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====2006, $100,000 from Intermountain Rural Electric Association====
A furor was raised when it was revealed in 2006 that, at customer expense, Patrick Michaels was quietly paid $100,000 by an electric utility, [[Intermountain Rural Electric Association]] (IREA), which burns coal to help confuse the issue of global warming. In a nine-page [httphttps://www.sourcewatch.org/images/b/b0/Irea.pdf memo], the general manager of the Colorado-based IREA co-operative, Stanley Lewandowski Jr., railed against the the scientific consensus supporting the need to curb greenhouse gases. The memo, which was circulated in mid-July 2006 to more than 900 members of the [[National Rural Electric Cooperative Association]], was leaked to <i>ABC News</i>. "We decided to support Dr. [[Patrick Michaels]] and his group (New Hope Environmental Services, Inc.) ... In February of this year, IREA alone contributed $100,000 to Dr. Michaels." Lewandowski also wrote that IREA had rattled the tin for Michaels amongst other groups and "have obtained additional contributions and pledges for Dr. Michaels group." (The memo also reports on others campaigning against taking action to limit climate change: "The [[Competitive Enterprise Institute]] (CEI) has been running two ads in ten states that were financed by [[General Motors]] and the [[Ford]] Motor Company." <ref>Clayton Sandell and Bill Blakemore, [http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/GlobalWarming/story?id=2242565&page=1 "ABC News Reporting Cited As Evidence In Congressional Hearing On Global Warming"], ''ABC News'' August 3, 2006.</ref> <ref>Stanley R. Lewandowksi, [http://achangeinthewind.typepad.com/achangeinthewind/files/lewandowski_memo.pdf "Memo"], Intermountain Rural Electric Association, July 17, 2006.</ref>)
===2007 Funding disclosure concerns as expert witness in auto industry trial===
In 2007 Michaels was retained by Green Mountain Chrysler Plymouth Dodge Jeep, Green Mountain Ford Mercury, Joe Tornabene's GMC, the [[Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers]], the [[DaimlerChyrsler]] Corporation and [[General Motors]] Corporation as an "expert witness" in a case where the auto manufacturers and dealers were suing George Crombie, the Secretary of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources and others in a bid to prevent the state regulating greenhouse gases. In the process of the discovery of documents and during his deposition Michaels provided details of "New Hope's funding sources and the amount of their funding." However, this information was not publicly available but treated as confidential information. However, in late 2006 Greenpeace filed a motion seeking access to details of the funders of Michaels firm.<ref name="PMAffadavit">Dr. Patrick J. Michaels, [httphttps://www.sourcewatch.org/images/e/e5/GreenMtDoc521-3.pdf "Affidavit of Dr. Patrick J. Michaels"], United States District Court for the District of Vermont, Green Mountain Chrysler et al. v. Crombie et al., Docket No. 02:05-CV-302, July 6, 2007.(Pdf)</ref>
In an affidavit Michaels stated that "as the case moved closer to trial, I learned in conversations with plaintiff's counsel that New Hope's confidential information might not remain confidential if I testified at trial. Consequently, on or around April 7, 2007, I informed plaintiffs counsel that I would not testify at trial. My sole reason in doing so was concern that my trial testimony would result in the loss of confidentiality for the New Hope information."<ref name="PMAffadavit"/>
