Even Cabinet Secretary paid with outside money
Donor group listing mission as “to fulfill the promise of the Paris Agreement on climate change” paying for U.S. governors’, energy reg agency staff for purpose of “UN Strengthening”
Blackout risk accelerates as UN’s “Energy Transition” agenda advances
A recent Wall Street Journal editorial, “New York’s Near Zombie Apocalypse,” highlighted the threat that ideological state energy regulators have created in the Empire State, and to the entire country’s supply of reliable electricity. Michigan is now also skating close to the line. Other outlets—including official organizations dedicated to ensuring reliability of supply— have since detailed how the main culprit behind this increasing vulnerability is the premature closure of electricity generating plants fired by coal. Now, the goal is to limit the availability of gas.
Recent documents obtained under state open records laws show that ideologically driven donors are underwriting advisors for elected officials in the U.S. to implement this agenda as ‘staff’. What began in progressive bastions has now extended even into energy state governors’ offices.
Background
Fully six years ago a Wall Street Journal editorial titled “Climate of Unaccountability” revealed findings compiled for the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) which detailed a stealth campaign by progressive donors to hire and then place a network of off-books activists as governors’ energy, environment and climate “staff”. Along with consultants and media support, the project’s budget (see p. 8) scaled up in just three years to $50 million for 2020.
One early participant in the plan was Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D), whose senior policy adviser for climate and sustainability, Reed Schuler (remember this name), was the first outside activist revealed to have been placed in such a role, nominally by green-group World Resources Institute. WRI in fact played middleman in this deal for the Hewlett Foundation, which had committed $600 million to climate advocacy for the period 2018 to 2023. Emails obtained from Inslee’s office flatly stated Hewlett “is paying him to work in our shop”.
The editorial quoted Inslee aides saying, without support, that such arrangements are “not unusual” and are “common across the political spectrum.” Of course, as the Journal noted, “Substitute the Koch brothers for the World Resources Institute, and the outrage would be predictable. This setup creates real concerns about accountability and interest-peddling. Mr. Schuler knows who pays him, and it’s not Washington taxpayers.”
Inslee staff, along with those working for the governors of California and New York, had organized a project which Hewlett ultimately financed, called the “U.S. Climate Alliance” (USCA), to place other climate ‘staff’ more broadly across the country. Hewlett gave the contract to administer the placement of such activists throughout U.S. governments to, of all entities, the United Nations Foundation.
The Journal editorial asked, “The implications of all this extend beyond Washington … Where else are such special interest groups paying to influence policy?” One answer emerged later that year. A follow-up report for CEI laid out how Michael Bloomberg, with millions of dollars run through a pair of non-profits (his own, and New York University) was staffing progressive attorneys general offices to advance the same agenda, (the WSJ also ran an op-ed and its own unsigned editorial, “State AGs for Rent”).
Now, the threat of winter and summer blackouts is being hastened by state politicians and the regulatory agencies they direct pressing the “green” agenda further. And just as night follows day, recent public records releases from Louisiana, Michigan, and New Mexico reveal that both the Bloomberg operation and Hewlett’s project, “USCA,” have metastasized into this realm.
Several recent developments suggest these tentacles reach into the United States foreign policy apparatus.
USCA/UN Foundation
The United Nations Foundation (UNF) is “a strategic partner of the United Nations.” Its express mission of “Helping the UN build a better world” means to “connect people, ideas, and resources to the UN to deliver a better world for all.” UNF claims to be the “home” the U.S. Climate Alliance, which it lists as one of its initiatives, one of its pioneer[ing] innovative public-private partnerships”, “either created or hosted by us,” which it “supports” (through “invest[ing]”) “for scaled impact” on its priorities.
As such, staffing up governors’ offices and regulatory agencies to impose the climate agenda is rather outside its traditional scope.
However, UNF does note that, “Sometimes we work behind-the-scenes, shaping negotiations and connecting experts, advocates, and decision-makers.
For its part, USCA’s Governors’ Office (GO) team, including its placements and other officials, holds bi-weekly calls. According to a “Stakeholder Alignment” inventory of its priorities:
According to this summary, under the heading Legislative and Executive Branch:
To get around such hurdles, this United Nations “initiative,” which provides for staff in U.S. state offices, recorded that (again, emphases added) “recommended actions were shared to address each challenge. This came from both brainstormed ideas, and actions that some governor’s offices have already adopted in their states.
The details found in these revelations show how this UN “initiative” is advancing inside U.S. state governments, numerous of which participate. Tax filings indicate which states have taken UN-financed ‘staff’ in-house to do so, even cabinet-agency officials. UNF payments to staff positions in state government offices, in 2021 alone, total more than $3.3 million in six-figure transfers to governor or agency offices in Connecticut, Colorado, Hawai’i, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin—alternately styled as being for “Environment” and, remarkably, “UN Strengthening”.
For example, public records reveal that in 2020 the North Carolina Governor’s Office accepted $292,677 from the United Nations Foundation and in 2021 the Governor’s Office accepted $264,765 from the UNF (reported to the IRS by UNF as being for “UN Strengthening”), the latter being part of a total of $725,694 in 2021[1] and both combining to more than one million dollars in just two years, all to advance a UN Foundation “initiative” the USCA. In 2021 the Wisconsin Department of Administration accepted $168,132 from UNF for “UN Strengthening,” in the form of two grants ($88,132 and $88,000); in 2020 the Maine Governor’s Office accepted $298,600 from the UNF[2] and in 2021$519,400 (again, most of the latter reported to the IRS as being for “UN Strengthening”[3]), to advance the USCA agenda.
Public records also show that when an elected official accepts a position in USCA leadership, as both New Mexico Gov. Lujan Grisham and Maine Gov. Mills did in May 2023, they are bequeathed more donor funds to pay for additional ‘staff’ to support the elected official’s work advancing this UN Foundation initiative.
One entry paying $173,312 is cryptically listed as being for “OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR 20320 MAIL SERVICE CENTER WASHINGTON, DC 20005. Washington, DC, of course does not have a governor, and this is to staff an unnamed governor’s Washington, DC office.
READ THE ENTIRE EXPLAINER HERE.
UPDATE: Regarding the mystery $173k and change, that’s Cackalacky, too. see here.
[1] This figure includes $315,980 given by United Nations Foundation to fund “staff” in the state Department of Transportation and $144,949 to do so in the state Department of Commerce, all in pursuit of the USCA initiative.
[2] $165,600 to the Governor’s Energy Office, and $33,000 to the Office of Policy Innovation.
[3] $110,400 and $276,000 to the Governor’s Energy Office, $133,000 to the Office of Policy Innovation.