The Greening Earth Society, now defunct, was a public relations organization which promoted the idea that there is considerable scientific doubt about the effects of climate change and increased levels of carbon dioxide. The Society published the World Climate Report, a newsletter edited by Patrick Michaels of the Cato Institute.
It was a non-profit organization created by the Western Fuels Association,[1] with which it shared an office and many staff members.[2][3][4][5] It has been called a "front group created by the coal industry"[6] and an "industry front".[7] Fred Palmer, a Society staffer, is a registered lobbyist for Peabody Energy, a coal company.[8]
Although the Greening Earth Society was generally skeptical of the impact of climate change, it acknowledged some degree of global warming as real: "Fact #1. The rate of global warming during the past several decades has been about 0.18°C per decade".[9] Note that the actual increase in the global surface temperature during the 100 years ending in 2005 was 0.74 ± 0.18 °C.[10]