Climate Change > Anti-Oil Funding Skyrockets Under Trudeau; Poland Says EU Hampering Climate Goals; EC Chief - 'Ecological Sinner'

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Federal ENGO Funding Skyrockets Under Trudeau

The Epoch Times

Nov 3, 2021

As part of the Allan Inquiry, accounting firm Deloitte Forensic was instructed to determine the increase over time in federal funding for ENGOs.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau presents his national statement as part of the World Leaders Summit of the COP26

UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, on Nov. 1, 2021. (Ian Forsyth/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

The inquiry found that 26 ENGOs received a total of $41.4 million from 2004 to 2014. Then from 2015 to 2019, during Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s first term, that amount climbed to over $372.5 million.

Franco Terrazzano, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, criticizes the huge volume of federal funding of ENGOs in the face of Canada’s growing debt.

“The federal government was running big deficits during this time [2015–2019] and failed to balance the budget like Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised, so it’s concerning for taxpayers to see these costs increase like this,” Terrazzano told The Epoch Times.

ENGO Funding Dwarfs That of Pro-Industry Groups

ENGOs have pointed out that the funding they receive is nothing in comparison to the strength of the oil and gas industry and lobby. The energy industry, in turn, alleges that the ENGOs perpetuate a “David and Goliath” narrative while being bankrolled by left-wing billionaires, according to a report titled “Big Green, Inc.” by the Institute for Energy Research.

The Allan Inquiry examined these competing narratives and said some ENGOs’ submissions criticized the inquiry for not looking into the foreign funding of pro-Alberta energy organizations.

While Allan wrote that investigating this angle was not within his mandate, Deloitte  did examine the claim that these organizations received “significant foreign funding.”

Deloitte identified the 11 largest conservative or market-oriented organizations with charitable status and total revenues exceeding $10 million over the inquiry’s period of review—from Jan. 1, 2000, to Oct. 31, 2020—and found that they received foreign funding of $26.7 million and government funding of $39.3 million during this period.

Comparing the environmental groups based on the same threshold of revenues greater than $10 million and over the same period, the 31 largest ENGOs received $897.5 million in foreign funding and $2.1 billion in government funding.

Hmmm, $66 million compared to $3 billion.

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Poland says EU blackmail hampers its own climate goals

2 Nov, 2021 10:30

FILE PHOTO: The flags of Poland and European Union flutter in front of the Polish parliament in Warsaw.

© Reuters / Kacper Pempel

Withholding EU payouts as a form of “blackmail” could jeopardize Warsaw’s ability to reach its climate targets and implement change alongside other nations, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has warned.

Speaking on the sidelines of the UN’s COP26 climate summit in Glasgow on Monday, Morawiecki insisted that the heavily coal-dependent central European country needs to receive funds from Brussels to achieve “ambitious climate goals.”

There can be no blackmail from other elements of European policy, because any attempt to take away funds ... will mean that political blackmail from Brussels dominates over the achievement of climate goals.

Morawiecki went on, explaining that “if we want to act in solidarity with the climate, we also have to take into account that the position of the US and the rich countries of Western Europe is completely different to the position of Central European countries, such as Poland.”

Poland is eligible to receive up to €57 billion in EU recovery funds, but the executive has withheld its approval amid a rule-of-law dispute between the bloc and Warsaw. Brussels had threatened to leave the country without billions in payouts following a landmark verdict last month that saw Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal conclude its national laws take precedence over EU treaties.

To make Warsaw heel to Brussels’ demands, the European Court of Justice (CJEU) slapped Poland with a daily fine of a million euros at the end of October until it brings its judicial system up to its standards. The move was necessary “to avoid serious and irreparable harm to the legal order of the European Union and to the values on which that Union is founded, in particular that of the rule of law.”

The Polish PM previously vowed that the country would defend itself “with any weapons” at its disposal if the EU started a “third World War” by holding back payouts to Warsaw, warning against the bloc acting “with a gun to our heads.”

