The American Conservation Coalition (ACC) is a right-of-center environmental advocacy group with financial and advisory board ties to left-of-center environmentalist groups. The group was founded by Benjamin “Benji” Backer, then-a student at the University of Washington, who led the group until 2023 when Danielle Butcher Franz became CEO and Chris Barnard became president. Backer is executive chairman of ACC as of 2024. ¹

As of 2023, ACC has 40,000 members ² with 50 branches throughout the United States. ³

Activities

The American Conservation Coalition (ACC) claims to advocate in favor of “limited government environmentalism” that is “pro-market,” further alleging that “competition and free-enterprise are vital to effective environmental stewardship.” ACC also claims that “the climate is changing and modern science proves humans are playing a significant role:” ⁴

“Climate change is real and humans have been a contributing factor. While there is no consensus on the severity, we believe it is a threat that must be responded to. The private sector, innovation, and common-sense legislation are best suited to address climate change and the threats associated with it.” ⁴

ACC initially advocated for a transition from traditional energy sources to “clean energy” such as defined as nuclear, hydro-power, wind, and solar. It supported the use of “tax cuts on investments” in alternative energy sources, “international cooperation” to reduce the use of conventional energy sources in poor countries like India and China, lower tariffs, and “improved trade deals.” ACC also advocated expanding use of carbon capture and storage technology, nuclear power production, and the use of natural gas as a “transition fuel” from coal and oil to alternative energy sources. ⁵

As of 2024, ACC has advocated in favor of nuclear energy, which it calls “our largest source of clean energy” while pushing for policy to “dramatically [scale] the amount of nuclear power produced in America” through streamlining nuclear energy regulations and promoting research. ACC also supports general energy sector deregulation, including for mining projects and natural gas extraction. ⁶

During the 2024 election cycle, an ACC-affiliated political action committee (PAC) raised over $407,000 and spent almost $324,000. ACC contributed $185,000 to the PAC. Other donors to the committee included Far Horizons Capital CEO Gary Rappeport, outdoorsman company POWDR founder John Cummings, and David Cummings of the Cummings Foundation. ^{7 8}

According to a story written by National Public Radio (NPR), members of ACC attended the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July 2024. ⁹

Criticism

The American Conservation Coalition (ACC) has been accused of advocating left-of-center environmentalist policies while presenting a right-of-center public face. A 2021 online post written by “free-market energy blog” Master Resource, claimed that ACC’s strategy is “to gain entry in conservative or libertarian venues by extolling the areas of agreement,” while further alleging that “…their ‘EcoRight’ approach is really EcoStatism.” ¹⁰

A July 2021 blog post published by the Capital Research Center (CRC) claimed “[a] strong degree of naivety characterizes many of ACC’s climate proposals, which are almost invariably accompanied by paeans for bipartisan support that fail to register the undercurrents of wealth redistribution, restriction of individual liberties, and authoritarianism present in the debate over global warming.” ¹¹

Leadership

Benji Backer

Benjamin “Benji” Backer is the founder of the American Conservation Coalition (ACC) and led the organization until August 2023, when he was appointed executive chairman. In October 2024, Backer founded the conservationist group Nature is Nonpartisan. Backer was previously the co-chair for Young Americans for Mitt Romney in Wisconsin and has written for right-of-center websites including the Daily Caller, RedState, and the Blaze. ^{12 13}

Chris Barnard

Chris Barnard is the president of ACC, holding the position since August 2023. Working for the group since 2020, he also sits on the Youth Advisory Council for the Republican Party and is a fellow at the Bitcoin Policy Institute. Barnard was born in Belgium but grew up in the United Kingdom, where he attended the London School of Economics and later founded the British Conservation Alliance. ^{14 15}

Danielle Butcher Franz

Danielle Butcher Franz is the CEO of ACC, holding the role since June 2023. Prior to this she was the ACC’s executive vice president and chief operating officer from the organization’s founding in 2017 until 2023. Franz is a former Hazlitt fellow at the Foundation for Economic Education, a former visiting fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum, a former member of the British Conservation Alliance’s advisory board, and former outreach coordinator at the Future Female Leaders of America. ^{16 17}

Stephen Perkins

Stephen Perkins is the COO of ACC, holding the role since August 2023. Prior to this, he was ACC’s vice president of grassroots strategy from May 2021 until 2023. Prior to ACC, Perkins worked in several positions with digital marketing firm Beast Digital, including the role of Partner, as well as the editor-in-chief for online publication Outset. Perkins is also a leadership network member of the American Enterprise Institute, and an advisory board member of the National Federation of College Republicans. ^{18 19}

Financials

According to its 2022 tax returns, the American Conservation Coalition (ACC) reported $2,223,553 in revenue, $2,531,547 in expenses, and $803,672 in assets. ¹

According to its 2018 tax records, ²⁰ the ACC reported revenues of $224,043, expenditures of $130,329 (including grants paid totaling $6,583), and net assets of $107,095. ²¹ According to the IRS, in 2017, the ACC reported revenues of less than $50,000 in gross receipts. ²²

