The Shell USA Company Foundation, a U.S.-focused philanthropic arm of the Shell oil company, has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to organizations that include climate change deniers, the Guardian reported.
Many of these donation recipient groups are on the Project 2025 advisory board and committed to denying that rising temperatures are a global crisis and reducing the role of the EPA, noted the news outlet.
What's happening?
As the Guardian reported, the Shell USA Company Foundation gave $544,010 to "broadly" anti-environment organizations between 2013 and 2022. Tax records reveal the details of these donations to groups such as the Heartland Institute and the American Family Association.
The Guardian and DeSmog analyzed the foundation's giving and found that 21 or more recent foundation grantees are "aggressively opposed to progressive cultural and economic change."
Other red-flagged grantees on Shell's giving list include Hillsdale College, Defending Freedom, the First Liberty Institute, and Students for Life of America.
Wake Forest University professor Adrian Bardon said, per the news outlet, "Shell has every reason to want to maintain close relationships with organizations that wield outsize political influence and just happen to reliably support the interests of the fossil fuel industry."
Why are the foundation's donations important?
Where a corporation's money goes speaks volumes about its priorities and internal culture.
Donations like the ones highlighted in the Guardian's article stand in stark contrast to the eco-friendly measures the company has publicly promoted to support electric vehicles and EV battery swap stations. Yet Shell cannot hide where its charitable donations are going because its foundation is a registered nonprofit required to file public tax returns with the IRS.
This story reminds us to be mindful of potential corporate greenwashing campaigns that mislead the public into thinking companies prioritize the environment when the money trail indicates otherwise.
What's being done about corporate anti-climate efforts?
Fortunately, there are watchdog organizations like InfluenceMap that report on inconsistencies between companies' climate commitments and secret lobbying activities. We must hold companies accountable for their actions and encourage transparency in the motivations behind their charitable donations and policy goals.
As an individual, you can arm yourself with unbiased and accurate information about the businesses you support and make your own donations to action-oriented, climate-focused causes. Donating to clean energy organizations and investing in clean economy stocks are among the most impactful ways to support and promote a cleaner, greener planet for us all.
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