Michael Mann claims to be the victim of a big oil campaign.
Let’s look at the money situation.
I have always been amazed at the in kind value of services provided to the left and enviros by the media.
Nice to have free advertizing for your position.
However that’s not the half of it.
Marita Noon provides a list of tax filings information on Enviro NGOs that is eye popping.
Marita says, in response to my request a few months ago.
As requested, here is the list of the top ten enviro groups and their assets.
I included this list in my book Energy Freedom—though as you can see I did not compile the list:
Greetings All!
Top Ten Environmental Groups
Green groups get gobs of greenbacks
Mark Hemingway, Washington Examiner, 29 November, 2010
Just because an organization is a nonprofit, that doesn’t mean it’s poor. Environmental organizations are thriving and have considerable financial resources at their disposal, with revenue coming from government grants and contracts, direct mail and Internet fundraising campaigns, foundation grants, and gifts from rich activists.
According to the latest tax filings, here’s the net worth of some of the nation’s largest and most prominent environmental organizations.
1. Nature Conservancy—Total assets: $5,636,393,924
2. The Conservation Fund—Total assets: $451,178,482
3. World Wildlife Fund—Total assets: $426,048,663
4. Trust for Public Land—Total assets: $399,026,229
5. Conservation International Foundation—Total assets: $370,034,224
6. National Audubon Society—Total assets: $337,695,958
7. Natural Resources Defense Council—Total assets: $232,276,696
8. Environmental Defense Fund—Total assets: $145,765,426
9. Sierra Club Foundation—Total assets: $107,928,024
10. National Wildlife Federation—Total assets: $69,448,048
this short list of the enviro specialty NGOs compares to the feeble funding of all the NGOs that would be described as conservative, all the way to the biggest, Heritage. Conservative funding for advocacy and research is a pittance compared to what happens on the left.
Crony capitlists and limosine liberal but also gov and NGO sources load these lefty green entities up so outfints like Heartland, with less than 10 million in funding a year, can’t hope to compete on spending even just against these enviro NGOs, much less the whole lefty establishment that sings from the same hymnal.
Heartland to Cato and even Heritage don’t have the money heft, and have to be thrifty just to survive in the fight with such a well funded opposition that gets plenty of moolah from the government directly or indirectly and then they turn around and enter into collusive lawsuits. .
Dunn Note: Remember that isn’t the half of it, in addition to the free support from the media, the Enviro NGOs can count on coordinated support and propaganda from other lefty organizations, some very well heeled that don’t specialize in enviro issues but do actively and energetically support and fund enviro causes. And then there is the democrat party that considers enviro issues a sacred totem, and devotes money/time and political capital and propaganda help to the cause.
When you see the trollers the occausionally come on this web site remember that on the bigger web sites their presence is even more influential and when the greenies want a matching T shirt parade or demonstration for some enviro issue, rent a mob from the well financed left can produce paid “volunteers” and deliver them by bus whereever and whenever.
Do you think the funds that flow to the lefty enviro for research and advocacy from the government are insignificant, consider how more than a billion of funds for “climate” might be leaked over into advocacy and that do make a difference.
Look around yourself and see how many people are left to convert amongst your dwindling circle of followers. It doesn’t matter whether your fire and brimstone sermons are the truth, you are preaching to the choir. If you want a movement to grow you must win converts.
In the arena of politics and public opinion it doesn’t matter who is right or wrong; it matters who is convincing. No person’s mind has ever been changed by shouting. Self-righteous diatribes are the distraction that prevents people from seeing the documented scientific truths. If you’re not interested in addressing counterpoints because your emotionalism impairs your reason, why bother allowing comments at all? Why continue the charade that you’re interested in open discourse and frank discussion of issues if you believe that no member of the “lefty army” can be brought round to your way of thinking? Such attitudes quickly become self-fulfilling prophecies as anyone who would be open to debate learns that no intelligent debate is available.
In short, yes you should be polite. What would manners cost you? I can tell you the cost of your invective filled attack. Neither Menkit nor any other like-minded reader that stumble across this page will ever respect or acknowledge anything you write or recommend. Telling yourself that they wouldn’t have anyway is just a classic example of “sour grapes”
I am not tolerant of those who would pretend that we are just dealing with a well meant difference of opinion. I see the hand and the money of the left in this environmental/anti capitalist movement and it’s “spontaneous demonstrations and vandalism.
Vaclav Klaus did too, and pointed it out. He should know, he knew the commies well since he is of the Czech Republic.
The left is 24/7 about politics, well funded all the way to Soros and his limosine liberal friends, and the left is pushing an anti capitalist/ anti free market/socialist totalitarian agenda.
I am supposed to be polite with a question about whether demonstrators are part of the army? Questions like, Show me the evidence that the demonstrators are part of the lefty army and not sincere, distract and are motivated by ignorance or mendacity. I will not put up with mendacity in the service of the left.
John B above points out the obvious on the question, the demonstrators are part of a bought and paid for army or just leftist idiots or True Believers who do what they are told.
In many cases the true believers are just insecure suckers, but the people who organize them and many of the people who show up are told what to do and compensated for their time. For example on certain issues unions and other lefty organizations swell the ranks of demonstrators because they do what they are told and they are paid.
