Thread: PUTIN IS FUNDING GREEN GROUPS TO DISCREDIT NATURAL GAS FRACKING

Political Russia has been involved in more than elections.

PUTIN IS FUNDING GREEN GROUPS TO DISCREDIT NATURAL GAS FRACKING

BY KEVIN MOONEY
ON 7/11/17 AT 12:44 PM
OPINION

This article first appeared on the Daily Signal.

Forget about allegations of Russian interference in U.S. presidential elections for a moment, or even “collusion” between Russian officials and Trump campaign operatives.

The real action is in the European and U.S. energy markets, according to a letter from two Texas congressmen to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that details what they call “a covert anti-fracking campaign” with “little or no paper trail.”

The Daily Signal obtained a copy of the June 29 letter to Mnuchin from Reps. Lamar Smith and Randy Weber, both Republicans who chair energy-related House panels. (See the full letter below.)

Smith and Weber quote sources saying the Russian government has been colluding with environmental groups to circulate “disinformation” and “propaganda” aimed at undermining hydraulic fracturing. Commonly called fracking, the process makes it possible to access natural gas deposits.



Protesters at an anti-fracking demonstration in Oakland, California, February 7, 2015.ELIJAH NOUVELAGE

The sources include a former secretary-general of NATO, who is quoted by the GOP congressmen as saying:

Russia, as part of their sophisticated information and disinformation operations, engaged actively with so-called non-governmental organizations—environmental organizations working against shale gas—to maintain dependence on imported Russian gas.

This anti-fracking campaign seizes upon environmental issues and health concerns that could be used to constrain U.S. drilling and fracking exercises, the letter explains.

Gazprom, a large Russian oil company, stands to benefit if Russian-funded environmental activism results in reduced levels of fracking and natural gas production in the United States, Smith and Weber tell Mnuchin. They write:

It is easy to see the benefit to Russia and Gazprom that would result from a reduction in the U.S. level of drilling and fracking—a position advocated for by numerous environmental groups in the U.S.

Smith, chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, joined Weber, chairman of that panel’s energy subcommittee, in calling on the treasury secretary to investigate whether Russia works with American environmental activists to prevent the U.S. from developing its natural gas resources.

Top U.S. government officials who have acknowledged the connection between Russian and environmental groups include former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee for president in 2016.

In 2014, Clinton delivered a “private speech” in which she discussed Russia’s financial support for environmental groups, the letter says. The speech was included in documents released by WikiLeaks, it says.

An Oct. 10, 2016, report in The Washington Times quoted Clinton as saying:

We [the State Department and the U.S. government] were up against Russia pushing oligarchs and others to buy media. We were even up against phony environmental groups, and I’m a big environmentalist, but these were funded by the Russians to stand up against any effort, ‘Oh that pipeline, that fracking, that whatever will be a problem for you,’ and a lot of that money supporting that effort was coming from Russia.

Contrary to what Russia’s propaganda machine and its environmental allies have told news consumers in Europe and America, fracking is safe, effective, and enormously beneficial, Nick Loris, an economist and energy policy analyst with The Heritage Foundation, said in an email to The Daily Signal.

“If successful, an anti-fracking campaign is depriving Americans of good-paying jobs and affordable, dependable energy,” Loris said. “Despite smears and outright lies from environmental activists, smart drilling and energy extraction technologies have been proven to be safe.”

“It feels like every week a new study is published, confirming what we already know,” he said. “Hydraulic fracturing does not contaminate drinking water. The facts and history of hydraulic fracturing, a history that dates back more than half a century and over 1 million fracked wells, indicate that many of the fears associated with the process are grossly exaggerated or flat-out unsubstantiated.”
Loris added:

The good news, however, is that the anti-fracking campaign really hasn’t been all that successful in ‘keeping it in the ground.’ The U.S. is the world’s largest petroleum and natural gas producer, and we can thank fracking and American energy companies for it.