According to its IRS filing for recognition of tax-exempt status (Form 1023), the filings also claimed that should ACC be dissolved, all of its assets are to be distributed “exclusively to National Audubon Society,” a center-left environmentalist organization. ²³

American Conservation Coalition Campus (ACC Campus) is the sister nonprofit arm for ACC. In 2018, neither group reported any paid staffers; ACC only paid $652 in salaries and compensation while ACC Campus paid $0 in salaries and compensation. ^{24 25}

Donors

In 2024, ACC received a donation of $110,000 from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation for “general purposes.” ²⁶ In the previous year, ACC received $100,000 from the Mott Foundation. ²⁷

In 2023, ACC received $215,000 from the Rockefeller Foundation for “the costs of convening a roundtable among top young leaders from across the political spectrum to advance bi-partisan climate-focused public policy analysis.” ²⁸

Also in 2023, ACC received $100,000 from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation for general operating support. ²⁹

1. “American Conservation Coalition Form 990.” ProPublica. Accessed November 13, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/823815628/202343139349305779/full.
2. “2023 Annual Report.” American Conservation Coalition. Accessed November 13, 2024. https://acc.eco/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/2023-Annual-Report-Print-edition.pdf.
3. “Homepage.” American Conservation Coalition. Accessed November 13, 2024. https://acc.eco/.
4. “ACC’s Principles of Limited Government Environmentalism.” Accessed April 23, 2020. https://www.acc.eco/platform
5. “Our Platform.” Accessed April 23, 2020. https://www.acc.eco/platform
6. “Our Platform.” American Conservation Coalition. Accessed November 13, 2024. https://acc.eco/our-platform/.
7. “PAC Profile: American Conservation Coalition.” Open Secrets. Accessed November 13, 2024. https://www.opensecrets.org/spending-section.
8. “Federal Election Commission Search.” Federal Election Commission. Accessed November 13, 2024. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?committee_id=C00877233.
9. Bustillo, Ximena. “Climate hasn’t been core to the GOP. These conservatives are trying to change that.” National Public Radio. July 19, 2024. Accessed November 13, 2024. https://www.npr.org/2024/07/19/nx-s1-5041975/young-republicans-advocate-climate-action.
10. Bradley Jr., Robert. “New Deal Lite: Beware of the ‘American Conservation Coalition’ (climate alarmism premise ruinous).” Master Resource. April 13, 2021. Accessed November 13, 2024. https://www.masterresource.org/republican-gop-environmental-policy/american-conservation-coalition-beware/
11. “Rise of the Eco-Right.” Capital Research Center. July 2021. Accessed November 13, 2024. https://capitalresearch.org/app/uploads/Eco-Right.pdf.
12. “Leadership Team.” American Conservation Coalition. Accessed October 22, 2018. https://www.acc.eco/leadership-team.
13. “Benjamin (Benji) Backer.” LinkedIn. Accessed November 13, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjibacker/.
14. “Chris Barnard.” American Conservation Coalition. Accessed November 13, 2024. https://acc.eco/people/christopherbarnard/.
15. “Chris Barnard.” LinkedIn. Accessed November 13, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-barnard-7b6b20156/.
16. “Danielle Butcher Franz.” LinkedIn. Accessed November 13, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellebfranz/.
17. “Danielle Butcher Franz.” American Conservation Coalition. Accessed November 13, 2024. https://acc.eco/people/daniellebutcherfranz/.
18. “Stephen Perkins.” American Conservation Coalition. Accessed November 13, 2024. https://acc.eco/people/stephen-perkins/.
19. “Stephen N. Perkins.” LinkedIn. Accessed November 13, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/snperkins/.
20. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). American Conservation Coalition. 2018. Part I. Line 1.
21. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). American Conservation Coalition. 2018. Part I. Lines 12, 13, 18, 22.
22. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990-N, E-Postcard). American Conservation Coalition. 2017. Accessed October 10, 2019. Filing available: https://apps.irs.gov/
23. IRS Application for Recognition of Tax Exempt Status (Form 1023). American Conservation Coalition. Archived: https://www.influencewatch.org/app/uploads/2020/01/American-Conservation-Coalition-Form-1023.pdf
24. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). American Conservation Coalition. Part VII (Compensation of Officers, Directors, Trustees…).
25. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990-EZ). American Conservation Coalition Campus. Part IV (List of Officers, Directors, Trustees…)
26. “General Purposes.” Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Accessed November 13, 2024. https://www.mott.org/grants/2024-12775/.
27. “General Purposes. Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Accessed November 13, 2024. https://www.mott.org/grants/2022-11189/.
28. “American Conservative Coalition.” The Rockefeller Foundation. Accessed November 13, 2024. https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/grant/american-conservation-coalition-2023-5/.
29. “American Conservation Coalition.” William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Accessed November 13, 2024. https://hewlett.org/grants/american-conservation-coalition-for-general-operating-support-3/.