Atlas Network

Background

The Atlas Network is a Washington DC-based non-profit organization that works to support and grow a network of more than 400 think tanks in more than 80 countries promoting individual liberty and free market ideals.

Many of the member think tanks of the Atlas Network have supported climate science denial and have campaigned against legislation to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

The Atlas Economic Research Foundation (AERF) was founded by Antony Fisher in 1981 with the goal of bringing “innovative, market-based perspectives to issues of public policy.” [1] Fisher had previously founded the Institute of Economic Affairs, an influential London-based think tank promoting neoliberal ideas of small governments and low regulation.

Atlas Network is the trading name of the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization. Previous names have been the Atlas Foundation and the Atlas Research Foundation. The International Policy Network (IPN) in the UK, also founded by Fisher, is effectively a UK variant of the Atlas Network.

According to UK Charity Commission filings (PDF), The Atlas Economic Research Foundation (UK) was working as the International Policy Network, and is registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, number 262982. In April 2001, with the consent of the Charity Commission, it adopted the working name of The International Policy Network, 'IPN', and in December 2004, 'UK' was added to the name. The UK Atlas Economic Research Foundation and the IPN UK are no longer listed among UK Charities. and the UK branch was most recently operating with a new name, “Network for a Free Society.” The U.S. Atlas Network appears to be a separate entity from the International Policy Network US Inc., although Atlas Network's 2010 financial records reveal that they continued to provide support to IPN. [2]

The stated vision of the Atlas Network is to “win the long-term policy battles that will shape history, we need freedom champions to create credible institutes – well-managed and independent of vested interests – that use sound business practices to advance sound public policy ideas.”

SourceWatch describes the Atlas Economic Research Foundation as “The Johnny Appleseed of antiregulation groups […] on a mission to populate the world with new 'free market' voices.” The mission of Atlas, according to John Blundell (president from 1987 to 1990), “is to litter the world with free-market think-tanks.” [3]

The Atlas Network has played a role in the work of a varity of conservative think tanks including the Manhattan Institute in New York, the National Center for Policy Analysis in Texas, Instituto Libertad y Democracia in Peru, the Acton Institute in Michigan, Fundación Libertad in Argentina, the Lithuanian Free Market Institute, Instituto Libertad y Desarrollo in Chile, the Centre for Civil Society in India, Istituto Bruno Leoni in Italy, and the Association for Liberal Thinking in Turkey, among others. [1]

Atlas identifies, screens, and offers initial support to individuals and groups who want to create local think tanks. Atlas “strives to provide personal assistance to individuals who are starting a free-market institute” and offers online training programs “that will walk you through the early stages of starting a think-tank.” [4]

Stance on Climate Change

Atlas has cosponsored numerous Heartland Institute events dedicated to the proposition that climate change is not a crisis.

In a November 2014 commentary, Atlas CEO Brad Lips wrote: “The Kyoto Protocol – signed by President Clinton in 1998 (but never ratified by the U.S. Senate) – now appears to have been the high-water mark for the Global Warming movement (since coincidentally that was that last year of measured “warming”). Even those who believe global warming is a catastrophic, man-made problem now struggle to make a case that global energy austerity is a practical or cost-effective course of action.” [18]

Funding

According to the Atlas Economic Research Foundation Website, [1]

“Atlas Network is not endowed and it does not accept government funding. It does not support political candidates or parties, or otherwise involve itself in partisan politics.

We are grateful to those generous individuals, philanthropies, and businesses that entrust us with financial resources to build a greater public consensus around the ideas of a free society by advancing the Atlas Network mission.”

According to their financials page, “Atlas Network is an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. Atlas Network is not endowed and does not accept government funding. All of its programs depend upon the generosity of foundations, individuals, and corporations.” [5]

The Conservative Transparency database breaks down the Atlas Economic Research Foundation's funding as follows (1985 to 2013), both as recipient and as donor. See the attached spreadsheet for additional information on Atlas Network funding by year (.xlsx). [6]

Atlas Network as Recipient

Donor	Total
DonorsTrust	$1,073,950
John Templeton Foundation	$1,035,000
Chiaroscuro Foundation	$600,000
Donors Capital Fund	$419,000
The Carthage Foundation	$410,000
Claws Foundation	$400,000
George Edward Durell Foundation	$395,000
The Roe Foundation	$332,500
Pierre F. and Enid Goodrich Foundation	$265,000
Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation	$261,034
The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation	$243,890
Ravenel and Elizabeth Curry Foundation	$200,000
Lowndes Foundation	$175,000
Earhart Foundation	$164,984
Sarah Scaife Foundation	$150,000
The Shelby Cullom Davis Foundation	$150,000
John William Pope Foundation	$130,000
Lovett and Ruth Peters Foundation	$100,000
Center for Independent Thought	$94,125
Diana Davis Spencer Foundation	$92,000
Chase Foundation of Virginia	$74,000
Ruth & Lovett Peters Foundation	$63,000
The Vernon K. Krieble Foundation	$62,000
Paul E. Singer Foundation	$50,000
Searle Freedom Trust	$50,000
Dunn's Foundation for the Advancement of Right Thinking	$40,000
International Policy Network	$37,596
Same Line Foundation	$33,700
JM Foundation	$30,000
Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation	$28,500
Robert P. Rotella Foundation	$25,000
William H. Donner Foundation	$25,000
Cato Institute	$20,000
State Policy Network	$17,894
Aequus Institute	$12,000
Philip M. McKenna Foundation	$10,000
The Rodney Fund	$7,000
The Randolph Foundation	$5,000
The Opportunity Foundation	$2,000
Friedman Foundation For Educational Choice	$1,000
Joyce and Donald Rumsfeld Foundation	$1,000
Grand Total	$7,286,173

Atlas Network as Donor

Donor	Total
Students for Liberty	$416,905
George Mason University	$235,960
Prague Security Studies Institute Washington	$224,750
International Freedom Educational Foundation	$179,844
Hispanic American Center for Economic Research	$132,198
Show-Me Institute	$120,100
Bluegrass Institute	$105,000
Education Intelligence Agency	$95,000
George Mason University School of Law	$86,000
Foundation for Government Accountability	$74,394
Taliesin Nexus	$70,168
Free Africa Foundation	$53,000
The Prometheus Institute (Irvine CA)	$50,850
Foundation for Democracy in Russia	$50,000
Illinois Policy Institute	$34,000
Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty	$30,000
Mercatus Center	$30,000
University of Richmond	$27,500
Free To Choose Network	$26,350
John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy	$25,800
American Slovenian Education Foundation	$25,000
PSSI Washington	$25,000
State Policy Network	$25,000
The Bastiat Society	$24,000
The Americas Forum	$23,000
Goldwater Institute	$20,500
Intellectual Takeout	$20,500
Northwood University (Michigan)	$20,500
Pelican Institute for Public Policy	$20,250
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education	$20,200
National Review Institute	$20,000
Reason Foundation	$20,000
The Independent Institute	$19,425
Rockford College	$18,300
North Dakota Policy Council	$17,500
Public Policy Foundation of West Virginia	$16,056
The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College	$16,000
American Traditional Institute	$15,000
Liberty Foundation	$15,000
National Center for Policy Analysis	$15,000
Mackinac Center for Public Policy	$12,000
The Ryan Foundation	$12,000
American Center for Civic Character	$10,500
Brown University	$10,500
Deep Springs International	$10,500
Ocean State Policy Research Institute	$10,450
Competitive Governance Institute (Formerly Sam Adams Alliance)	$10,200
Samasource	$10,200
Advance Arkansas Institute	$10,000
Association of Private Enterprise Education	$10,000
Bastiat Society	$10,000
Beloit College	$10,000
Cato Institute	$10,000
Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise	$10,000
College of Charleston Foundation	$10,000
Common Sense Institute of New Jersey	$10,000
Human Rights Foundation	$10,000
Institute for Humane Studies	$10,000
Institute to Reduce Spending	$10,000
International Policy Network US	$10,000
Mercatus	$10,000
Moving Picture Institute	$10,000
Peak Freedom Forum	$10,000
Rio Grande Foundation	$10,000
University of Detroit Mercy	$10,000
Texas Public Policy Foundation	$9,500
Platte Institute for Economic Research	$8,197
East Carolina University	$8,000
Interamerican Institute for Democracy	$8,000
American Friends of the Institute of Economic Affairs	$7,500
Alaska Policy Forum	$6,580
Swaniti Initiative	$6,500
Washington Policy Center	$6,100
Rhodes College	$6,000
Saint Vincent College	$6,000
American Principles in Action	$5,800
Polish-American Foundation for Economic Research and Education	$5,600
Idaho Freedom Foundation	$5,500
Just Facts Inc.	$5,500
Liberty Fund	$5,164
Grand Total	$2,820,341