The result is that money is going back into bank accounts of hardworking families through lower energy bills, and American businesses are more competitive because of lower input costs. And we’re in a position to supply our allies with power, significantly reducing the ability of any one nation’s ability to manipulate energy markets for political gain.

In their letter to the treasury secretary, Smith and Weber also say the Russians have been able to advance their strategy without “a paper trail.”

They pass along reports that Russia apparently funnels the money through a Bermuda-based “shell company” known as Klein Ltd.

Tens of millions of dollars are moved from Russia through Klein “in the form of anonymous donations” to a U.S.-based nonprofit called the Sea Change Foundation.

The money, the congressmen write, then is moved in the form of grants to U.S. environmental organizations.

Here is their opening of their letter to Mnuchin:




SMITH, WEBER LETTER TO MNUCHIN RE RUSSIA AND GREEN GROUPS BY THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION ON SCRIBD.
http://www.newsweek.com/putin-fundin...racking-635052http://www.newsweek.com/putin-fundin...racking-635052

Hillary’s Leaked Speeches Confirm Russia Funded Anti-Fracking Groups


MICHAEL BASTASCH

10:18 AM 10/10/2016

Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton confirmed to an audience behind closed doors what national security experts have warned about for years — Russians are pumping money into anti-fracking environmental groups.

Clinton told an audience in Edmonton, Canada, hosted by the <acronym title="Google Page Ranking">PR</acronym> firm tinePublic, that Russian oligarchs were propping up “against phony environmental groups” opposed to pipelines and hydraulic fracturing, according to emails published by WikiLeaks.

“We were up against Russia pushing oligarchs and others to buy media,” Clinton said in a June 2014 speech.

“We were even up against phony environmental groups, and I’m a big environmentalist, but these were funded by the Russians to stand against any effort, oh that pipeline, that fracking, that whatever will be a problem for you, and a lot of the money supporting that message was coming from Russia,” she said.

It’s unclear exactly to whom Clinton was speaking when she made these remarks or if she was referring to U.S.-based environmental groups or just European ones since the full transcript of her speech is unavailable.

Clinton’s Edmonton speech was one of five she gave across Canada in 2014 that were sponsored by tinePublic. Edmonton is the capital of Alberta, which is Canada’s largest petroleum-producing province.Conservatives and energy proponents have been concerned for years the anti-fracking movement was being fueled by Russian money. Environmentalists largely oppose fracking on the grounds it makes global warming worse and contaminates groundwater, but defense officials and U.S. conservatives have found Russian fingerprints on anti-fracking campaigns.

Eastern European officials have said Russia is backing environmental protesters at potential fracking sites in Romania and Bulgaria. Russia is currently Europe’s main gas supplier.

Iulian Iancu, chairman of the Romanian Parliament’s industry committee, thinks Gazprom has funneled about $100 million to anti-fracking activists across Europe.

“I have met allies who can report that Russia, as part of their sophisticated information and disinformation operations, engaged actively with so-called non-governmental organisations – environmental organisations working against shale gas – to maintain European dependence on imported Russian gas,” then NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters in 2014.

“That is my interpretation,” Rasmussen said.

Russia has seen its oil revenues collapse and gas monopoly over Europe threatened by fracked oil and gas from the U.S. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his oligarchs have publicly voiced concerns about the impacts of fracking.

Putin has said “black stuff comes out of the tap” when there’s fracking, and Russian state-owned gas company Gazprom said fracking poses “significant environmental risks” to water supplies.

While Russia has been blamed for anti-fracking efforts in Eastern Europe, there’s very limited evidence oligarchs have funneled money to U.S. environmental groups.

Though some fracking proponents say Clinton’s speech lends evidence to this claim.

The Environmental Policy Alliance (EPA) found a Bermuda-based shell corporation with ties to Russian oligarchs has given $23 million to the Sea Change Foundation, an environmental nonprofit, in 2010 and 2011.

