David Legates

David Legates Shut Down by Governor of Delaware

Legates is a Joint Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Delaware. In 2005, Legates was designated as Delware's State Climatologist.

In a February 2007 article, it's reported that Legates was ordered by the Governor of Delaware to stop using the title of "State Climatologist" when making statements about global warming. Legates used the "State Climatologist" tag when he co-wrote a friend-of-the-court legal brief opposing an attempt by Delaware and other states to force the federal regulation of greenhouse gases. The brief was filed by the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

In response to the use of the title "State Climatologist," Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner (D) wrote to Legates stating that:

Your views on climate change, as I understand them, are not aligned with those of my administration. In light of my position and due to the confusion surrounding your role with the state, I am directing you to offer any future statements on this or other public policy matters only on behalf of yourself or the University of Delaware, and not as state climatologist.

David Legates and the George C. Marshall Institute

Legates is listed as an "expert" for the George C. Marshall Institute, a Washington, DC-based think tank that has received over $700,000 in funding from oil-giant ExxonMobil.

David Legates and the National Center for Policy Alternatives

Legates was at one point listed as an "adjunct scholar" for a Dallas, Texas-based free-market think tank called the National Center for Policy Alternatives (NCPA).

The NCPA has received over $465,900 from oil giant ExxonMobil.

The NCPA also has a history with tobacco company Philip Morris. For example, in a 1998 Philip Morris document titled "third-party public policy activity," the NCPA is listed as an anti-government regulations group that "will write op-eds."

David Legates and the Independent Institute

Legates is also listed as a "Research Fellow" at an Oakland-based think tank called the Independent Institute. The Independent Institute has received $70,000 in grants from oil-giant ExxonMobil, as well as grants from Philip Morris.

David Legates and the Heartland Institute

Legates is listed as a "global warming expert" at the Heartland Institute, a Chicago-based freemarket think tank. The Heartland Institute frequently attacks the scientific evidence for human-caused climate change. The Heartland Institute has received over $791,000 from oil-giant ExxonMobil since 1998.

David Legates and the Natural Resources Stewardship Project

Legates is listed as an "Allied Expert" with a Canadian organization called the Natural Resources Stewardship Project (NRSP).

The NRSP is a lobby organization that refuses to disclose its funding sources. The NRSP is led by executive director Tom Harris and Dr. Tim Ball. An October 16, 2006 CanWest Global news article on who funds the NRSP, it states that "a confidentiality agreement doesn't allow him [Tom Harris] to say whether energy companies are funding his group."

DeSmog recently uncovered information that two of the three directors on the board of the Natural Resources Stewardship Project are senior executives of the High Park Advocacy Group, a Toronto based lobby firm that specializes in “energy, environment and ethics.”