For example, the communists organized the Free Speech movement in Berkeley but that was under the radar. For other examples, read David Horowitz. We are dealing with a very well organized opposition on the left and i will not pander to lefty commenters or trollers from the left.
Asking questions about the good intentions of people who work for the left just makes me damn mad. How’s that. This is war, not a tea party, look around.
John, Menkit asked a reasonable question. Is demanding sound, reasonable proof of claims not a prime function of this site? As it stands, I doubt he’ll stick around to learn anything after having been summarily told off in such a hostile and insulting fashion.
If the opposition is ignorant, then the solution is to politely inform. The standards of proof to back up a claim must work both ways. If you’re going to post a controversial opinion and then belittle anyone who expresses disagreement without addressing their points then you are the “troll”, not Menkit. The only thing you’ve proven to him with your tirade is that all the prejudicial stereotypes about “crazy deniers” are true.
The fun thing to do is to ask the protestors questions about the issue they are protesting. Their answers come in three forms
(1) unintelligible (2) they call over a “leader” to answer for them; or, inevitably, (3) they swear at you and call you names.
Not an intelligent discourse, but, as O’Keefe has shown, very educational as far as showing who is actually doing the protesting.
Proof is subjective. I assume you’ve done some research yourself and found the anecdotal evidence lacking. It’s hard to approach the topic without coming off as a conspiracy theorist. Behind the scenes deals made under the table, powerful NGO shadow organizations with off-the-books backing from competing interests, it’s all a bit too cloak-and-dagger to believe.
There’s also a matter of definition. What many people mean when they say “professional protester” is any paid community organizer. There’s nothing illicit or even immoral about that job, but some people still find it distasteful that what they consider a low-level politician is staging protests. They consider it “astro-turfing”, faking a grass-roots movement by inciting protest and gathering together a disparate minority of thought to give the impression of a local majority.
Interviews with protestors often reveal that they are from far away and only traveled for the purpose of protesting. Some even refer to themselves as professionals. Several news agencies have documented the same protestor carrying signs at multiple sites during a year, but again, that’s all anecdotal. It’d be pretty easy to just make up someone out of whole cloth and run a blog story about how they’ve proven corruption. The concept isn’t new and is even admitted in other areas (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/21/union-protest-homeless_n_2170880.html
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mRIKLFMAV50BmkEz6phiY8zCBkvCLsK-pVWOtbp1J6U/edit?hl=en_US&pli=1 ). Some companies aren’t even all that subtle about making the distinction (http://grassrootscampaigns.com/jobs-2/ ).
But it seems you’re referring to a specific cause which makes it even more difficult.
If what you need is some kind of financial paper trail, I’m not sure if one would exist. The proposed process isn’t exactly illegal. If a non-profit takes donations with the stated purpose that it will support protests, then giving money to protestors and paying for their expenses is perfectly legal. All transactions can be made through cash. It’s up to the recipient to declare the income for taxes. I haven’t heard anyone claiming it’s a well-paying job. More like the sort of thing cash-strapped students do for quick spending money, like selling plasma, or taking mall surveys.
For the sake of discussion, what would you consider proof?
You surely gest, and given the money and advocacy that is obviously orchestrated, even if you or someone else might be demonstrating to relieve yourself of your inner anger about some evil capitalist plot–don’t bore me with your antics about the histrionics of the left being spontaneous–the demonstrations from enviro to wall street are part of a well planned effort of the lefty socialists. How do you like it being suckered by the commies, dummy? If you, my friend are stupid enough to join their demonstration it doesn’t change the reality–this is put together by well heeled lefty funded enviro groups who hope for a socialist totalitarian state and like to use environmentalism to attract well meaning numbskulls like you who would demonstrate tomorrow for Mother Gaia. Get it??
true believers do join, but that doesn’t change the reality that they are suckers for the cant and the nonsense. That includes you, apparently, since you would assert you’re doing it for mother gaia or whatever other iconic totem attracts your enthusiasm.
Where is proof that activists/protesters are paid as a ‘rent a crowd’? I’ve heard this claim before but never seen proof. Most activists protest because they truly care about the issue and not because they are ‘paid.’ It’s an insult to the people who do care about the planet to suggest otherwise. All very well to knock global warming but if you are going to insinuate anything about issue supporters you better give us proof.
Don’t forget the trickle-up economics. For instance, college students donating vast amounts of money and time that they wouldn’t be able to were it not for the generous support of tax dollars. They might even get credits for their advocacy. How many of the green movement’s massive voluntary workforce would dissapear overnight if the federal government wasn’t spending the people’s taxes to liberate them from “job lock”.
A biased media was the silenced issue in the battle against McCain/Feingold. It was the unseen elephant in the room. Their biased coverage is worth millions of dollars of Ads.
The comment was very cogent and reliable. The lefties have the dough and the energy and they are not to be underestimated.
Reblogged this on pdx transport.
Reblogged this on Power To The People and commented:
Environmental Groups are swimming in money plus have the support of mainstream media, Hollywood and Big Government. So when you hear “big oil” is funding so called skeptics in man made climate change keep in mind that many of the big money foundations who fund the environmental groups, like oil funded Rockefeller, also have big oil behind them.