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2004/5/21-22 [Science/GlobalWarming, Politics/Domestic/President/Bush] UID:30357 Activity:nil |
5/21 Sen. Inhofe: Taxpayer Funded Radicals Unethical http://newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/5/21/144238.shtml Federal Grants Awarded to Environmental NGOs, 1997 -2001 http://www.sovereignty.net/p/ngo/ngochart.shtml |
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newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/5/21/144238.shtml Inhofe: Taxpayer Funded Radicals Unethical Taxpayers who support President Bushs re-election may be unaware of it, but rabidly anti-Bush Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has received at least $35 million in taxpayer money in recent years, according to information from the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW). Further, the Senator met with officials of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) late Wednesday to demand an accounting of "how better to disclose what grants are available and to whom grants are being awarded. org, the latter backed by the Bush-hating multi-billionaire George Soros. As Inhofe pointed out on the Senate floor, the ad complete with pictures of a power plant with billowing smoke - claims that Bushs policies are the source of mercury contamination in fish and that the president is simply following the wishes of industry contributors. "So why is President Bush trying to weaken controls on mercury pollution? "The facts, however, are very different, says Senator Inhofe. The president, he points out, "has proposed the first controls on mercury emissions from power plants, despite the claim of NRDC. The group should be asked by the Better Business Bureau to substantiate its claims, the senator believes. Beyond violating the standards of the Better Business Bureau that solicitations and informational materials be "accurate, truthful and not misleading in any part, there is a legal question. The New York Times ad, which was circulated throughout the nation, "may be unlawful in as many as forty other states. In the senators Oklahoma, state prosecutors based in Tulsa and Oklahoma City have begun investigations of that. Other senators are known to be inquiring as to how the law applies in their states, as well. who attempts to solicit any contribution as a charitable organization by means of knowingly false or misleading advertisement shall lose its status as a tax-exempt organization and upon conviction be guilty of a felony. At the bottom of the ad is a form which readers can use to send money to NRDC. It reads, "Yes, I want to join the Natural Resources Defense Council to help thwart President Bushs plan to weaken controls on toxic mercury. Then comes the line, "Here is my tax-deductible gift of $. One of NRDCs allies, the Environmental Working Group struck back by filing charges against Senator Inhofe with the Senate Ethics Committee. Specifically the EWG charges the Oklahoma Republican violated Senate ethics by criticizing the voting record of presumptive Democratic president nominee John Kerry on such environmental issues as "global warming and drilling for oil in Alaska. Fact of the Day and in no way claimed to be the view of the entire EPW committee. The gist of the Environmental Working Groups complaint was that while Inhofe was accusing NRDC of unethical behavior, he was engaged in it himself. unethical behavior, were accusing them of illegal behavior, and were not doing anything unethical, Committee Counsel Ryan Jackson told NewsMaxcom. At the Wednesday meeting with EPA, Senator Inhofe pursued his request for over 200 "questionable grant files (direct taxpayer subsidies) "to various discretionary recipients over the past 6 years to investigate who has received grant funding and what they have produced." Some of the grantees listed by the senators office include NRDC, Environmental Defense, Climate Neutral Network, Tides Center and Tides Foundation, Earth First, World Resources Institute, "and various grants on climate change and environment education. EPA promised to look into the matter of subsidies, including the $35 million to NRDC, of which the senator is aware. As to prosecutions, Jackson tells NewsMax, there is a question of whether local district attorneys have the resources to pursue it. With all the resources available to the EPA, putting ones finger on all the relevant expenditures of money to these organizations can be difficult because they come from various sources and different programs. However, Chairman Inhofe believes he is on to something. |
www.sovereignty.net/p/ngo/ngochart.shtml Preview Prepared by the Environmental Conservation Organization Become a member? Federal Grants Awarded to Environmental NGOs, 1997 -2001 (Partial list) Source: Office of Management and Budget Organization Total 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 The Nature Conservancy $146,689,449 $24,720,360 $19,304,282 $27,260,627 $37,269,365 $38,134,815 World Wildlife Fund $92,607,753 $23,997,220 $18,097,610 $13,556,234 $17,571,355 $19,385,334 Environmental Careers Organization $52,029,172 $8,687,951 $9,072,707 $10,587,690 $11,872,942 $11,807,882 American Farmland Trust $7,712,732 $1,238,378 $1,469,713 $1,863,687 $981,088 $2,159,866 ICLEI - International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives $5,691,353 $1,512,237 $1,495,537 $1,515,509 $1,168,070 - Institute for Global Environmental Strategies $4,661,133 $408,879 $621,406 $853,594 $1,200,961 $1,576,293 National Audubon Society $4,147,380 $832,046 $654,500 $654,970 $1,002,565 $1,003,299 Environmental Defense Fund $1,737,432 - $750,385 - $436,874 $550,173 Environmental Law Institute $8,932,003 $1,570,848 $2,320,285 $2,264,709 $1,506,146 $1,270,015 Center for International Environmental Law $2,263,636 $665,286 $707,838 $487,020 - $403,492 Columbia Basin Fish & Wildlife Foundation $9,647,240 $1,666,542 $1,686,199 $1,584,650 $1,819,535 $2,890,314 Int Assn of Fish & Wildlife Agencies $6,006,685 $761,325 $1,020,898 $1,424,197 $1,658,165 $1,142,100 - National Fish & Wildlife Assn $66,738,683 $8,863,897 $8,863,897 $9,418,950 $11,867,319 $27,724,620 - American Planning Association $2,869,454 $484,134 $466,705 $494,654 $473,563 $950,398 STAPPA - State & Territorial Air Pollution Program Administrators $4,095,343 - $965,024 $985,715 $1,024,404 $1,120,200 WRI - World Resources Institute $13,990,584 $3,170,692 $3,179,811 $2,431,803 $2,907,056 $2,301,222 NRDC - Natural Resources Defense Council $4,209,499 $1,019,241 $915,534 $835,809 $759,596 $679,319 Resources for the Future $10,175,557 $1,974,861 $2,229,688 $2,040,500 $1,695,128 $2,235,380 Institute for Sustainable Communities $27,025,170 $3,697,639 $4,444,350 $5,552,943 $6,787,810 $6,542,428 Alliance for Chesapeake Bay $6,233,023 $1,074,170 $1,264,282 $1,447,702 $1,200,837 $1,246,032 Alliance to Save Energy $13,359,988 $1,050,288 $2,198,381 $2,759,096 $3,309,700 $4,042,523 ECOS - Environmental Council of States $8,474,220 - $716,855 $1,653,177 $2,616,833 $3,487,355 Green Mountain Institute for Environmental Democracy $1,534,806 $564,640 $572,529 $397,637 - - Marine Environmental Sciences Consortium $3,345,928 $634,857 $758,329 $878,138 $1,074,604 - National Environmental Educational & Training Foundation $4,962,541 $802,316 $924,292 $1,409,499 - $1,826,434 Totals: $509,140,764 $89,397,807 $84,701,037 $92,358,510 $110,203,916 $132,479,494 Comment on this article Membership preview | Become a member? |