In September, the bloc’s top court ruled that Poland must fork out €500,000 in daily fines for ignoring the CJEU’s order to cease operations at its Turow lignite mine, said by the neighboring Czech Republic to spoil its citizens’ drinking water.

European Commission chief accused of ‘ecological sin’

Climate change initiatives are all fine and dandy as long as they don't interfere with the plans of the elite.

4 Nov, 2021 11:03

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at a climate change conference in Glasgow, UK,

November 1, 2021. © Reuters/Yves Herman

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has been criticized for using a private jet for a flight that lasted less than 20 minutes as countries grow increasingly concerned about climate change.

Von der Leyen became the subject of scrutiny after it was revealed that she had used a private jet to fly roughly 50km from Vienna to the Slovakian capital Bratislava in June. According to the German paper Bild, the trip lasted just 19 minutes.

Michael Jaeger, the secretary general of the Taxpayers’ Association of Europe (TAE), told the paper that von der Leyen’s brief flight was “an ecological sin.”

“It cost a lot of taxpayers’ money, a lot of time in going to and from airports, and above all – a lot of credibility,” Jaeger said.

The news came in the middle of a major UN climate change conference in Glasgow, Scotland, known as COP26, where over 100 nations pledged to slash methane emissions.

Traveling by air produces more CO2 emissions per passenger than traveling by train, bus or car. German MP Jana Schimke said von der Leyen, who has pushed for making Europe carbon neutral by 2050, should “exemplify” the fight against climate change. “Otherwise, you come off as untrustworthy.”

A spokesperson for the European Commission defended von der Leyen’s June trip by saying she had to travel through seven countries in two days. “Alternatives were examined, but logistically there was no other option.”

The spokesperson also cited concerns that flight and rail services were affected by Covid-19 containment measures.

Environmentalism - The Land-Locking of Alberta Oil and Gas

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Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage in a file photo. (The Canadian Press/Greg Fulmes)

Alberta Inquiry Says it Has Confirmed ‘Significant’ Foreign Funding

of Anti-Energy Campaign

By Noé Chartier 

Updated: October 22, 2021

The key findings of the final report of an Alberta government-commissioned inquiry into campaigns against the province’s energy industry says it confirms the existence of “well-funded foreign interests” spreading “misinformation” to landlock Alberta’s oil and gas sector.

The report, compiled by forensic and restructuring accountant Steve Allan, was submitted to the provincial government in July and was made public on Oct. 21.

Announcing the release of the report, Energy Minister Sonya Savage said Albertans “have the right to be upset” about the campaigns that have helped counter fossil fuel projects and led to negative consequences for the economy.

“People lost their jobs, businesses went under, families were hurt, government revenues from royalties were impacted. We lost billions of dollars in royalties,” she said at a press conference on Oct. 21.

The report says that between 2003 and 2019, Canadian-based environmental initiatives received $1.28 billion in foreign funding, while noting that the estimate is likely understated. Of that, $925 million was used by Canadian charities for “environmental initiatives,” $352 million was used to fund “Canadian-based environmental initiatives” that remained in the United States such as anti-pipeline campaigns, and $54.1 million was used specifically for “anti-Alberta resource development activity.”

It notes that environmental organizations campaigning against Alberta’s oil and gas sector appear to work in concert to advance an agenda, and that they act “like an industry,” attracting sources of funding and employing large numbers of personnel.

“While many ENGOs [environmental non-government organizations] are driven by honest concerns, the commissioner found they are also focused on their own financial sustainability, which is ensured by adapting to emerging markets and trends and jumping from cause to cause,” a document highlighting the inquiry’s findings says.

Savage said the report “shines a blinding light on the broader movement and the vast amount of foreign funding that is crossing the Canadian border, often untraced.”

The inquiry was launched by the United Conservative Party government in 2019.

Reactions

The inquiry encountered a range of criticism and obstacles, from environmentalists trying to shut it down altogether, to questions regarding the expenses incurred and the delay in submitting the final report.

“Did we need a multi-million dollar inquiry to discover that there were ENGOs who were opposed to the oil sands?” wrote Mount Royal University political science professor Duane Bratt in a tweet.

