PRESS RELEASE: Fred Palmer Joins The Heartland Institute as Senior Fellow

Published January 9, 2017

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL (January 9, 2017) – The Heartland Institute today announced Frederick D. Palmer has joined the organization as a senior fellow on energy and climate. The Heartland Institute is a 33-year-old national nonprofit organization headquartered in Arlington Heights, Illinois – a facility that also houses the Andrew Breitbart Freedom Center. Heartland’s mission is to discover, develop, and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems.

From 2001 to June 2015, Palmer served as senior vice president of government relations for Peabody Energy Corporation. Prior to joining Peabody Energy, he spent five years as general counsel and 15 years as CEO of the Western Fuels Association. He also represented Western Fuels on the board of directors of the National Mining Association, serving as chair of the Legal Affairs Committee in response to the Clinton/Gore efforts to reduce fossil fuels use in the United States by limiting carbon dioxide emissions under international treaty.

Palmer began his professional life in 1969 on the staff of Rep. Morris K. Udall (D-Arizona). Palmer attended the University of Arizona, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1966 and Juris Doctorate with honors in 1969. There he was inducted into the Order of the Coif honor society and served as symposium editor of the Arizona Law Review.

“We’re delighted to have Fred Palmer join the Heartland team,” said Joseph Bast, president of The Heartland Institute. “Fred has been a thought leader on the climate change issue for three decades. He was defending fossil fuels and affordable energy long before it was cool to do so, and he promises to be even more effective by working with Heartland’s policy experts and communications professionals.” 

“I am deeply honored by The Heartland Institute to be asked to serve as senior fellow on energy and climate,” Palmer said. “Heartland is the leading and most effective educational voice on climate science, the importance of fossil fuel energy to our quality of life, and the positive effects of enhanced atmospheric CO2 content on the biosphere – which includes increased food production for the billions of people on Earth and the billions coming.

“Through education, Heartland has positively impacted the climate change policy debate and understanding in Washington, DC and across the land through direct contact and mailings to thousands of opinion leaders and policy makers at the state level,” Palmer added. “I am excited and energized by the opportunity presented to continue my life’s work in advancing the health and welfare of the American people through the more robust use of fossil fuels, everywhere, all the time.”

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