'Eco-friendly' coffee shop actually owned by climate-change denialist lobby

A popular Toronto coffee shop that touts its eco-friendly products is owned by a lobby group that denies man-made climate change.

The Green Beanery, an organic coffee company with a flagship store at Bathurst and Bloor, has this posted on its website: “Green Beanery is a non-profit organization owned by Energy Probe Research Foundation. All earnings from Green Beanery’s operations support the work of Probe International, a federally registered Canadian charity that works with citizen’s groups around the world to protect their lands and their livelihoods.”

What it doesn’t mention is that Energy Probe is a lobby group that rejects the validity of climate change research. Founded in the late 1960s, the group was among the first in Canada to raise the alarm about climate change, according to founder Lawrence Solomon.

“Subsequent research, however, showed us convincingly that man-made climate change is not a threat and that, in fact, policies to combat climate change have damaged the environment,” Solomon told Metro in an email.

Solomon says real environmental threats include nuclear power, the use of crops for biofuel and dams that cause flooding in the developing world. In a series of National Post columns, he says fossil fuels are the most environmentally friendly source of energy.

The charity’s CRA filings show that Energy Probe brought in $1.3 million in 2012 in non-donation revenue. Solomon says all of Green Beanery’s profits go to the Probe International division, but refused to give a figure.