Sea Change, in turn, gave millions to U.S.-based environmentalists, including the s the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters.

“These organizations are involved in advocacy and lobbying against the development of natural gas through the process of fracking,” EPA reported in 2015.
http://dailycaller.com/2016/10/10/hi...acking-groups/

That's just business. I've no problem with that one. I think fracking has some problems, I have a friends whose son worked in fracking, he said whether it's safe depends on which company is doing it, there are good ones and bad ones, and the bad ones can cause earthquakes and contaminate the aquifers. He left the business and decided to do something else. So, they need good state regulators to keep an eye on them and protect the land and water. When Putin starts defending illegal aliens or flooding our shores with their illegal aliens like Mexico and China, then Putin will be on my S List. I'll still like the Russian people, though, and will still want to improve our relations with Russia.

Everyone blames Russia for "meddling". What did Great Britain try to do with their MI6 fiction writer, Christopher Steele? They tried to impeach our President in cahoots with the FBI and DOJ.

Wake up, people!!

Originally Posted by Judy

That's just business. I've no problem with that one. I think fracking has some problems, I have a friends whose son worked in fracking, he said whether it's safe depends on which company is doing it, there are good ones and bad ones, and the bad ones can cause earthquakes and contaminate the aquifers. He left the business and decided to do something else. So, they need good state regulators to keep an eye on them and protect the land and water. When Putin starts defending illegal aliens or flooding our shores with their illegal aliens like Mexico and China, then Putin will be on my S List. I'll still like the Russian people, though, and will still want to improve our relations with Russia.

Everyone blames Russia for "meddling". What did Great Britain try to do with their MI6 fiction writer, Christopher Steele? They tried to impeach our President in cahoots with the FBI and DOJ.

Wake up, people!!

US fracking cut into Russia's oil and gas industry so they funneled money to leftist US groups to help them eliminate the competition and those groups became their shills. In my opinion, US environmental groups taking foreign funding for their "protests" and campaigns through murky foundations is a perfect example of actual collusion.

Here’s Everything You Need To Know About Allegations US Environmentalists May Have Secretly Taken Russian Cash


MICHAEL BASTASCH
1:41 PM 07/10/2017

House lawmakers want the Trump administration to investigate reports that a wealthy foundation used an offshore shell company to give millions of dollars to environmental activists opposed to U.S. energy development.

“If you connect the dots, it is clear that Russia is funding U.S. environmental groups in an effort to suppress our domestic oil and gas industry, specifically hydraulic fracking,” Texas Republican Rep. Lamar Smith said Friday.

Smith and Texas Republican Rep. Randy Weber asked Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to investigate whether or not environmentalists were funneling money to U.S. environmental groups through a Bermuda-based shell company.

Republicans are pitching it as part of a larger investigation into the extent of Russian meddling in U.S. politics. Russia, after all, has an incentive to keep U.S. oil and natural gas “in the ground” — a slogan used by many environmental activists.

Activists call the allegations were “absurd and false smears.” Though none of the groups seem keen on heading off a potential investigation by giving back the millions they got from the non-profit under investigation.

So, here’s everything you need to know about the alleged connection between Russia and environmentalists.

Where It All Began

Conservatives and some energy experts have speculated for years Russian oligarchs may have funneled money to environmentalists to oppose energy development, especially hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

Fracking unleashed a U.S. energy boom and contributed to the collapse in oil prices in 2014. Eastern European officials claimed the Kremlin had backed environmental protects against oil and gas operations to keep those countries dependent on Russian imports.

The former head of NATO and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also said Russia had backed environmental activists in Europe, so is it that far-fetched they would also try and influence U.S. energy policy?

A 2015 report by The Washington Free seemed to confirm those fears based on findings from the Environmental Policy Alliance (EPA), which is run by the <acronym title="Google Page Ranking"><acronym title="Google Page Ranking">PR</acronym></acronym> firm Berman and Company.

