Michael Donnelly has been writing about the problem of the "Democratic/Green revolving door," and how organizations that add their support to corporate-friendly legislation are routinely rewarded with big foundation grants (and will somebody please do an expose of the role foundations play in laundering money to buy progressive validators for corporatist legislation?). It has led to the corruption of progressive groups across the board.
The Sierra Club is now fiercely advocating for the passage of
Kerry-Lieberman. But as James
Handley says:
In exchange for an energy-giveaway bill masquerading as a climate bill, they're in effect lobbying for dirty energy subsidies and for undercutting much of EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gases -- an authority that these same groups once vigorously defended, and which was recently upheld by the Supreme Court.
Carbon cap and trade was a scheme cooked up by BP and Enron lobbyists in the mid nineties. BP has subsequently dropped millions of dollars into the coffers of green groups to pave the way for it. Obama's cry to pass Kerry-Lieberman as punishment for BP is not only highly ironic, it's also illustrative of just how broken our national discourse around environmental issues has become.
Until progressive groups successfully address the challenge of funding themselves independent of the elite individuals and institutions that act as enforcers of a corporate agenda, they will not be able to successfully advocate for progressive causes. Any success they might have will mean that their funding dries up, and they will cease to exist.
The Sierra Club is a marquee name that has indeed gone for the green: cash. Environmental activists should carefully examine the way in which the organization is operating, and whether its agenda is worthy of continued support.
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