Dr. John Mashey’s report is posted exclusively on DeSmogBlog today. The report, exposing the right wing’s money scrubbing scheme, is extensive in detail to say theย least.
In a nutshell, the 200+ page report finds that wealthy donors like the Koch brothers and Chicago industrialist Barre Seid move money through two organizations called Donor Trust and Donors Capital Fund, which in turn passes that money on to major right wing think tanks like the American Enterprise Institute, Heartland Institute and Americans forย Prosperity.
This money is then used for coordinated efforts to attack science, undermine environmental protections and cast doubt about the scientific realities of climateย change.
Here’s a summary ofย findings:
– The report presents evidence that confirms the speculation that Chicago industrialist Barre Seid has pumped millions into the Heartland Institute’s โglobal warming projectsโ to boost their efforts to fight climate change science [pageย 57].
– Money from Barre Seid was pushed through Donors Trust to fund a major expansion of the Heartland Institute to help in their public relations efforts to deny the realities of climateย change.
– The majority of the Donors Capital Board is made up of right wing think tank heads that also were heavily involved in the fight to defend Bigย Tobacco.
– Exposes another philanthropic vehicle established by the Koch Brothers called the โKnowledge and Progress Fundโ – this fund has moved over $7m through Donors Trust [pageย 71].
– All funds that go through Donors Trust become tax deductions for the donors, while much of that money goes to political causes and policyย fights.
– Other major recipients of Donors Trust money are: Americans for Prosperity, American Enterprise Institute, Acton Institute, Cato Institute, Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy and the Media Researchย Center.
You can check out the entire 4MB PDF version of the Mashey reportย here.
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