Joanne Nova
A prize-winning science graduate in molecular biology. She has given keynotes about the medical revolution, gene technology and aging at conferences. She hosted a children’s TV series on Channel Nine, and has done over 200 radio interviews, many on the Australian ABC. She was formerly an associate lecturer in Science Communication at the ANU. She’s author of The Skeptics Handbook, which has been translated into 15 languages.
The Chinese Communist Party just wants to save the Earth, right?
Even though China is the largest single user of fossil fuels on Earth, for some reason, The Energy Foundation China – an NGO dedicated to worrying about carbon emissions – spent nearly $4 million working on reducing US emissions instead of Sino ones. They also spent some undisclosed amount helping the Grantham Research Institute in London last year. So we have donors in a developing country giving generously to the US and UK because the rich first world is too poor to fund their own environmental philanthropy groups, right?
The Energy Foundation China (EFC) generously wants to help the US phase out coal and electrify their cars. But that’s just the nice political power that the CCP is (the kind that also builds fortified islands in shipping lanes):
CCP-Tied Group is Quietly Fueling US-Based Climate Initiatives: Tax Filings
By Thomas Catenacci, Joe Schoffstall Fox News
A climate-focused nonprofit with significant operations in Beijing has wired millions of dollars to fund climate initiatives and environmental groups in the US, according to tax filings first obtained by Fox News Digital.
While the Energy Foundation’s financial filings indicate that the group is technically headquartered in San Francisco, a Fox News Digital review determined that the majority of its operations are conducted in China with a staff that boasts extensive ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Its recently filed tax form shows the group, which refers to itself as “Energy Foundation China,” contributed $3.8 million to initiatives in the US like phasing out coal and electrifying the transportation sector.
The Fox authors list several examples of how the EFC spends its money on climate policy activism. For example, the Chinese group gave $375,000 to the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC) – a non-profit in the US that files legal challenges to stop oil pipelines, drilling, coal plants and other mining activities. The head of the NRDC says they get no money from China and protests that the Energy Foundation is based in San Francisco, but the Fox authors explain that not only does the group lease office facilities in Beijing, but their CEO and President used to be the deputy director general of China’s National Centre for Climate Change Strategy. The program director of the EFC’s “industry program” spent eight years at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The US Energy Foundation gave birth to the Energy Foundation China
The Fox news article could have explained the relationship between the Energy Foundation and the Energy Foundation China. They are separate now, but for 20 years, they were one and the same.
According to InfluenceWatch, the large, original Energy Foundation was set up in the US in 1991. Later, in 1999, the Packard Foundation helped to set up Energy Foundation China. In 2019, the Chinese branch officially split from the larger US group, except it based its headquarters in San Francisco, too (which seems odd if they are trying to influence China).
The parent US “Energy Foundation” is so huge it gave an amazing 52 million dollars (US) to groups around the world last year. Ponder that somehow, the Energy Foundation China was fully enmeshed as a part of that giant machine from 1999 to 2019.
‘A quintessential “pass-through” for donors…’
InfluenceWatch notes that way back in 2014, a US Senate committee already felt the Energy Foundation was a conduit for donors to funnel money to left-wing activism without being easily traced:
A July 2014 report by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works’ Republicans called the Energy Foundation “a quintessential example of a pass-through” for donors who want to fund left-wing environmentalist activism while avoiding accountability for traceable connections to activist groups. The report also stated that the foundation, which cannot support political campaigns directly, transfers money to other groups that can, thanks to loopholes in the tax code.
More profits and power for China
China controls the rare metals market, builds the wind turbines, solar panels, and now also the EVs. Obviously, on a purely self-serving business level, the CCP would be crazy if they weren’t amplifying Green fantasia in the West in order to sabotage the competition. And the idea of undermining energy security and the general industrial power base of the West might also appeal to CCP leaders. And hypothetically, if it did, what would stop it from happening – investigative reporting from The ABC or the BBC? As if.
Related info: Energy Foundation (US) Recent Grants
This article originally appeared at JoNova.