The Free Beacon reported the Sea Change Foundation got $23 million in 2010 and 2011 from a Bermuda-based shell company based out of a law firm with ties to Russian oligarchs. The law firm, Wakefield Quinn, also manages two Simons-run hedge funds.

What Is The Sea Change Foundation?

Investor Nat Simons and his wife Laura Baxter-Simons founded the Sea Change Foundation in 2006, in part, to “address the serious threats posed by global climate change.” Sea Change held about $168 million in net assets in 2015, according to tax filings.

Simons, who commutes to work everyday in a 54-foot yacht, runs a hedge fund with investments in green energy technology, so any policies to boost renewables could benefit his bottom line.

Inside Philanthropy noted that Sea Change’s “skeletal staff quietly shovels tens of millions of dollars out the door annually to combat climate change” and “that’s pretty much all it does.”

Their website is just one vague page with a short paragraph of information. The website also mentions the non-profit does not take unsolicited grant proposals.

The Bermuda Connection

Sea Change took millions from a shell company set up by Wakefield Quin in 2011 “exclusively for philanthropic purposes,” according to documents. The shell company, Klein Ltd., gave Sea Change $23 million in 2010 and 2011. Klein Ltd is out of Wakefield Quin’s office.

The same year prominent U.S. environmental groups took millions from Sea Change many were ramping up campaigns to oppose fracking operations popping up all over the country.

“The Sierra Club, the Natural Resource Defense Council, the League of Conservation Voters, and the Center for American Progress were among the recipients of Sea Change’s $100 million in grants in 2010 and 2011,” The Free Beacon reported, adding that as “many as 20 companies and investment funds with ties to the Russian government are Wakefield Quin clients.”

Wakefield Quin also has ties to two Simons-run hedge funds, which are run out of the law firm and operated by attorney Roderick Forrest. Those hedge funds held $80 million the same years Klein Ltd. gave $23 million to Sea Change.

Russia Connections?

Several Wakefield Quin employees have ties to Russian firms with Kremlin links, according to the EPA report.

One firm, Spectrum Partners Ltd, is a holding company run out of Wakefield Quin that has a fund “with 53% of its assets invested in the Russian oil and gas industry.”

Wakefielf Quin has ties to a firm co-directed by Hans Rudloff, the chairman of the Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft.

Wakefield Quin also has tied to the “holding company of Russian investment banking firm Troika Dialog,” which “is one of the largest shareholders in an oil company owned by Russian oligarch Alexander Lebedev,” according to EPA. The Bermuda-based firm also has ties to the Firebird New Russia Fund, which invests in Russian energy, and at least two other companies being investigated for money laundering.

What Happens Now?

It’s not clear. The Treasury Department did not respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment, and neither did Sea Change executive director Steve Colwell.

If Mnuchin did decide to investigate, however, it would add a new wrinkle to the ever-widening congressional probe into Russian meddling in U.S. politics and elections.
http://dailycaller.com/2017/07/10/he...-russian-cash/

Foreign Firm Funding U.S. Green Groups Tied to State-Owned Russian Oil Company

Executives at a Bermudan firm funneling money to U.S. environmentalists run investment funds with Russian tycoons



Rosneft, owned by the Russian state, is the world's largest oil company / AP

BY: Lachlan Markay

January 27, 2015 5:00 am

A shadowy Bermudan company that has funneled tens of millions of dollars to anti-fracking environmentalist groups in the United States is run by executives with deep ties to Russian oil interests and offshore money laundering schemes involving members of President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.

One of those executives, Nicholas Hoskins, is a director at a hedge fund management firm that has invested heavily in Russian oil and gas. He is also senior counsel at the Bermudan law firm Wakefield Quin and the vice president of a London-based investment firm whose president until recently chaired the board of the state-owned Russian oil company Rosneft.

