The Climate Leadership Council was officially launched on February 8, 2017 with the publication of "The Conservative Case for Carbon Dividends", co-authored by James A. Baker III, Martin Feldstein, Halstead, Gregory Mankiw, Henry M. Paulson Jr., George P. Shultz, Thomas Stephenson, and Rob Walton. This report argues that a new climate strategy based on carbon dividends can strengthen America's economy, reduce regulation, help working-class Americans, shrink government, and promote national security. A profile in "Bloomberg" suggested the release of this report "may be the biggest day for climate policy since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015."