2,468
edits
Changes
SW: minor - highlighted "contract labor" aspect, clarified no luck yet getting explanations.
{{#badges: Climate change}}The '''Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change''', one of ''Mother Jones'' magazine's 2009 [[global warming skeptic]] "Dirty Dozen of Climate Change Denial"<ref name=mojo12>Josh Harkinson, [http://motherjones.com/environment/2009/12/dirty-dozen-climate-change-denial-11-idso-family The Dirty Dozen of Climate Change Denial: No. 8: Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change (A.K.A. The Idso Family)], Mother Jones, December 4, 2009, Accessed August 26, 2010.</ref>. Founded in 1998 by members of the [[Idso family]], its income has burgeoned in recent years.
Its IRS filings are intriguing, including reporting expenses of almost $350,000 for "Contract labor".
==IRS Form 990 curiosities==
The Center's 2009 IRS 990 reports paying $187,500 to [[Robert E. Ferguson]] of [[Science and Public Policy Institute | SPPI]], plus a $60k bonus, for a total of $247,500. The circumstances surrounding this payment remain unclear.<ref>When asked about this payment from the Center several days ago, Ferguson couldn't explain it, & got off the phone saying he'd look into it and call back. Subsequent attempts to speak with him have not been successful.</ref> (and [[Science and Public Policy Institute|SPPI]] appears to be a shell company...)
It also reports $345,791 for "Contract labor".<ref name=qs-craig>On Thursday 2011-03-31, Sherwood Idso told me to direct my Form 990 questions to Craig Idso; attempts to reach Craig Idso to ask them have not yet been successful.</ref>
The Center reported income of $25,449 for 2003 <ref>(as seen on its 2007 Form 990)</ref>; this appears inconsistent with Exxon's reported 2003 donation of $40,000 plus Sarah Scaife Foundation's 2003 donation of $50,000.<ref name=qs-craig />
Attempts to hear explanations for these curiosities from Ferguson and the Idsos have not been successful.<ref name=qs-craig>On Thursday 2011-03-31, Sherwood Idso told me to direct my Form 990 questions to Craig Idso; multiple attempts since then to reach Craig Idso to ask, have not been successful as of April 6 2011.</ref>
==Mission==
The Center states on its website that its mission is to distribute "factual reports and sound commentary on new developments in the world-wide scientific quest to determine the climatic and biological consequences of the ongoing rise in the air's CO2 content" [http://www.co2science.org/scripts/CO2ScienceB2C/about/mission.jsp].