Not to be confused with the George C. Marshall Foundation

The George C. Marshall Institute (GMI) is a "non-profit" organization funded by the profits from oil and gas interests and right-wing funders (listed later). It has received substantial funding from Exxon's Exxon Education Foundation.[1]

Its nominal creators, aside from Exxon-related entities and others, were William Nierenberg, Frederick Seitz and Robert Jastrow[2] This industry and right-wing front group has described its role as encouraging "the use of sound science in making public policy about important issues for which science and technology are major considerations." The institute makes claims about "national security and the environment"[3], generally to the detriment of the latter.

The institute purports to investigate what it calls "facts" about global climate change, which is largely attributed by others to the burning of fossil fuels. The institute also focuses its resources on making claims about the effect of the Kyoto Protocol upon "national security."

Documents Contained at the Anti-Environmental Archives Documents written by or referencing this person or organization are contained in the Anti-Environmental Archive, launched by Greenpeace on Earth Day, 2015. The archive contains 3,500 documents, some 27,000 pages, covering 350 organizations and individuals. The current archive includes mainly documents collected in the late 1980s through the early 2000s by The Clearinghouse on Environmental Advocacy and Research (CLEAR), an organization that tracked the rise of the so called "Wise Use" movement in the 1990s during the Clinton presidency. Access the index to the Anti-Environmental Archives here

Evidence the Institute Distorted Facts in Pursuit of its Ideological Agenda

In a 2009 essay, former Marshall Institute Executive Director Matthew B. Crawford, wrote that after he commenced with the group in September 2001

"...certain perversities became apparent as I settled into the job. It sometimes required me to reason backward, from desired conclusion to suitable premise. The organization had taken certain positions, and there were some facts it was more fond of than others. As its figurehead, I was making arguments I didn't fully buy myself. Further, my boss seemed intent on retraining me according to a certain cognitive style — that of the corporate world, from which he had recently come. This style demanded that I project an image of rationality but not indulge too much in actual reasoning."[4]

Personnel

Board of Directors

As of December 2009, the Board consisted of:[5]

The Institute's 990 Tax Filings for 2008[8] (filed October 15th 2009) list two other members of the board.

Former Board Members

Staff

As of December 2009, the staff consisted of:[9]

Former Staff

Matthew B. Crawford (appointed September 2001; departure date unknown)

Fellows

As of December 2009, the Marshall Institute Fellows consisted of:[10]

Dr. Eric Loewen, George C. Marshall Institute Fellow

Dr. John Sheldon, Visiting Professor, School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, Air University, Maxwell AFB

Eric Sterner, George C. Marshall Institute Fellow

Roundtable Speakers

As of December 2009, the Marshall Institute Roundtable speakers consisted of:[11]

Funding

In its 2006 annual return, the Institute states that its total revenue for the year was $969,923 with total expenses of $877,156.[17] Of its program areas, it reported that $308,819 was on global warming work, $43,000 on general energy policy discussion, $148,729 on bio-terrorism, and $110,841 on missile defense system.[17]

The Institute received $ 7,178,803 in 105 separate grants from only five foundations between 1985 and 2006 [2]:

The George C. Marshall Institute no longer shows an overview of recent funders, but in 2000 [18] they listed:

Petro-Dollars

Greenpeace's ExxonSecrets lists the George Marshall Institute as having received $715,000 from ExxonMobil since 1998.[19]

This includes:

$50,000 from ExxonMobil Foundation in 1999 for "support for science and public policy education programs;

$50,000 from ExxonMobil Foundation in 2000 for general support;

$60,000 from ExxonMobil Foundation in 2001 for "climate change work";

$80,000 from ExxonMobil Foundation in 2001 for "'global climate change program" in 2002; plus a further $10,000 for the Awards Dinner;

$95,000 from ExxonMobil Foundation in 2003 for Global Climate Change Program

$145,000 ExxonMobil Foundation in 2004 for "climate change" and a further $25,000 from Exxon Corporation for "Awards Dinner -- Climate Change Activities";

$90,000 from ExxonMobil Foundation for, according to the Institute's IRS return, "climate change" and a further $25,000 from ExxonMobil Corporate Giving for "Awards Dinner and General Operating Support"; and

$85,000 from ExxonMobil Corporate Giving for "General support and annual dinner" in 2006.

Related organizations

Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)

Several people of GMI are also involved in the Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP):

Environmental Literacy Council (ELC)

The now-defunct Environmental Literacy Council was set up by then-GCMI executive director Jeffrey Salmon and run from offices next to the GCMI. (GMI's 2009 Form 990 reported a "bad debt" loss of $82k, which might have been rent owed by the ELC.)

2010:

George C. Marshall Institute

1601 North Kent St., Suite 802

Arlington, VA 22209

Phone: 571-970-3180

Fax: 571-970-3192

info AT marshall.org

web site: www.marshall.org



Neighbors

The National Hispana Leadership Institute is down the hall at 1601 North Kent St., Suite 803.

2002-2009:

1625 K Street, NW, Suite 1050

Washington, DC 20006

phone: 202.296.9655

fax: 202.296.9714



?-2002: 1730 K Street NW Suite 905

Washington, DC 20006

Phone: 202-296-9655

Fax: 202-296-9714



In Feb 1994, the address was:[20]

1730 M Street NW Suite 502

Washington DC 20036

...with the same phone and fax #s:

Phone: 202-296-9655

Fax: 202-296-9714



Articles and Resources

Sources

Related SourceWatch Articles

External Articles

E. Rabett (pseudonym) (2008-03-28). (three academic papers on Fred Seitz, Robert Jastrow and William Nierenberg - Oreskes, Conway, Shindell, Lahsen). Rabett Run. Retrieved on 2010-01-05. “Lahsen thinks that the three came to their positions through a combination of arrogance and their loss of status as they aged....Oreskes and Conway conclude that Nierenberg, Seitz and Jastrow viewed climate change through the lens of the Cold War.”

Wikipedia also has an article on George C. Marshall Institute. This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the GFDL.