climate-denial think tank
Heartland Institute
Industry Environment
A free-market policy nonprofit known for climate-change denial and anti-regulatory environmental advocacy, alongside work on taxes, education, health, and energy. Heartland Institute scores low because of ecological harm, documented human harm, and youth capture, with poor loss-bearing fidelity and weak worker power reinforcing the negative evaluation.
Why this matters: Heartland is a severe calibration case for harmful advocacy: the product is not pollution itself, but organized climate-denial and anti-regulatory influence.
Letter grade F Malignant High confidence (AI) Rubric gcd-rubric-v1
* Tentative scaffolding score. Not human-checked or final.
Heartland Institute receives PG because it functions as a private policy engine: donor and staff priorities are converted into public-rule pressure without accountability to the people and ecosystems affected.
Evidence: [17]
The L badge appears when the Policy Capture penalty is severe. Here, L stands for Lobbying: the policy-capture value is -10, meaning the evidence indicates major private-interest lobbying or policy pressure against workers, customers, citizens, affected communities, democratic accountability, or ecological life.
Evidence: [16]
Request verification to have the evidence record checked against primary materials and organization-supplied documents. Verification does not buy a higher score; scores change only when review finds factual errors, omissions, or miscalibration.
Evaluation Overview
F - Malignant
The score turns mainly on Ownership, with the largest penalty coming from Ecological Harm.
Strengths
- Ownership2/10
- Governance2/10
- Extraction2/10
Penalties
- Ecological Harm-12
- Policy Capture-10
- Human Harm-5
- Youth Capture-3
Evidence state
- ConfidenceHigh confidence (AI)
- ThoroughnessExhaustive (AI)
- Linked claims17
- Direct axis claims16
- Coverage16/16
Scoring Axes
| Axis | Score | Why this score |
|---|---|---|
Ownership
?
Control rights: shareholder-dominated at 0, worker cooperative control
at 10.
|
2 / 10 |
Heartland Institute is a nonprofit think tank rather than a shareholder-owned company, but control remains board, donor, and staff driven. Linked evidence
|
Governance
?
Binding decision authority: centralized control at 0, democratic
stakeholder control at 10.
|
2 / 10 |
Heartland publishes a free-market policy mission without affected-community governance over its climate and environmental agenda. Linked evidence
|
Extraction
?
Surplus allocation, wage share, CEO pay ratio, margins, and structured
extraction judgment.
|
2 / 10 |
Heartland advocacy tends to shield industry and donors from public environmental constraint rather than reduce extraction. Linked evidence
|
Labor Sovereignty
?
Worker power: coercive conditions at 0, co-determination or ownership at
7. Employee dissatisfaction matters only when source-backed evidence
shows concrete limits on worker agency, such as coercive scheduling,
retaliation, wage theft, harassment, unsafe conditions, suppression of
worker voice, or extreme turnover.
|
1 / 7 |
Heartland is a professional policy nonprofit with no evidence of worker governance. Linked evidence
|
Solidarity with the
Unemployed
?
Treatment of exits and nonworkers, including severance, redeployment,
and non-competes.
|
0 / 7 |
Heartland climate and regulatory positions do not expand security for people outside stable employment and can weaken public protections. Linked evidence
|
Loss-Bearing Fidelity
?
Willingness to absorb costs to preserve values, workers, users, and
public obligations.
|
0 / 7 |
Heartland climate advocacy shifts environmental risk toward the public rather than making emitters bear costs. Linked evidence
|
Market Conduct
?
Pricing fairness, switching costs, lock-in, and rent extraction.
|
1 / 5 |
Heartland generally favors deregulation and market freedom over binding public constraints on polluters. Linked evidence
|
Product Integrity
?
Preservation of quality rather than degradation for monetization.
|
0 / 5 |
Heartland policy output is severely weakened by climate-denial evidence and anti-regulatory environmental advocacy. Linked evidence
|
Scale Integrity
?
Whether growth improves or degrades fairness and accountability.
|
0 / 5 |
Scaling Heartland influence would amplify climate-delay and deregulatory harm. Linked evidence
|
Penalties
| Penalty | Applied | Why this penalty |
|---|---|---|
Human Harm
?
Severity, scale, culpability, vulnerable targets, willful reoffense,
reputation laundering, pattern escalation, and time decay. Range: -20 to
0.
|
-5 |
Heartland Institute has conduct relevant to Human Harm: ecological and regulatory obstruction can foreseeably increase public health, climate, or community harm. Linked evidence
|
Ecological Harm
?
