Big Green, Inc., Updated

WASHINGTON — Today the Institute for Energy Research is announcing the release of two updates to its Big Green, Inc. database, which seeks to shine a long overdue spotlight on the massive amounts of money fueling the national environmental lobby.

We have added four new left-leaning, grant-making organizations into the Big Green, Inc. database. This data update includes details on 1,899 grants originating with the Wyss Foundation, Tides Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and The Rockefeller Foundation that funded 663 green groups across the country between 2008-2016.

Additionally, IER is releasing a new report focussing on the motivations, tactics, and end goals of the modern environmental movement and detailing how the size and scope of the movement’s funding contributes to their influence on energy policy in the U.S. The report was put together in light of the data and insights revealed in the database. The report is titled, “Big Green, Inc.: The Money Fueling the Environmental Left. (https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/BigGreenInc.pdf) ”

The Executive Summary of the report can be read below:

Today’s environmental movement is fueled by a group of interconnected, left-leaning foundations seeking to disrupt the development of America’s energy resources. In order to understand how these groups work together and where the environmental movement’s funding originates, IER developed Big Green, Inc., a database that tracks environmental grants stemming from 14 foundations and directed to over 1,900 grassroots activists groups and totaling more than $4.2 billion. Our key findings include:

• The “David vs. Goliath” narrative surrounding environmental activism is false. Environmental organizations outpace conservative and free-market groups in terms of funding and organizational capacity.
• As evidenced by the emergence of the “Keep it in the Ground” Movement, this money plays a major role in shaping public opinion, which translates to economically destructive policy initiatives that emanate from all levels of government.
• A key strategy of the environmental movement is to target key gatekeeping institutions that drive the ideas that animate our society including the media, universities, and government entities.
• Environmental funding has been tied to foreign actors, which raises concerns over the role geopolitics plays in environmental advocacy.

Read the full report: Big Green, Inc.: The Money Fueling the Environmental Left

View the Big Green, Inc. database including the new grant data

IER President Tom Pyle made the following statement:
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“Since the fall launch, Big Green, Inc. has taken on the vast environmental network and provided key insights into these organizations’ political operations. Big Green, Inc. demonstrates the fact that the green left is mobilized by billionaire-funded foundations seeking to stop the development of America’s traditional energy sources without offering a viable alternative to sustaining the progress that can be attributed to the widespread use of our vast natural resources. Free market advocates must work to ensure that America’s energy future is not stolen by green pressure groups working to disrupt our energy producers and send us back to the dark ages.”

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For media inquiries, please contact Erin Amsberry                eamsberry@ierdc.org
202.621.2955

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