Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Would You Believe Bill McKibben Doesn't Know Who Funds 350.org?

Would you believe that Bill McKibben doesn't know who funds his organization, 350.org? No, I wouldn't either. But here he is on video, about a year ago (jump to the 13:15 mark), saying -- not very convincingly -- that he doesn't know, even though he says they have 7 full-time employees.

McKibben is President and Co-Founder of 350.org. He's in charge. Presidents of nonprofits usually know who funds them. He doesn't seem to want to say. To her credit, Karyn Strickler, the interviewer, presses him on it and expresses her incredulity, even though she is sympathetic to 350.org's mission.

What is with these environmental organizations (Center for American Progress is another one) who expect transparency from their foes but won't provide it themselves?





I'm not sure exactly when the interview was shot -- the video's stats start the week of 12/7/10.

10 comments:

Mike Mangan said...

Really doesn't help your cause with George Soros funding so much of the efforts. He's the closest thing to an AntiChrist/Emperor Palpatine character on the world stage right now.

Anonymous said...

to save you suffering The question "How is 350.org funded ?is at 13'10"
Ans : "Not very well ...err to the degree we have any money at all it comes from a few foundations ..err ..err .. A foundation in Sweden Raspusin-or-somethin
- So you don't get any money from those big ones Rockerfeller, Pugh etc ?
- Err no .. Rockerfeller brothers gave us some right when we started out
- So they no longer fund you ?
- err I don't know
- well that's somethin people usually know
... moves on to say this summer has been the WARMEST SUMMER EVER in the northern hemisphere ..90 countries have set records (believe that if you want for a video recorded in mid July 2010 ..don't most hottest days come in August ?)

David Appell said...

George Soros is the "antichrist?" Why, just because he supports organizations you don't?

papertiger said...

I was under the impression that George Soros doesn't believe in religion, but I assume that about all communists. Could be my mistake.

Back to main topic, same applies to Sciblogs. On the face it's a product of a for profit Canadian LLC, but there are no profits, and the mother company gets recapitalized every six months or so, just in the nick of time to keep the ship from going under.

Who is their sugar daddy?

papertiger said...

Not curious enough to commit identity theft to find out.
BTA, Peter Gleick proves that California doesn't care about ID theft enough to prosecute.
Maybe there is no foul in pretending to be a board member to infiltrate 350.org, Think Progress, or SciBlogs.

David Appell said...

Lots of people don't believe in religion. That hardly makes them the antichrist -- and seeing what religious institutions have done over the centuries, there'd be plenty of competition anyway.

stewgreen said...

- Interesting a Canadian eco-blogger basically calls McKibben an evil capitalist exploiter in this post Why I Refuse to Promote Bill McKibben

Hugh K said...

Lots of people don't believe in catostrophic anthropogenic global warming. That hardly makes them deniers - or does it David?

Why It's OK to Use the Word "Denier" by David Appell

Brian G Valentine said...

The interesting thing about the 350 program is, it could not be achieved even if all fossil fuel use in the world stopped tomorrow. CO2 in the atmosphere would just keep rising (not as rapidly), it is a function of air and ocean temperature.

Neither have anything to do with CO2 in the air.

I would rather be identified as a "denier" than a pathetic, bone-headed, obsessive-compulsive psychopath that refuses to examine a cause-and-effect relationship that isn't there

Unknown said...

350.org's website posts all their institutional funders (but not individuals). It was not difficult to find and seems pretty transparent to me (below). Not very nice of him to forget all these people though.

Our Sources
In addition to individual contributions, 350.org's work was supported by the following foundations in Fiscal Year 2011:

Artists Project Earth
Arntz Family Foundation
Binnacle Family Foundation
Changing Horizons Fund
Chorus Foundation
Clif Bar Family Foundation
Flora Family Fund
Fullerton Family Foundation
Gould Family Foundation
Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment
HKH Foundation
Janelia Foundation
The Kendeda Fund
Lewis Family Foundation
The Libra Foundation
Mason Hirst Foundation
Mental Insight Foundation
Mertz Gilmore Foundation
The Minor Foundation for Major Challenges
Namaste Foundation
Oak Foundation
One Percent Foundation
The Overbrook Foundation
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Rockefeller Family Fund
Swift Foundation
V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation
William B. Wiener, Jr. Foundation
Working Assets/CREDO Fund of the Tides Foundation