In addition to those roles, Hoskins is a director at a company called Klein Ltd. No one knows where that firm’s money comes from. Its only publicly documented activities have been transfers of $23 million to U.S. environmentalist groups that push policies that would hamstring surging American oil and gas production, which has hurt Russia’s energy-reliant economy.

With oil prices plunging as a result of a fracking-induced oil glut in the United States, experts say the links between Russian oil interests, secretive foreign political donors, and high-profile American environmentalists suggest Russia may be backing anti-fracking efforts in the United States.

The interest of Russian oil companies and American environmentalist financiers intersect at a Bermuda-based law firm called Wakefield Quin. The firm acts as a corporate registered agent, providing office space for clients, and, for some, "managing the day to day affairs," according to its website.

As many as 20 companies and investment funds with ties to the Russian government are Wakefield Quin clients. Many list the firm’s address on official documentation.

Klein Ltd. also shares that address. Documents filed with Bermuda’s registrar of companies list just two individuals associated with the company: Hoskins, Wakefield Quin senior counsel and managing director, and Marlies Smith, a corporate administrator at the firm.

According to documents filed with Bermuda’s registrar of companies, Klein Ltd. was incorporated in March 2011 "exclusively for philanthropic purposes," meaning "no part of the net earnings … inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual."

"The company does not propose to carry on business in Bermuda," the documents stated.

The only publicly available documentation of any business conducted by Klein Ltd. were two Internal Revenue Service filings by the California-based Sea Change Foundation, which showed that Klein had contributed $23 million to the group in 2010 and 2011. Klein Ltd. was responsible for more than 40 percent of contributions to Sea Change during those years.

The foundation passed those millions along to some of the nation’s most prominent and politically active environmentalist groups. The Sierra Club, the Natural Resource Defense Council, the League of Conservation Voters, and the Center for American Progress were among the recipients of Sea Change’s $100 million in grants in 2010 and 2011.

Neither Wakefield Quin nor Sea Change responded to multiple requests for more information about their relationships with Klein Ltd.

"None of this foreign corporation’s funding is disclosed in any way," the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee wrote of the company in a report last year. "This is clearly a deceitful way to hide the source of millions of dollars that are active in our system, attempting to effect political change."

The Sierra Club, which received nearly $8.5 million from Sea Change in 2010 and 2011, launched its "Beyond Natural Gas" campaign the following year. The effort has become one of the largest and best-funded environmentalist campaigns combating fracking and the extraction of natural gas in general.

Sea Change’s "skeletal staff quietly shovels tens of millions of dollars out the door annually to combat climate change. And that's pretty much all it does," noted Inside Philanthropy, which awarded the foundation its "sharpest laser focus in grantmaking" award last year.

Nathaniel Simons and his wife run the foundation and are, except for Klein Ltd., its only donors. Simons, a hedge fund millionaire who commutes to work across San Francisco Bay aboard a 50-foot yacht, also runs a venture capital firm that invests in companies that benefit from environmental and energy policies that Sea Change grantees promote.

Simons himself has ties to Klein Ltd. Several Wakefield Quin attorneys are listed as directors of hedge funds that his firm manages, and in which Sea Change has assets.

Senior counsel Rod Forrest was listed on documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a director of two investment funds, Medallion International Ltd. and Meritage Holdings Ltd., in which Sea Change had tens of millions invested while it received money from Klein Ltd.

Simons’ company runs the Meritage Fund. The Medallion Fund is run by Renaissance Technologies, the hedge fund management firm run by his father, billionaire and Democratic mega-donor Jim Simons. Both funds listed Wakefield Quin’s Hamilton, Bermuda, address on SEC filings.

Wakefield Quin’s Hoskins and Smith, as well as a number of other employees of Wakefield Quin, have worked in some capacity for companies or investment funds owned by or tied to Russian state-owned corporations and high-level officials in the country.

