FACTSHEET: FREE - Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment, FREE
DETAILS
662 Ferguson Road
Bozeman, MT 59718
Phone: 406-585-1776
Fax: 406-585-3000
FREE was founded in 1985 as a free-market environmental organization. Its mission is "to advance conservation and environmental values consistent with individual freedom and responsibility."
FREE is perhaps best known for its sponsorship of judicial junkets to Montana resort locations. Reportedly more than a third of the federal judiciary has heard FREE seminars along the lines of, "The Environment: A CEO's Perspective" and "Liberty and the Environment: A Case for Judicial Activism" (Washington Post, April 9, 1998 and FREE's website).
A recent Washington Post article featured federal judges charged with violating judicial ethics. The judges in question had attended FREE seminars, then ruled on related cases (3-23-04).
FREE has been funded by a host of conservative foundations, including Castle Rock Foundation (Coors), The Claude R. Lambe Foundation, The John M. Olin Foundation , The Lilly Endowment, M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, The Carthage Foundation and The True Foundation. Corporate Funders have included, The American Chemistry Council, ExxonMobil, General Electric, General Motors, Merck, and Shell. (2002 Funders from FREE website). In the past, FREE has also received funding from Amoco Company Foundation, ARCO Foundation, Boeing Company, Burlington Resources Foundation, Coca-Cola Foods, IBM, Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, M.J. Monsanto Fund, Phillips Petroleum Foundation, Sarah Scaife Foundation, Shell Oil Foundation, and the Weyerhauser Company ( Capital Research Council, http://www.capitalresearch.org/search/orgdisplay.asp?Org=FRE100).
KEY QUOTES
13 November, 2002
"Given the uncertainty around warming, and the fact that some models predict that temperature increases of up to 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit would have beneficial effects, increasing our adaptability to change may be more important than cutting emissions. The best way to do this, particularly for the developing world, is through economic growth. The wealthier a nation, the easier to adapt to changed conditions. Richer countries have greater resources to deal with environmental problems."
Source: "Resiliency Is the Key to Climate Change" 11/13/02
QUOTES
17 November, 1999
"For people, the best defense against adverse consequences of warming is wealth. In this arena as in so many others, wealth buffers adversity. When comparing neighboring places with identical climates but differing wealth, for example Singapore and Malaysia, wealthier is healthier, safer, and far more resilient."
Source: "Ill-conceived Policy a Greater Threat Than Global Warming" 11/17/99
FUNDING
FREE - Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment has received $370,000 from ExxonMobil since 1998.
1998
$10,000 ExxonMobil Corporate Giving
Source: Exxon Education Foundation Dimensions 1998 report
2000
$20,000 ExxonMobil Foundation
general support
Source: ExxonMobil Foundation 2000 IRS 990
2001
$20,000 ExxonMobil Foundation
Source: ExxonMobil 2001 Worldwide Giving Report
2002
$30,000 ExxonMobil Foundation
Source: ExxonMobil 2002 Worldwide Giving Report
2003
$30,000 ExxonMobil Foundation
Source: ExxonMobil 2003 Worldwide Giving Report
2004
$20,000 Exxon Corporation
Climate Seminar
Source: ExxonMobil 2004 Worldwide Giving Report
2004
$20,000 ExxonMobil Foundation
Federal Judicial Seminars
Source: ExxonMobil 2004 Worldwide Giving Report
2004
$30,000 ExxonMobil Foundation
General Operating Support
Source: ExxonMobil 2004 Worldwide Giving Report
2005
$30,000 ExxonMobil Foundation
Source: ExxonMobil 2005 Worldwide Giving Report
2006