Tobacco Industry Funding

According to PR Watch, Philip Morris contributed over $475,000 to Atlas in 1995 alone. [7]

ExxonMobil Funding

According to ExxonSecrets, Atlas has received a total of $1,082,500 from ExxonMobil since 1998. [8]

Koch Funding

According to data collected by Greenpeace USA, the Atlas Economic Research Foundation has received $348,560 in combined donations from Koch-related foundations between 1998 and 2015. [25]

*Original tax forms prior to 1997 are no longer available for verification. If you include these values, the grand total jumps to $408,560 in Koch funding from 1987 to 2015. [25]

Year	Charles Koch Foundation	Charles Koch Institute	Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation	Grand Total
*1987	$2,500			$2,500
*1988	$5,000			$5,000
*1989	$20,000			$20,000
*1991	$5,000			$5,000
*1992	$2,500		$25,000	$27,500
1998			$3,500	$3,500
2001	$5,000			$5,000
2006	$3,800			$3,800
2007	$25,000			$25,000
2008	$35,000			$35,000
2009	$38,800			$38,800
2012	$28,522			$28,522
2013	$25,000			$25,000
2014	$64,912	$14,900		$79,812
2015	$82,426	$21,700		$104,126
Grand Total	$343,460	$36,600	$28,500	$408,560

990 Forms

Key People

The following individuals were listed on the Atlas Network Website as of August, 2015: [9]

Atlas Network Staff

Chelsea Schick — Associate Director of Development and Events
Chantilly Alberti — Development and Events Associate
Paolo Angelini — Office Manager
Reza Ansari — Outreach and Persian Programs Manager
Daniel Anthony — Vice President of Marketing and Communications
Cindy Cerquitella — Atlas Leadership Academy Director
Alejandro A. Chafuen (Alex), Ph.D. — President
Erwin Chaloupka — Economic Policy Associate for Central and Eastern Europe
Brittany Cobb — Development and Events Manager
Grace Courter — Marketing and Communications Associate
Kristina Crane — Operations Manager
Eric D. Dixon — Editor
Harry Kalsted — Development and Operations Associate
Autumn Lansford — Atlas Leadership Academy Program Associate
Stephanie Giovanetti Lips — Director of Outreach
Brad Lips — Chief Executive Officer
Laura Liu — Economic and Trade Policy Advisor
Rómulo López — Director of Finance
Elisa Martins — Associate Director of Programs
Nicholas Miller — Development and Events Associate
Dr. Tom G. Palmer — Executive Vice President of International Programs
Casey Pifer — Institute Relations and Programs Associate
Katherine Price — Development Associate
Clark Ruper — Director of Development
Johannes Schmidt — Grants and Awards Program Associate
Jeremy Schofield — IT Manager
Gonzalo Schwarz — Director of Grants and Awards
Alexander Skouras — Associate Director of Institute Relations
Matt Warner — Vice President of Programs and Institute Relations
Mariana Zepeda — Research Associate and Assistant to the President

Advisory Council

Scott Barbee
Robert Boyd
John Cerasuolo
Derwood Chase
Stuart Chase
Barry Conner
Sam Corcos
John Dalsheim
Sean Fieler
Dan Gressel
Pamela Hoiles
Nicolas Ibanez
Bob Jefferies
Leo Kayser III
Jeffrey Kofsky
Warren Lammert III
Ron Manners
Oscar Garcia Mendoza
Luis Perez
Borut Prah
Nadine Prah
Jed Sunden
Lauren Templeton
Jon Basil Utley
Mariela Vicini
Kathryn Washburn
Shari Williams