Hoskins, Forrest, and another Wakefield employee named Penny Cornell were all listed as executives of Spectrum Partners Ltd., a fund with offices in Moscow, Cypress, and Bermuda, Cornell at the address of Wakefield Quin’s offices.

According to a performance report for one of Spectrum Partners’ funds, its portfolio consisted of "Russian and CIS [former Soviet state] securities and securities outside of Russia or CIS but having significant economic or business involvement with Russia and/or CIS."

As of 2008, more than half of the fund’s holdings were in the oil and gas sectors.

Numerous executives at Wakefield Quin have ties to Russian oil and gas companies, including Rosneft, which is majority-owned by the Russian government and in 2013 became the largest oil company in the world.

Hoskins is the vice president of a London-based company called Marcuard Services Limited, and a member of the firm’s board, according to its website.

The company’s president, and the chairman of its parent company, Bermuda-based Marcuard Holding Limited, is Hans-Joerg Rudloff. Rudloff is also a former vice-chairman of the Rosneft’s board.

Hoskins is also a director at a Bermuda-based subsidiary of Russian investment bank Troika Dialog. That firm organized an initial public offering for Timan Oil & Gas, which is run by Russian oligarch Alexander Lebedev.

The Environmental Policy Alliance, which provided the Washington Free Beacon with a copy of an upcoming report on Klein Ltd.’s Kremlin ties, said Wakefield Quin’s ties to environmental financiers and Russian oil barons merit closer scrutiny.

"The American public deserves to know whether environmentalists are attacking US energy companies at the behest of a Russian government that would like nothing more than to see their international competition weakened," Will Coggin, a senior research analyst at the EPA, said in an emailed statement.

"In the face of mounting evidence, environmental groups are going to have to start answering hard questions about their international funding sources," Coggin said.

The overlap between executives at firms with ties to Russian oil interests and a multi-million-dollar donor to U.S. environmentalist groups has some experts worried that Russians may be replicating anti-fracking tactics used in Europe to attack the practice in the United States.

"I have met allies who can report that Russia, as part of their sophisticated information and disinformation operations, engaged actively with so-called non-governmental organizations—environmental organizations working against shale gas—to maintain European dependence on imported Russian gas," Anders Fogh Rasmussen, formerly NATO’s secretary general, said last year.

It is unlikely that the Kremlin is directly involved in doing so in the United States, according to Ron Arnold of the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise.

"If anybody in Russia is behind all the secretive Bermuda investment house and law firm action, it’s most likely some oligarch bidding against U.S. competition," he said in an email.

Arnold, the author of Undue Influence: Wealthy Foundations, Grant Driven Environmental Groups, and Zealous Bureaucrats That Control Your Future, said that the opacity of Klein Ltd.’s involvement with the Sea Change Foundation exemplifies attempts to shield the source of donations to such groups.

"In my experience of trying to penetrate offshore money funnels for U.S. leftist foundations and green groups, I have found that Liechtenstein, Panama and Bermuda are the Big Three green equivalents of the Cayman Islands for hedge fund managers—totally opaque and impervious to my specially designed research tools," Arnold said.

Update April 27, 2017 9:08 a.m.: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified Food and Water Watch as a recipient of Sea Change grants.
http://freebeacon.com/issues/foreign...n-oil-company/

REPORT: The Chain of Environmental Command

EPW Republicans release in-depth environmental collusion report, “The Chain of Environmental Command: How a Club of Billionaires and Their Foundations Control the Environmental Movement and Obama’s EPA”

July 30, 2014 -


Washington, DC

U.S Environment and Public Works Committee Republicans released a report today highlighting the collusion between environmental activists, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and billionaires using large sums of money to influence environmental public policy.The Chain of Environmental Command: How a Club of Billionaires and Their Foundations Control the Environmental Movement and Obama's EPA

The report uncovers the sophisticated practice of how wealthy donors, referred to in the report as the "Billionaire's Club," funnel money to far-left environmental activists through public charities. It also shows that current leadership at the EPA is very much an active partner in the far-left environmental movement, and even sponsors their efforts through grants to environmental activists.