Footprint, trajectory, irreversibility, culpability, and scale,
including whether ecological harm is central to the model and continued
after credible notice. Range: -30 to 0.
|
-12 |
DeSmog and Greenpeace identify Heartland as a major climate-denial and anti-climate-policy organization. Linked evidence
|
Policy Capture
?
Private-interest attempts to bend law, regulation, subsidies, taxes,
enforcement, trade, labor, safety, competition, environmental,
healthcare, housing, surveillance, civil-liberties, or consumer policy
against workers, customers, citizens, affected communities, or
ecological life. Public-interest advocacy is not penalized merely
because it is lobbying. Range: -15 to 0.
|
-10 |
Heartland Institute retains conduct relevant to the Policy Capture penalty: existing verified evidence links its policy work to climate-denial and anti-climate-regulation advocacy that would shift ecological and public-health costs outward. Linked evidence
|
Youth Capture
?
Manipulative youth-directed marketing, youth-data or attention
monetization, collectible/add-on traps, parasocial or identity capture,
surprise mechanics, or treating young people as lower-disclosure
consumers. Making useful toys or welcoming children is not itself
penalized. Range: -5 to 0.
|
-3 |
Greenpeace describes Heartland-linked climate materials aimed at school curricula, describes conduct considered under Youth Capture climate-denial education outreach. Linked evidence
|
Accountability Opacity
?
Material opacity, reputation laundering, or hidden accountability
structures that prevent public accountability. Range: -2 to 0.
|
-2 |
Heartland Institute has conduct relevant to Accountability Opacity: the public-facing position materially obscures climate or ecological accountability. Linked evidence
|
Ideological Disavowal
?
Concealed ideology presented as neutrality, expertise, professional
necessity, public-service administration, market inevitability, or
non-ideological common sense while exercising power. Range: -3 to 0.
|
-1 |
Heartland Institute's public framing is assessed as ideological-disavowal evidence because Heartland Institute shows bounded neutrality theater: some contested choices are softened through… Linked evidence
|
Bonus Credits
| Bonus | Credit | Why this credit |
|---|---|---|
Openness to Dissent
?
Credit for tolerating internal, user, customer, worker, and public
dissent without retaliation, capture, or viewpoint laundering.
|
1 / 3 |
Heartland Institute the organization creates or protects dissent against concentrated institutional or industrial power. Linked evidence
|
Confidence Basis
Confidence Basis
Confidence is computed from the evidence trail and review state, not typed into the profile by hand.
High 80/100
16 verified linked claims 16 direct axis claims 0 disputed claims 16/16 components covered
This confidence label measures the source-backed evidence trail. AI-scaffolded scores remain tentative until human review.
Claim confidence 15/20
16 verified linked claims
Source quality 12/18
Best source per verified claim, weighted by institutional reliability
Direct axis-specific claims 14/18
16 direct claims across 16 active components
Dispute load 12/12
0 disputed claims on this entity
Recency 10/10
Newest accepted timestamp: May 13, 2026
Reviewer status 7/12
Human-reviewed components score higher than AI scaffolding
Component coverage 10/10
16/16 evidence-bearing components have direct support
Evidence State
Evidence State
Claims and Sources
Claims are the evidence record. Each claim needs a source link, axis category, status, confidence level, and timestamp before it can support a score.
* Tentative scaffolding score. Not human-checked or final.1Heartland Institute is a nonprofit think tank rather than a shareholder-owned company, but control remains board, donor, and staff driven.
- Heartland Institute aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- Heartland environment and energyGeneral web source · 58%
- Heartland Institute - DeSmogGeneral web source · 58%
- Greenpeace Heartland Institute profileGeneral web source · 58%
2Heartland publishes a free-market policy mission without affected-community governance over its climate and environmental agenda.
- Heartland Institute aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- Heartland environment and energyGeneral web source · 58%
- Heartland Institute - DeSmogGeneral web source · 58%
- Greenpeace Heartland Institute profileGeneral web source · 58%
3Heartland advocacy tends to shield industry and donors from public environmental constraint rather than reduce extraction.
- Heartland Institute aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- Heartland environment and energyGeneral web source · 58%
- Heartland Institute - DeSmogGeneral web source · 58%
- Greenpeace Heartland Institute profileGeneral web source · 58%
4Heartland is a professional policy nonprofit with no evidence of worker governance.
- Heartland Institute aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- Heartland environment and energyGeneral web source · 58%
- Heartland Institute - DeSmogGeneral web source · 58%
- Greenpeace Heartland Institute profileGeneral web source · 58%
5Heartland climate and regulatory positions do not expand security for people outside stable employment and can weaken public protections.