Board

Charles Albers
Luis Henrique Ball
Tomothy Browne — Director of the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University and a member of the Mont Pelerin Society.
Alejandro A. Chafuen (Alex), Ph.D. — President, Atlas Network.
- Board member of the Chase Foundation, the Acton Institute, and the Fraser Institute.
- Honorary Active Member and member of the Member’s Committee of the John Templeton Foundation, the World Charity Foundation, and The Templeton Religion Trust.
- Member of the board of advisors of The Philanthropic Enterprise.
- Member of the founding committee of Donors Trust.
- Member of the Mont Pelerin Society
- He is also the president and founder of the Hispanic American Center of Economic Research.
Debbi Gibbs
Peter Goettler
Dan Grossman — Chairman of the Board, Atlas Network. Former chair of the Foundation for Economic Education.
Nikolaos Monoyios
Gerry Ohrstrom — Has been director of the Reason Foundation, Santa Fe Institute, Property and Environment Research Centre, Africa Fighting Malaria, International Policy Network, Gruter Institute, Intelligence Squared debate series, and others.
George Pearson — Worked for nearly three decades for the Koch family as manager of various Koch Foundations and for Koch Industries in various corporate positions including Director of Public Affairs. Also served as officer or director of Institute for Humane Studies, Cato Institute, and the Kansas Policy Institute.
Andrea Millen Rich — President, Centre for Independent Thought.
Rene Scull
Linda Whetstone — Chairman, Network for a Free Society. Serves on the Boards of the Institute of Economic Affairs, the Istanbul Network for Liberty, and others. Previous Chairman of the International Policy Network, and a Director of the Mont Pelerin Society.
Ambassador Curtin Winsor Jr. — Trustee, William H. Donner Foundation, Africare, and Hudson Institute.
William Sumner — Board Member Emeritus.

Fellows

George Ayittey, Ph.D. — Fellow
Nicolás Cachanosky, Ph.D. — Sound Money Project Fellow
William Dennis — Senior Fellow
Rainer Heufers — Think Tank MBA Senior Fellow
Jerry L. Jordan — Sound Money Project Senior Fellow
Garry Kasparov — 2014 Templeton Leadership Fellow
Michel Kelly-Gagnon — Dobson-Lengvari Fellow
Casey Lartigue, Jr. — Asia Outreach Fellow
Mario Vargas Llosa — Templeton Leadership Fellow Emeritus
William J. Luther, Ph.D. — Sound Money Project Fellow
Deroy Murdock — Senior Fellow
Charles Murray — 2015 Templeton Leadership Fellow
Alexander William Salter
Judy Shelton, Ph.D. — Sound Money Project Co-Director & Atlas Network Senior Fellow
Robin Sitoula — Senior Program Advisor

Past Board Members

As of December, 2011, Board Members included: [10]

Chuck Albers
John Blundell — Senior Fellow, Institute of Economic Affairs.
Timothy Browne — Director of the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University.
Alejandro Chafuen — President since 1991. Board member since 2009.
Dan Grossman (Chairman of the Board — Former Chairman, Foundation for Economic Education.
Abby Moffat — Also board member, Intercollegiate Studies Institute, the Institute of World Politics, the Media Research Center, and the Heritage Foundation.
George Pearson — Manager of various Koch Foundations and worked Koch Industries in various corporate positions including Director of Public Affairs.
Andrea Millen Rich — President of Center for Independent Thought.
René Scull — Past Vice President of Philip Morris Asia.
William Sumner — Director of the Institute for Humane Studies.
Linda Whetstone — Chairman of the International Policy Network (UK), member of the Boards of the Institute of Economic Affairs and the Mont Pelerin Society.
Ambassador Curtin Winsor, Jr

Actions

June 13, 2016

The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD/PRWatch) reports that the Atlas Economic Research Foundation was named as a creditor in Peabody Energy's bankruptcy filings. [20]

While the available bankruptcy documents do not list the scale or dates of funding, they outline Peabody Energy's financial ties to a large network of groups promoting climate change denial. [21]

Prominent individuals appearing in the documents include climate deniers Willie Soon, Richard Lindzen, Roy Spencer and Richard Berman. The long list of organizations also includes groups such as Americans for Prosperity, American Legislative Exchange Council, CFACT, Institute for Energy Research, State Policy Network, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and dozens more. [22]

The Guardian also analysed and reported on the Peabody bankruptcy findings: [23]

“These groups collectively are the heart and soul of climate denial,” said Kert Davies, founder of the Climate Investigation Center, who has spent 20 years tracking funding for climate denial. “It’s the broadest list I have seen of one company funding so many nodes in the denial machine.”

