Roy Innis

Roy Innis and the Congress for Racial Equality

Innis is the National Chairman and CEO of the Center for Racial Equality (CORE), a New York-based civil rights organization.

Since 2002, CORE has received $250,000 from oil-giant ExxonMobil for work related to activities described as "climate change outreach" and "change regulation/legislation."

CORE's mission is to "establish, in practice, the inalienable right for all people to determine their own destiny - to decide for themselves what social and political organizations can operate in their best interest and to do so without gratuitous and inhibiting influence from those whose interest is diametrically opposed to theirs."

Innis has been involved in human-rights activities for many years. According to his bio, Innis entered a four-year program in chemistry at City College of New York and held positions as a research chemist at Vick Chemical Company and Montefiore Hospital.

In a 1996 New York Times article, CORE is described as "... one of the leading voices of the small but growing number of black conservatives in the United States."

In 2004, CORE released a publication called Eco-Imperialism: Reflections on Earth Day, arguing that:

[s]afeguarding environmental values is essential... But we must stop trying to protect our planet from every imaginable, exaggerated or imaginary risk. And we must stop trying to protect it on the backs, and the graves, of the nation’s and world’s most powerless and impoverished people.”

So-called "eco-imperialism is seen by CORE as denying impoverished people the chance for better lives and the ability to rid their countries of diseases that were vanquished long ago in the United States and Europe.

In a February 2008 article Innis writes that:

Energy Killers justify these demands by pointing to computer models that conjure up disaster scenarios in which rising carbon dioxide causes icy habitats to melt 50-100 years from now, driving polar bears to extinction. However, hundreds of climate scientists emphasize that these models can’t forecast accurately even one year in advance, much less 50. They say there is no evidence that Earth’s moderate warming of the past century will turn into a disaster, or that CO2 is the primary cause of climate change."

Innis is listed as a "global warming expert" on the website of a freemarket think tank called the Heartland Institute. According to the Heartland description, Innis's expertise in climate science comes from being "exposed to climate variation dynamics while a student in chemical engineering at the City College of New York."   

Roy Innis and Monsanto

In 2005, CORE ran a pro-genetically modified foods campaign. According to an archived version of CORE's website the pro-GM food campaign was sponsored by ag-food and pesticide giant Monsanto. You can click here to see a screen capture of the CORE site in 2005 where Monsanto is listed as "CORE's corporate partner in the quest for bio-tech information."

In January 2005, Monsanto's Chairman and CEO, Hugh Grant chaired CORE's celebratory reception in honour of Martin Luther King Jr. A screen shot of the Monsanto photo is archived here.

Also, in January 2005, CORE organized what it called the "UN World Conference on Biotechnology." The closing address for the conference was made by Gerald Steiner, Monsanto's Executive Vice President.

Roy Innis and the Hudson Institute

Innis currently serves on the board of directors for the Hudson Institute, a DC-based freemarket think tank.