- Heartland Institute aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- Heartland environment and energyGeneral web source · 58%
- Heartland Institute - DeSmogGeneral web source · 58%
- Greenpeace Heartland Institute profileGeneral web source · 58%
6Heartland climate advocacy shifts environmental risk toward the public rather than making emitters bear costs.
- Heartland Institute aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- Heartland environment and energyGeneral web source · 58%
- Heartland Institute - DeSmogGeneral web source · 58%
- Greenpeace Heartland Institute profileGeneral web source · 58%
7Heartland generally favors deregulation and market freedom over binding public constraints on polluters.
- Heartland Institute aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- Heartland environment and energyGeneral web source · 58%
- Heartland Institute - DeSmogGeneral web source · 58%
- Greenpeace Heartland Institute profileGeneral web source · 58%
8Heartland policy output is severely weakened by climate-denial evidence and anti-regulatory environmental advocacy.
- Heartland Institute aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- Heartland environment and energyGeneral web source · 58%
- Heartland Institute - DeSmogGeneral web source · 58%
- Greenpeace Heartland Institute profileGeneral web source · 58%
9Scaling Heartland influence would amplify climate-delay and deregulatory harm.
- Heartland Institute aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- Heartland environment and energyGeneral web source · 58%
- Heartland Institute - DeSmogGeneral web source · 58%
- Greenpeace Heartland Institute profileGeneral web source · 58%
10Heartland Institute the organization creates or protects dissent against concentrated institutional or industrial power.
- Heartland Institute aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- Heartland environment and energyGeneral web source · 58%
- Heartland Institute - DeSmogGeneral web source · 58%
- Greenpeace Heartland Institute profileGeneral web source · 58%
11Heartland Institute has conduct relevant to Human Harm: ecological and regulatory obstruction can foreseeably increase public health, climate, or community harm.
- Heartland Institute aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- Heartland environment and energyGeneral web source · 58%
- Heartland Institute - DeSmogGeneral web source · 58%
- Greenpeace Heartland Institute profileGeneral web source · 58%
12DeSmog and Greenpeace identify Heartland as a major climate-denial and anti-climate-policy organization.
- Heartland Institute aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- Heartland environment and energyGeneral web source · 58%
- Heartland Institute - DeSmogGeneral web source · 58%
- Greenpeace Heartland Institute profileGeneral web source · 58%
13Greenpeace describes Heartland-linked climate materials aimed at school curricula, describes conduct considered under Youth Capture climate-denial education outreach.
- Heartland Institute aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- Heartland environment and energyGeneral web source · 58%
- Heartland Institute - DeSmogGeneral web source · 58%
- Greenpeace Heartland Institute profileGeneral web source · 58%
14Heartland Institute has conduct relevant to Accountability Opacity: the public-facing position materially obscures climate or ecological accountability.
- Heartland Institute aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- Heartland environment and energyGeneral web source · 58%
- Heartland Institute - DeSmogGeneral web source · 58%
- Greenpeace Heartland Institute profileGeneral web source · 58%
15Heartland Institute's public framing is assessed as ideological-disavowal evidence because Heartland Institute shows bounded neutrality theater: some contested choices are softened through expertise, public-interest, professional, market, safety, or institutional language, but the record does not show dominant concealment of standpoint.
- Heartland Institute official siteGeneral web source · 58%
- Heartland Institute aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- Heartland environment and energyGeneral web source · 58%
16Heartland Institute retains conduct relevant to the Policy Capture penalty: existing verified evidence links its policy work to climate-denial and anti-climate-regulation advocacy that would shift ecological and public-health costs outward.
- Heartland Institute aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- Heartland environment and energyGeneral web source · 58%
- Heartland Institute - DeSmogGeneral web source · 58%
- Greenpeace Heartland Institute profileGeneral web source · 58%
17Heartland Institute receives PG because it functions as a private policy engine: donor and staff priorities are converted into public-rule pressure without accountability to the people and ecosystems affected.
- Heartland Institute aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- Heartland environment and energyGeneral web source · 58%
- Heartland Institute - DeSmogGeneral web source · 58%
- Greenpeace Heartland Institute profileGeneral web source · 58%
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Evidence comes in through contributors, is checked by verifiers, and is synthesized by reviewers. Founder authority remains narrow and visible; scores recalculate when verified claims or the rubric change.
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Audit Log
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Added tentative claim-backed evaluation during environmental advocacy, land-stewardship, and anti-environment comparison expansion pass.