Some of the criticism from environmental organizations filtered through as members of the media asked Savage questions during the press conference.

One reporter asked Savage if “this whole endeavour [was] a mistake,” referring to the inquiry costing $3.5 million and “finding $54 million in foreign funding that was put towards these anti-Alberta energy campaigns.”

Allan writes in his report that he wasn’t able to pinpoint precisely the portion of the $1.28 billion in foreign funding that went toward anti-Alberta energy campaigns. The $54 million was singled out since it was found by the inquiry to be earmarked specifically for “anti-Alberta resource development activity.”

“Frankly, I’m surprised that any grant would blatantly say it’s for an anti-Alberta energy campaign. I’m surprised that any money would cross the border being that blatant,” Savage responded to the reporter.

Another reporter remarked that the inquiry did not find illegal activities and complained that Alberta “spent all this time and money investigating people who are doing legal activities, exercising their rights to free speech.”

A different reporter followed up on that point, asking, “Are you against them doing that [exercising free speech]? Would you like people stop doing that?”

Savage said in a democracy people have the right to express their views, but she said the report is focused on foreign funding that influences Canadian political and regulatory decisions.

“What the report found was a co-ordinated campaign that ultimately targeted influencing political and regulatory change, using foreign funding. It is foreign funding, going after domestic processes and domestic policy and that’s the real concern,” she said, adding that the “multi-billion-dollar foundations in the United States aren’t concerned with the day-to-day life of Albertans.”

Most of the money from the USA comes from ENGOs that are funded by USA's big oil. The idea is to landlock Alberta oil so as to make it harder to get to US and Pacific markets. This increases the demand and the price of American oil as well as increasing their market share.

How America is Strangling the Canadian Oil Industry, and We're Helping Them

Talk About ‘Collusion’: How Foreign-Backed Anti-Oil Activists Infiltrated Canada’s Government

Hypocrisy Knows No Bounds in Climate Change Circles

Millions in Foreign Funds Spent in 2015 Fed Election to Defeat Harper, Report

Allan’s report also addressed concerns about free speech.

“Nothing in this Report should be taken as in any way seeking to limit these important rights and freedoms,” as it relates to opposition to Alberta’s oil and gas sector, the report said.

Allan noted, however, that open public debate has been stifled by activism and media bias.

“The environmental movement can be given credit for raising the issue of climate change on the national agenda. But I am concerned the discussion has become polarized and paralyzed to the extent it is nearly impossible to raise questions or make suggestions that don’t align with the agenda of the ENGOs, which is often supported by the media,” he wrote.

Reacting to the report, Greenpeace Canada said the inquiry found no instance of wrongdoing on the part of the campaigners, and criticized the inquiry.

“Even when it makes powerful interests uncomfortable, we will press on alongside Indigenous leaders and front-line communities, and with the backing of our supporters—no matter what intimidation tactics are thrown our way,” Keith Stewart, senior energy strategist for the group, said in a statement.

“The Inquiry’s findings that Greenpeace Canada has engaged in ‘Anti-Alberta’ activities does not follow legal requirements, ignores scientific evidence, and could have a chilling effect on freedom of expression and on the meaningful process of debate in a so-called democratic and free society,” added Ali Naraghi, legal counsel for Greenpeace.

The inquiry report in fact does not say any group is involved in “anti-Alberta activities,” but refers to “anti-Alberta resource initiatives.”

“I have also made it clear throughout my Report that I do not find that participation in an anti-Alberta energy campaign is in any way improper or constitutes conduct that should in any way be impugned, nor do I find that it indicates a party is ‘pro’ or ‘anti’ Albertan,” Allan wrote.

Tim McMillan, president and CEO of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, said the inquiry shed light on the foreign-funded campaigns which have cancelled billions in revenue and thousands of Alberta jobs.

“For years, the energy conversation has been driven by activist organizations who have influenced energy policies that are today contributing to rising energy costs for Canadians, as well as energy shortages for our trading partners around the world,” said McMillan in a statement released to The Epoch Times.