Energy

Biden Admin Officials Address Climate Confab Backed By Left-Wing Megadonors, Corporations

Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Nick Pope Contributor
Font Size:

Numerous high-level Biden administration officials addressed a New York City climate change summit this week backed by numerous corporations and left-wing organizations.

White House climate advisers Ali Zaidi and John Podesta, who plays a leading role in distributing green energy subsidies from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Deputy Interior Secretary Tommy Beaudreau, Deputy Energy Secretary David Turk and Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory spoke at the Climate Week NYC summit, according to a spokesperson for the Climate Group, which hosted the summit. The Climate Group receives funding from numerous “like-minded,” left-wing nonprofit organizations like Bloomberg Philanthropies, and the event received sponsorship from several deep-pocketed corporations, according to Climate Group’s website.

Other high-level Biden administration officials have descended upon New York this week to attend and partake in a slate of climate-related events, including Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, according to E&E News. (RELATED: Top Biden Energy Official Says It’s Unsustainable To Replace Gas Cars With EVs, Suggests Ways To Decrease Driving)

Corporate sponsors for this year’s summit include Saint-Gobain, ABInBev, Google, McKinsey Sustainability and Oliver Wyman, according to the Climate Group’s website.

Critics of sweeping government action on climate, like the IRA, consistently state that green energy and anti-fossil fuel policies make life more expensive in the short-term, particularly for middle- and working-class people. The summit attracts climate change pundits, corporate executives, politicians and international officials to discuss climate policy and the need for a green energy transition.

The Climate Group also serves as secretariat for the Under2 Coalition, a group of 167 subnational governments from across the world that is meant to “[share] policy innovation and success to accelerate the transition to a net zero economy,” according to Under2’s website.

One Climate Group donor is the New Venture Fund, a left-wing organization that makes grants to other left-wing groups, according to Climate Group’s website and InfluenceWatch. The New Venture Fund is administered by Arabella Advisors, a consultancy that manages several left-wing and Democrat-aligned dark money groups.

Bloomberg Philanthropies, another donor to the Climate Group, is a left-wing charitable foundation established by former New York City Mayor and Democratic megadonor Michael Bloomberg. The organization is a leading donor to the Sierra Club, one of the most legally active environmentalist groups in the U.S. that frequently files lawsuits against fossil fuel-related projects.

ClimateWorks, which also funds the Climate Group, is a foundation that serves as an intermediary for funds donated by left-wing groups like the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, according to InfluenceWatch. ClimateWorks then shells out those funds to a number of environmentalist groups that advocate for policies like emissions taxes and reductions to driving.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation also funds the Climate Group, according to the Climate Group’s website. Over the years, the foundation has given millions to left-of-center environmental groups, as well as organizations that promote population control, according to InfluenceWatch.

The White House did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.