Key points from the report:

• The "Billionaire's Club," an exclusive group of wealthy individuals, directs the far-left environmental movement. The members of this elite liberal club funnel their fortunes through private foundations to execute their personal political agenda, which is centered around restricting the use of fossil fuels in the United States.

• Public charities attempt to provide the maximum amount of control to their donors through fiscal sponsorships, which are a legally suspect innovation unique to the left, whereby the charity essentially sells its nonprofit status to a group for a fee.

• Public charity activist groups discussed in this report propagate the false notion that they are independent, citizen-funded groups working altruistically. In reality, they work in tandem with wealthy donors to maximize the value of the donors' tax deductible donations and leverage their combined resources to influence elections and policy outcomes, with a focus on the EPA.

• Environmental Grantmakers Association (EGA) is a place where wealthy donors meet and coordinate the distribution of grants to advance the environmental movement. It is a secretive organization, refusing to disclose their membership list to Congress.

• The Obama Administration has installed an audacious green-revolving door among senior officials at EPA, which has become a valuable asset for the environmental movement and its wealthy donors.

• Former environmentalists working at EPA funnel government money through grants to their former employers and colleagues.

• Under President Obama, EPA has given more than $27 million in taxpayer-funded grants to major environmental groups. Notably, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Environmental Defense Fund - two key activists groups with significant ties to senior EPA officials - have collected more than $1 million in funding each.

• EPA also gives grants to lesser-known groups. For example, the Louisiana Bucket Brigade received hundreds of thousands of grants under former Administrator Lisa Jackson despite challenges by state regulators over the use of such grants.

• In New York and Colorado, a pseudo grassroots effort to attack hydraulic fracturing has germinated from massive amounts of funding by the NY-based Park Foundation, as well as CA-based Schmidt Family Foundation and Tides Foundation.

• Bold Nebraska is another example of faux grassroots where a purportedly local organization is, in fact, an arm of the Billionaire's Club. It is a shield for wealthy and distant non-Nebraskan interests who seek to advance a political agenda without drawing attention to the fact that they have little connection to the state.

• The circumstances surrounding the flow of money from 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) groups, and the likelihood of lax oversight, raises questions as to whether 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundations and charities are indirectly funding political activities.

• 501(c)(4) Green Tech Action Fund receives millions of dollars from green 501(c)(3) organizations, then distributes the funds to other 501(c)(4) groups that donate to political campaigns.

• The Billionaire's Club knowingly collaborates with questionable offshore funders to maximize support for the far-left environmental movement.

https://www.epw.senate.gov/public/in...2-10CF6D8D08DF

Yes, I understand, but it's business. Russia isn't the only country using environmental groups to control and impact markets. Germany is too. They want to sell their solar panels here, so they harp on "climate change" .... they don't care more about the environment than the rest of is, we all care about the environment, they just want to promote their solar panels. Trump is going to or has put tariffs on imported solar panels and washing machines to protect US.

Take the Sierra Club, one of their biggest donors is or at least used to be, the DuPont Company. It's business. Who are some of the biggest donors to National Council of La Raza? Kelloggs, Taco Bell and the Ford Foundation.

When everyone understands all the reasons I support the FairTax, they'll be banging their heads on the wall that we've wasted all these years not having it. The FairTax shuts all that phony 501 C 3 murky crap down. There will still be environmentalists, but they won't have tax deductible money from corporate donors to work with, because without the tax deduction, no corporation is going to approve the donation.

From the National Black Chamber of Commerce.

