Today kicked off the beginning of New York City Climate Week. With dozens of events being hosted across the city, covering a myriad of different climate issues, one important topic is being ignored: Natural gas. Natural gas has cut 50 percent more emissions in the United States than wind or solar combined since 2005. So why isn’t it receiving more attention from self-proclaimed champions of the environment?
Rockefeller-Funded NYC Climate Week May Have Ulterior Motives
The answer may lie in the hosts of Climate Week, and more importantly, the powerful funders fueling their efforts. New York Climate Week is hosted by The Climate Group, an organization that originated as an in-house research project at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) before eventually evolving into its own independent institution. Today, RBF continues to be a major backer of the organization, giving The Climate Group at least $1 million dollars for the annual New York Climate Week since 2016.
RBF has a long history of supporting action to combat climate change, but are doing so by trying to shut down the very industry that is driving emissions reductions. The organization has funded articles, academic studies, activist nonprofits, public relations firms, and even legal organizations to go after fossil fuel companies in court. In 2016, they co-hosted a strategy session with the Rockefeller Family Fund at their joint headquarters in New York that, according to the leaked agenda, sought to “delegitimize” ExxonMobil and “call into question the advantages of fracking, as compared to coal.”
Climate Activists Ignore Their Best Ally: Natural Gas
This aggressive anti-natural gas campaign starkly contrasts with the science. The transition to natural gas for electricity generation could prevent 1.2 billion tons of carbon emissions from entering the atmosphere, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). In fact, the fuel source has already helped to transform greenhouse gas emissions. According to IEA director Fatih Birol:
“In the last 10 years, the emissions reductions in the United States has been the largest in the history of energy.”
He recently added that, “stopping oil and gas production is something that I wouldn’t advise to the U.S. government or another government.”
While the transition to natural gas has led the way in decreasing carbon emissions from electricity generation in the United States, not a single “Energy Transition” event at Climate Week will focus on the energy resource.
Unsurprisingly, these events will be hosted by anti-fossil fuel organizations including the Rockefeller-funded Environmental Defense Fund, the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisor’s Climate Nexus, and the group End of Petroleum, which recently partnered with Kert Davies – an activist affiliated with dark money groups supporting climate litigation against energy companies. 350.org’s Bill McKibben is also participating in the week’s events. Davies and McKibben both attended the Rockefeller’s 2016 meeting and have continued to be active in the crusade against energy companies.
Other Powerful Donors Join the Anti-Industry Crusade
While perhaps the most prolific, the Rockefellers are not the only major organization that is funneling money into climate activism, while simultaneously supporting litigation against energy companies – even though that does nothing to decrease emissions.
Over the last two years, The Hewlett Foundation has provided $525,000 to The Climate Group and over $28 million to the ClimateWorks Foundation, a “supporting partner” of Climate Week. At the same time, the organization has given $1,650,000 to the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development (IGSD), including $750,000 in 2017 for “fighting climate change through litigation.”
The IGSD has erected a sophisticated public relations campaign promoting climate litigation against energy companies and is funding lobbyists to pressure public officials into filing lawsuits. The Hewlett Foundation also gave $300,000 to the Niskanen Center for their “climate policy and litigation program,” and the RBF has chipped in another $270,000. Following these donations, the Niskanen Center filed climate litigation against fossil fuel companies on behalf of the City and County of Boulder, CO in 2018.
Powerful donors from the Big Apple are also footing the bill for the campaign against energy companies. Bloomberg Philanthropies – the foundation backed by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg – pledged $500 million to the Beyond Carbon campaign, which aims to “halt the growth of natural gas.” Bloomberg also gave $6 million to fund the State Energy and Environment Impact Center at NYU School of Law, which farms out environmental litigators to assist Attorneys General across the country in pursuing a “progressive clean energy” agenda. The program’s efforts have raised conflict of interest concerns amongst legal experts.
Conclusion
New York Climate Week activists seem completely disinterested in the important role natural gas plays in helping the United States achieve its climate goals. Instead, Climate Week’s messages mirror the priorities of its most powerful donors – attack an industry with a proven track record of climate progress.
