Climate Change Chaos.” See video footage below. [36]


Paul Driessen was interviewed in “The Great Global Warming Swindle,” a documentary film that advocated the views of global warming skeptics. It first aired on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. [37]

Feb 4, 2004

Testified before the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, “on the subject of science, Eco-Imperialism and public policy.” [38]

Others testifying included Niger Innis and Cyril Boynes of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE).

Nov, 2003

Published the book Eco-Imperialism: Green Power Black Death and speaks regularly on the subject of “Eco-Imperialism” in the media.



Driessen wrote Eco-Imperialism: Green Power Black Death published by Merril Press in November, 2003. He was also the editor of Energy Keepers Energy Killers: The New Civil Rights Battle, written by Roy Innis and published in February, 2008 by Merril Press. [42]

Sample Publications

Townhall Publications

Paul Driessen has been a very prolific author at Townhall, writing regular articles promoting the use of Fossil Fuels and questioning the science behind man-made climate change. Samples below: [43]



Profile image Paul Driessen speaking at the Heartland Institute's 12th International Conference on Climate Change, screenshot via YouTube.

Atlas Economic Research Foundation
congress of racial equality