$30,000 ExxonMobil Foundation
Source: ExxonMobil 2006 Worldwide Giving Report
2007
$30,000 ExxonMobil Foundation
Source: ExxonMobil 2007 Worldwide Giving Report
2008
$30,000 ExxonMobil Corporate Giving
Source: EXXON FOUNDATION AND CORPORATE GIVING 2008
2009
$30,000 ExxonMobil Corporate Giving
Source: ExxonMobil 2009 Worldwide Contributions and Community Investments
2010
$40,000 ExxonMobil Corporate Giving
Source: ExxonMobil 2010 Worldwide Giving Report
KEY PEOPLE
John Baden
Founder and Chairman
Source: FREE website 4/04
PEOPLE
Pete Geddes
Program Director
Source: FREE website 4/04
Lola Dunmire
Finance Director
Source: FREE website 4/04
Danny J. Boggs
Board Member
Source: FREE website 4/04
Andre M. Davis
Board Member
Source: FREE website 4/04
Richard Derham
Board Member
Source: FREE website 4/04
Douglas H. Ginsburg
Board Member
Source: FREE website 4/04
Deecy Stephens Gray
Vice President, Board Member
Source: FREE website 4/04
George Gray
Board Member
Source: FREE website 4/04
James Huffman
Board Member
Source: FREE website 4/04
John McCormack
Board Member
Source: FREE website 4/04
Jane R. Roth
Board Member
Source: FREE website 4/04
Leon Royer
Board Member
Source: FREE website 4/04
John A. Von Kannon
Trustee
Source: FREE website 4/04
R. Neal Wilkins
Board Member
Source: FREE website 4/04
Thomas C. Schelling
2003 Bill and Reta Haynes Distinguished Scholar in Residence
Source: FREE website 4/04
John C. Downen
Research Associate
Source: FREE website 4/04
SOURCES
ExxonMobil 2001 Worldwide Giving Report
Public Information and Policy Research
http://research.greenpeaceusa.org/?a=view&d=4388
ExxonMobil 2002 Worldwide Giving Report
Public Information and Policy Research
http://research.greenpeaceusa.org/?a=view&d=4386
ExxonMobil Foundation 2000 IRS 990
ExxonMobil Foundation 2000 IRS 990
http://research.greenpeaceusa.org/?a=view&d=4390
Exxon Education Foundation Dimensions 1998 report
Exxon Dimensions report 1998- Public Information and Policy Research
http://research.greenpeaceusa.org/?a=view&d=4385
FREE website 4/04
Website for the Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment
http://www.free-eco.org
"Ill-conceived Policy a Greater Threat Than Global Warming" 11/17/99
Op-Ed in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle by John Baden of the Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment.
http://www.free-eco.org/articleDisplay.php?id=179
"Resiliency Is the Key to Climate Change" 11/13/02
Op-Ed in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle by John C. Downen of the Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment
http://www.free-eco.org/articleDisplay.php?id=93
ExxonMobil 2003 Worldwide Giving Report
Public Information and Policy Research
http://research.greenpeaceusa.org/?a=view&d=4389
ExxonMobil 2004 Worldwide Giving Report
2004 Worldwide Contributions and Community Investments
Public Information and Policy Research
http://research.greenpeaceusa.org/?a=view&d=4380
ExxonMobil 2005 Worldwide Giving Report
Public Information and Policy Research
http://research.greenpeaceusa.org/?a=view&d=4387
ExxonMobil 2006 Worldwide Giving Report
Public Information and Policy Research
downloaded from Exxon website
http://research.greenpeaceusa.org/?a=view&d=4381
ExxonMobil 2007 Worldwide Giving Report
http://research.greenpeaceusa.org/?a=download&d=4586
EXXON FOUNDATION AND CORPORATE GIVING 2008
http://www.exxonmobil.com/Corporate/community_contributions_report.aspx
ExxonMobil 2009 Worldwide Contributions and Community Investments
Exxon Mobil Corporation
2009 Worldwide Contributions and Community Investments
http://www.exxonmobil.com/Corporate/files/gcr_contributions_pub-policy09.pdf
ExxonMobil 2010 Worldwide Giving Report
http://exxonmobil.com/Corporate/Files/gcr_contributions_pubpolicy-2010.pdf