American Tradition Institute is a relative newcomer to the network of ultra-conservative thinktank and activist groups with a core mission of discrediting climate science and dismantling environmental regulations – including those intended to avoid catastrophic climate change.
But it has grabbed headlines over the last two years by filing law suits demanding access to the entire document and email record of prominent climate scientists, including Michael Mann, James Hansen, and Katharine Hayhoe.
The thinktank claims it is looking for evidence of fraud. But the rash of law suits have been condemned by the main academic teaching body and scientific organisations as an assault on academic freedom. They also accuse ATI of deliberating filing nuisance suits to disrupt important academic research.
Until now, its campaign against wind power has been relegated to the sidelines. But that has been a core mission. The thinktank was first registered, though under a different name, in Colorado in 2008 by a Republican operative who later pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining federal government grants to develop alternative fuels.
It claimed a mission of fighting "radical environmental junk science". But it has been preoccupied with fighting economic measures. It filed a law suit in Colorado last year to overturn a law requiring state power companies to get 30% of the electricity from renewables by 2020. It is also involved in campaigns against renewable standards in Delaware, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, and Ohio.
Even among conservative thinktanks – which often refuse to reveal their donors – ATI's finances are opaque. Its biggest donor in 2010, the only year for which tax records are publicly available, was a family foundation linked to the Montana businessman and rancher Doug Lair. Lair's foundation donated $140,000 to the think tank that year, according to the tax forms.
But it is still possible to trace links between ATI and some of the major conservative players. Lair, for example, sold the family oil business to the lesser known Koch brother, William Koch, in 1989, although he stayed on for some time as an employee.
There is also crossover between ATI executives and other think tanks and organisations opposing action on climate change. Its current executive director, Tom Tanton, worked for many years as a consultant to the oil industry.
Its original executive director, Paul Chesser, went on to work at the John Locke Foundation. That entity is funded by Art Pope, a discount retailer and national director of the Americans for Prosperity tea party group. Chesser has also worked for the Heartland Institute and other rightwing entities.