Two big stories on Tuesday demonstrated a couple facts that we already know: there's a lot of money in climate denial, and much of it comes at the public's expense.
At DeSmog Blog, Graham Readfearn has uncovered that Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund, two sibling organizations housed at the same address, have an income of $470 million that's completely "dark." What this means is—because of charity donation rules—those who gave the money didn't have to declare it. While it's been known these two groups were a conduit for hidden funding, the scale of their war chest is what makes this big news. Of the $511 million they brought in between '05 and '12, only $32 million can be traced back to funders. This means that unknown actors are using these groups to make tax-deductible donations to fund climate denial without having to risk their reputation, using hundreds of millions of dollars to finance campaigns to stave off regulations on fossil fuels.
Meanwhile, Damian Carrington and Harry Davies have a piece on a Guardian investigation highlighting the power of campaign donations. They show how the world's biggest fossil fuel companies make sizable donations to politicians and reap the benefits through tax breaks and subsidies. For example, when Tom Corbett was Governor of Pennsylvania, he received over $1 million in campaign donations from oil and gas and granted Shell a tax credit of $66 million annually for 25 years.
So while these companies make record profits, taxpayers are helping foot the bill. And by virtue of undisclosed tax-deductible donations to "dark money" groups like Donors Trust, we're also subsidizing climate denial organizations working to protect the fossil fuel industry from regulation.
If only money could buy love, then maybe these folks would treat the world a little better (because as we know, love is all you need…)
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