H. Leighton Steward

H. Leighton Steward is the spokesman for front group Plants Need CO2 (the 501(c)(3) backed by coal baron Corbin Robertson) and the registrant of its PlantsNeedCO2.org website. According to its corporate Certificate of Formation, Steward is also a director at oil and gas company EOG Resources, formerly known as Enron Oil and Gas Company, where he earned $617,151 in 2008. Steward also serves as an honorary director of the American Petroleum Institute.

According to the "Plants Need CO2" website, Steward is "a geologist, environmentalist, author, and retired energy industry executive" who's interested in "helping to educate the general public and the politicians about the tremendous benefits of carbon dioxide (CO2) as it relates to the plant and animal kingdoms and their related ecosystems and habitats, and the general health of humanity".

Background
Steward was previously President, Chairman and CEO of New Orleans-based oil and gas company Louisiana Land and Exploration Company. "Mr. Steward, who joined Louisiana Land in 1982, previously managed Burlington Northern's oil, gas and minerals activities. He also worked for the Shell Oil Company for 16 years. Mr. Steward is a geologist with degrees from Southern Methodist University...[He] is interested in protecting Louisiana's wetlands from erosion and serves with a number of oil industry groups."

Related SourceWatch articles

 * American Petroleum Institute
 * Front groups
 * Global warming
 * Global warming skeptics
 * Plants Need CO2
 * CO2 Is Green
 * Corbin Robertson