The Mystery of the Environmental Movement

I have often wondered about the zest and ambition about environmental groups like the Sierra Club, Green Peace, Environmental Defense Fund, etc. In all there are at least sixty entities which pound the federal government through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Congress who oversees the EPA. They are equally aggressive with state and local governments. They hate industry as well as farmers, architects, engineers and construction. In fact, they despise anything that advances our economy and improves the quality of life for all of America. They have counterparts elsewhere in the world but they are rather mild when it comes to American environmentalists. I think the rationale for these groups and some political figures has been detected. It is all about the money. I’m talking about big money! Many of the funders are billionaires.

The US Senate’s minority staff for the Environmental and Public Works has recently issued a report: The Chain of Environmental Command: How a Club of Billionaires and Their Foundations Control the Environmental Movement and Obama’s EPA”. This 92 page report breaks it all down. It shows how they filter billions of dollars into various environmental nonprofits. They also select their like-minded friends to work at key positions in the EPA and pursue their agendas. These “plants” will play a role in the funding of nonprofits through the granting of your tax dollars (EPA grants). Some would say that much of the funding can be considered money laundering.

The report confirms the above: “This report examines in detail the mechanisms and methods of a far-left environmental machine that has been erected around a small group of powerful and active millionaires and billionaires who exert tremendous sway over a colossal effort. Although startling in its findings, the report covers only a small fraction of the amount of money that is being secreted and moved around. It would be virtually impossible to examine this system completely given the enormity of this carefully coordinated effort and the lack of transparency surrounding it.”

“The failure to openly acknowledge this force and the silence of the media with whom they coordinate further emphasize the fact that until today, the Billionaire’s Club operated in relative obscurity hidden under the guise of ‘philanthropy’. The scheme to keep their efforts hidden and far removed from the political stage is deliberate, meticulous and intended to mislead the public. While it is uncertain why they operate in the shadows and what they are hiding, what is clear is that these individuals and foundations go to tremendous lengths to avoid public association with the far-left environmental movement they so generously fund.”

“In order to understand how the Billionaire’s Club colludes with the far-left environmental activists and government officials, the report articulates the fundamental framework that governs these relationships. Essentially, the far-left environmental machine is comprised of hundreds of nonprofit organizations. Each entity is set up according to its designated purpose and is either a private foundation or a public charity, depending on where the cog fits in this well-designed wheel.”

This is very, very scary. They are using the environmental movement to control our nation. By doing this they will control the world. It would be a shame if we let them do this. Former New York Mayor Bloomberg is a fine example of this group. He is a billionaire and he loves the environmental movement to a very big fault. Not long ago, the Chesapeake Energy Company made a donation to the Sierra Club to the tune of $35 million. Bloomberg heard of this and sent them $50 million with the provision that they send the Chesapeake money back. They did! The billionaire club will not stand for any outsiders to enter into their web of tyranny.

The National Black Chamber of Commerce has a passion for fighting these environmentalist zealots or should I say “buy outs”. Many are doing it for the big money and the limelight their activities provide. We lock horns with them and most of the time we win. If you paint the real picture of their lies, misdeeds and propaganda reasonable people will wake up and stop them. One of my proudest moments was the defeat of the Cap and Trade Bill. That proposed legislation would have badly hurt America and would have devastated Black communities throughout the land. According to Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe, “When the National Black Chamber of Commerce came to the Senate committee and testified about the terrible effects hidden in the Cap and Trade Bill, the oxygen left the room and the beginning of the end for the proposed legislation was begun.” Our office got about 10,000 emails from supporters after that.

The lesson I got from reading this report is that there is a vast conspiracy to control our lives and deny us freedom. Please read this report: http://bit.ly/1pWaUnV

August 21, 2014
https://www.nationalbcc.org/news/bey...ental-movement

And all the big corporate donors who sponsor and fund all these 501 C 3's, they're the same people who buy advertisements from CNN. It's all the same entities exploiting good to do evil through the income tax code and free press. It's completely disgusting and Americans need to demand an end to it. There's a very simple little bill called HR 25 in the US Congress that will do just that and solve a host of other problems as well, it's called the FairTax.