Climate science deniers from a US-based thinktank have been working with rightwing politicians in Europe to campaign against environmental policies, the Guardian can reveal.
MEPs have been accused of “rolling out the red carpet for climate deniers” to give them a platform in the European parliament, amid warnings of a “revival of grotesque climate denialism”.
The Heartland Institute, which has links to the Trump administration and has drawn on funding from companies including ExxonMobil and wealthy US Republican donors, has seized on a time when rightwing anti-climate action sentiment has been surging, and has set up a new European base in London.
For the past two years, representatives of the thinktank have been working with MEPs and have spoken in the European parliament to campaign against bills, including the nature restoration law. They have sought to cast doubt on established climate science, and connected climate-sceptic MEPs from Poland, Hungary and Austria to help coordinate campaigns against proposed environmental laws.
Heartland has made some extreme and incorrect comments on climate. In the past, it has compared people who believe in global heating to the Unabomber, the US terrorist jailed for killing three people and injuring many others, as well as branding the concept of human-caused climate change “fake news”.
The Guardian and DeSmog understand that the organisation first established a foothold among rightwing MEPs in February 2023, when the far-right Austrian MEPs Harald Vilimsky and Roman Haider from the anti-migration Freedom party (FPÖ) attended Heartland’s International Conference on Climate Change in Orlando, Florida.
A few months later, the pair visited the thinktank’s offices to request help “to counter climate alarmism”. James Taylor, the president of Heartland, was welcomed to speak in the European parliament the following March, at the invitation of the two MEPs, where he forged links with Hungarian politicians to discuss climate policy and the nature restoration law. Later that month, a vote on the law was delayed when Hungary withdrew its support, but the bill eventually passed in June.
In September 2024, Vilimsky was a guest of honour at Heartland’s 40th anniversary gala in the Hilton Chicago, where the guest list included the rightwing UK politician Nigel Farage – who later helped launch Heartland’s branch in London. Vilimsky spoke at the Chicago event, urging closer ties between the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, and Donald Trump.
In October, Taylor visited Poland at the invitation of its Solidarity union, which has been campaigning against the closure of the country’s coalmines. There, he met the former prime minister Beata Szydło, leaders of heavy industry and agriculture, as well as scientists at one of the country’s top universities, delivering a presentation that sowed doubt on climate science. Heartland and Solidarity then signed a joint declaration claiming that actions to address the climate crisis “aim solely to provoke widespread fear and a sense of threat, especially among young people, without finding – so far – confirmation in scientific research”.
After setting up its base in London this December, the institute boasted in a newsletter to its members about its unprecedented footprint in Europe. It wrote: “In our role as gadfly, we have helped foment dissent and encouraged and publicised protests against higher energy taxes, climate restrictions, and wind and solar subsidies.
“Based on the fact that a number of energy taxes in different EU countries have been delayed, reduced, or scuttled altogether and climate policies have been modified to reduce their economic impact, there is at least some evidence our efforts have borne positive policy fruit.”
Green MEPs have warned about the rise of the Institute in Europe. The Austrian MEP Lena Schilling said: “The FPÖ is rolling out the red carpet for climate change deniers who try to undermine EU legislation and accelerate the destruction of our planet. It’s a disgrace and a betrayal of citizens who expect their political representatives to protect them from disasters and security threats.”
The German MEP Daniel Freund added: “Recently, Alice Weidel advocated for tearing down all wind turbines in Germany – even though they produce cheap electricity. The alliance between climate deniers and the far right is taking on cult-like characteristics.” Weidel is the co-leader of Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland party.
after newsletter promotion
Kenneth Haar from the Corporate Europe Observatory added: “It is really bad news to see the Heartland Institute moving to Europe. At this point in time we should be scared that we will see a revival of grotesque climate denialism.
“Their presence in Brussels and European politics is bad news. The coming years were looking difficult enough, with corporate lobby groups pushing successfully to roll back climate policies. The Heartland Institute is likely to become one of the helping hands to create a close political alliance between conservatives and the far right that will be very destructive.”
A spokesperson for Solidarity said that although the trade union rejected “climate hysteria”, they did not classify themselves as climate deniers, which they viewed as a term of “abuse”. They added: “We work foremost by ourselves to defend the workers and their families against skyrocketing energy prices and energy poverty, and yes, this includes defending our national coal mining sector.”
A European parliament spokesperson said: “As part of the freedom of mandate MEPs enjoy, they can organise their own events, and we cannot comment on individual cases of members.” However, they added: “The nature and purpose of these events shall not … undermine the dignity of the EP nor pose a risk to its image or reputation.”
Heartland, Vilimsky, Haider, Szydło and the FPÖ have been contacted for comment.
This post was originally published on here
