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An orbiting satellite zooms complex imaging apparatus onto a ranch
or public lands and records information on grazing regions. This
digital information is shared with Forest Guardians and over 25
other environmental organizations. The greens then use this information
to generate another round of lawsuits against land users. Science
fiction or basis for a novel? Nope! Sadly, it is happening as
you read this article, and those satellites can zoom in so closely
they can count the tiles on a roof. The full GIS (Geographic Information
System) capability has been made available to the environmental
community due to the generosity of Hewlett-Packard, the Environmental
Systems Research Institute and the Conservation GIS Consortium.
Hewlett-Packard? Those folks who make computer equipment?
Yep, and they are among the hundreds of foundations that generously
support the environmental movement. With money like that behind
them, no wonder the environmental groups are in a suing frenzy.
They are well financed in their legion of lawsuits.
The research document and guide for grantseekers, "Environmental
Grantmaking Foundations," is published by Resources for Global
Sustainability and identifies 740 donor foundations that control
$77 billion in assets and give away approximately $500 million
in environment-related grants each year.
Briefly, and vastly over-simplified, this is how a giving
or donor, tax-exempt corporation functions: A corporation or wealthy
individual, in lieu of paying taxes, funds a foundation with pretax
monies. After a formation and endowment period, foundation monies
are placed in an investment portfolio. By IRS law, a percentage
of the returns from investments must be given to worthy social
causes. (The majority of foundations do truly give to worthy causes.)
Usually, those are other nonprofits that have been awarded tax-exempt
status by the IRS.
Hundreds of eligible environmental nonprofits vie for available
grants. They have learned to tap the great pool of wealth concentrated
at society’s top and have realized their "visions" are the keys
to the cash box. They accomplish this by showing the funding foundation
how their ideological focus is similar. Once a grant is in hand,
the officers of the receiving nonprofit are assured of a substantial
personal income (as high as six figures), as long as they enforce
the values of glitterati funding their efforts.
It boils down to this. The wealthy, or corporations, create
foundations which support them and their heirs with non-taxed
dollars. In the giving by "green" foundations, ensuing profits
from investments are poured into organizations which zealously
work to deprive ranchers, farmers, loggers, miners, and manufacturers
of the natural resources needed to survive.
Which foundations are so intent on supporting the environmental
movement? Have you driven a Ford lately? Eaten any of Hormel’s
Spam? Placed your money with Bank of America? Used an AT&T telephone
or watched Ted Turner’s CNN? The list is obviously too much of
a frog choker for this article. The fountainhead of knowledge
in this area is Ron Arnold, the editor of The Private Sector.
Arnold has amassed enormous amounts of information on who is feeding
the greens. His hugely informative newsletter and books are available
through The Wise Use Memo, 12500 N. E. 10th Place, Bellevue, Wash. 98005. "Environmental Grantmaking Foundations" may be ordered at 1-800-724-1857. Related web sites are: Private Foundations on Internet <http://fdncenter.org>; Philanthropy-Journal <http://www.philanthropy-journal.org>.
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