Media campaign against wind energy funded by anonymous conservatives

By Giles Parkinson on 18 February 2013

The Guardian report has revealed that the two trusts – Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund – served as the bankers of the conservative movement over the past decade, by promising them anonymity and guaranteeing that the $120 million in funds would be channeled as required.An investigation by The Guardian newspaper into the funding campaigns for climate denialists groups has revealed that rich conservatives have also used a pair of secretive trusts to fund a media campaign against windfarms and solar projects.

According to The Guardian, the campaign has successfully muddied the water around climate change and renewables, and effectively wrecked the chances of Congress acting on climate change in the world’s largest economy.

The latest revelations suggest the funds also supported a campaign to stop state governments in the US moving towards renewable energy. The revelations come as questions are asked in Australia about the support of anti-climate and anti-renewables think tanks such as the IPA, and specific anti-wind campaigns such as the Landscape Guardians, and a recently launched anti-wind website called Stopthesethings.

The Guardian report identifies a new entity called The Franklin Centre for Government and Public Integrity as one vehicle supported by the Donors funds. Franklin received $6.3 million from the two funds in 2011, helping it expand the reach of its watschdog.org network, which purports to provide independent journalism on government waste and use of taxpayers funds, but is focused on promoting conservative and libertarian causes, particularly on issues such as renewable energy.

The Guardian said the funding of the Franklin Centre signalled a shift in priorities for the conservative billionaires who are funding the anti-climate cause towards local and state-level organising. In 2011, Donors Trust helped the Franklin Centre expand its media operations to Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio and Virginia, the Centre for Public Integrity reported in an investigation on conservative funding networks.

As The Guardian explains: