Baliunas and Big Oil
In the recent Union of Concerned Scientists report on Skeptics, Exxon and the tobacco industry, Baliunas is listed as being affiliated with nine organizations that have received funding from ExxonMobil.

Barrett and the “Scientific Alliance”
Barrett is an advising member of the “Scientific Alliance,” an organization formed by a UK businessman who was fed up with "all this environmental stuff." (source)

The Alliance describes itself as “a forum for addressing environmental problems based on sound science.” Other members include Sallie Baliunas and Benny Peiser . According to a July ‘01 article, the Scientific Alliance was set up by Robert Durward and a public relations firm called “Foresight Communications.”

Originally, Durward, owner of a rock quarry in the UK, formed the Alliance out of frustration over an aggregate tax being proposed for the quarry industry. On top of fighting the tax, the Alliance also provided “expert” scientific advice on subjects like transport, climate change and biodiversity. Durward described himself, “as a businessman who is totally fed up with all this environmental stuff… much of it unjustified, such as the climate change levy.” At the time of the Alliance’s formation, Durward refused to disclose who the financial backers of the project were.

Climate change research
According to a search of 22,000 publications, Courtney has never published any research in the area of climate change.

Courtney and the Coal Industry
Courtney was a technical editor for CoalTrans International, which describes itself as the "web's most comprehensive resource" on the coal industry. He was also a spokesperson for the British Association of Colliery Management, a coal industry union in the United Kingdom and has written opinion papers about his concern over the loss of jobs in the coal industry as a result of the UK's movement towards renewable energy.