The company’s filings reveal funding for a range of organisations which have fought Barack Obama’s plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions, and denied the very existence of climate change. […]

Among Peabody’s beneficiaries, the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change has insisted – wrongly – that carbon emissions are not a threat but “the elixir of life” while the American Legislative Exchange Council is trying to overturn Environmental Protection Agency rules cutting emissions from power plants. Meanwhile, Americans for Prosperity campaigns against carbon pricing. The Oklahoma chapter was on the list. […]

“The breadth of the groups with financial ties to Peabody is extraordinary. Thinktanks, litigation groups, climate scientists, political organisations, dozens of organisations blocking action on climate all receiving funding from the coal industry,” said Nick Surgey, director of research for the Center for Media and Democracy.

“We expected to see some denial money, but it looks like Peabody is the treasury for a very substantial part of the climate denial movement.”

Notable organizations listed in the initial documents include:

Notable individuals named in the initial documents include the following:

August 2015

Atlas announces that Australian think tank the Institute of Public Affairs is a finalist in its flagship Templeton Freedom Awards for a campaign against the country's laws that had put a price on greenhouse gas emissions.

IPA executive director John Roskam had described the laws as “the greatest threat to the free market in Australia since bank nationalisation in 1947”. The laws, introduced despite a toxic anti-science campaign promoted by the IPA, were repealed in July 2014.

The IPA's campaign included organising and funding speaking tours and promotions for climate science deniers, including former Czech Republic president Vaclav Klaus, mining industry figure and geologist Professor Ian Plimer and writer and anti-wind farm activist James Delingpole.

May 16 - 18, 2010

Atlas Economic Research Foundation was listed as a Co-sponsor of the Heartland Institute's Fourth International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC4). [11]

The conference's theme was “Reconsidering the Science and Economics,” and its purpose was “the same as it was for the first three events: to build momentum and public awareness of the global warming 'realism' movement.”

DeSmogBlog concluded 19 of the 65 sponsors (including Heartland itself) had received a total of over $40 million in funding since 1985 from ExxonMobil (who funded 13 of the organizations), and/or Koch Industries family foundations (funded 10 organizations) and/or the Scaife family foundations (funded 10 organizations). [12]

June 2, 2009

Atlas Economic Research Foundation was listed as a Co-Sponsor of the Heartland Institute's Third International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC3) hosted in Washington, DC. [13]

The conference's theme was “Climate Change: Scientific Debate and Economic Analysis,” to reflect Heartland's belief that that “scientific debate is not over.”

April, 2009

Greenpeace reports that Atlas gave over $100,000 (among other donations) to fund a “Danish study,” prepared by Danish think-tank CEPOS, that “provides clean energy opponents a means of raising questions about the viability of renewable energy and a means of directly criticizing President Obama for his statement that Denmark produces almost 20% of its electricity through wind power.” [14]

“[T]he study contains factual errors, its conclusions have been misrepresented and to boot, its findings are not particularly relevant to the US,” Greenpeace concluded. [15]

March 8-10, 2009

Atlas Economic Research Foundation was listed as a Co-Sponsor of the Heartland Institute's Second International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC2). [16]

DeSmogBlog researched the funding behind Heartland's Second International Conference on Climate Change and found that sponsor organizations had received over $47 million in funding from energy companies and right-wing foundations. [17]

November, 2003

Paul Driessen, a senior fellow at Atlas, published his book Eco-Imperialism: Green Power, Black Death.

Atlas Network Contact & Location

As of June 2016, the Atlas Network listed the following contact information on its website: [24]

Atlas Network
1201 L Street NW
Washington, DC 20005
T+ 202.449.8449
F+ 202.280.1259

Giving Opportunities
Chelsea Schick, 202-449-8434

Press Inquiries
Daniel Anthony, 202-449-8441

Related Organizations

International Policy Network UK (IPN) — Same entity as Atlas Economic Research Foundation (UK). The U.S. organization does not appear to be directly affiliated.
Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA)
Network for a Free Society — New name for International Policy Network (UK)

The Atlas network had 454 members as of April, 2016, up to a total of 479 as of July 2017. View a complete membership list online, or see the attached spreadsheet for a complete listing of Atlas Network members by location and year over year (.xlsx). [19], [26]