The Climate Power Education Fund (Climate Power, formerly Climate Power 2020) is a project of the Center for American Progress (CAP) Action Fund, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV), and the Sierra Club. Climate Power advocates in support of left-of-center environmentalist policy. [1]
Climate Power was created as a joint campaign to denounce former President Donald Trump’s energy and environmental policy. Since the end of the Trump administration, Climate Power has campaigned in support of President Joe Biden’s American Jobs Plan, a $2 trillion infrastructure proposal, and in support of environmentalist policy. [2][3]
Although seemingly acting as an independent organization, reporting from the Washington Free Beacon has claimed that the group operates under the ownership of Fund for a Better Future. Fund for a Better Future is heavily funded by the Wyss Foundation, having received $44,468,000 from 2017 to 2020. [4]
Background
The Climate Power Education Fund was launched in May 2020 as a project of the Center for American Progress (CAP) Action Fund, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV), and the Sierra Club. John Podesta, former Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama, announced the formation of Climate Power, claiming that it was designed to promote the idea that then-President Trump and other critics of environmentalist policy were promoting disinformation on environmental issues. [5]
Climate Power focused on promoting environmentalism and opposing President Trump. In addition to publishing research and polls that promote environmentalism, Climate Power used tactics like the “B.S. Tracker” that tracked how often President Trump allegedly told a lie related to the environment. [6] After President Trump lost the 2020 election, Climate Power changed its name to Climate Power Education Fund and transitioned from opposing President Trump to opposing the American Petroleum Institute (API) and supporting President Biden’s environmentalist policy. [7]
Advocacy and Campaigns
Green New Deal
Climate Power has supported and been described as a leader of the Green New Deal, a far-left proposal to eliminate the use of conventional energy sources like oil and gas in the United States. [8] It has also published research claiming that conventional energy corporations are racist towards ethnic minorities, supporting the Green New Deal’s assertion that environmentalist energy is a solution to racism. [9]
Biden Administration
During the Biden administration, Climate Power has published polls, research, and press releases supporting President Biden’s environmentalist policy. The organization has supported and defended President Biden’s decision to rejoin the Paris Climate Accords and campaigned in support of his American Jobs Plan, a left-of-center proposal to spend $2 trillion on infrastructure, including environmentalist energy infrastructure, over 8 years. [10][11]
In June 2021, Climate Power initiated a $10 million ad campaign to pressure lawmakers to support the Biden administration’s American Jobs Plan and Build Back Better legislation. The organization also paid a lobbying firm, Pioneer Public Affairs, to push lawmakers in the House and Senate on including climate provisions and spending in future legislation. [12] Climate Power, along with the League of Conservation Voters and other allied organizations, launched “The Great American Build” campaign which was made to exhort Congress to put the Build Back Better Agenda into motion. [13]
Polluters Exposed
In March 2021, Accountable.US and Climate Power launched a joint campaign called Polluters Exposed. The campaign was created to combat what it alleges to be misinformation about environmentalism produced by the API and other conventional energy organizations. [14]
Polluters Exposed performs research on API and other proponents of conventional energy to publish reports denouncing their work on conventional energy as “disinformation.” The campaign advocates for environmentalist policy and promotes the idea that those who support conventional energy companies are creating disinformation about environmentalism. [15]
People
Climate Power Education Fund’s Advisory Board includes a long list of high profile, left-of-center figures including Georgia politician Stacey Abrams, U.S. Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry, John Podesta, and billionaire Democratic donor Tom Steyer. [16]
Lori Lodes works executive director of Climate Power, delivering most of its press releases. Lodes has worked for a number of left-of-center organizations, including the Service Employees International union (SEIU), the Center for American Progress (CAP), and the Obama administration. [17]