Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) is an environmentalist think tank based in Colorado. It was established in 1982 by activist Amory Lovins. It has $42 million in annual operations and employs 180 full-time employees.

RMI merged with Carbon War Room in 2014, expanding its presence worldwide. RMI’s initiatives aim to transform the global energy market to sources like solar and wind, while reducing the use of conventional energy. ¹ The RMI opposes nuclear energy (nuclear power plants do not emit carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gas emissions). ²

Background

The Rocky Mountain Institute aims to replace fossil fuel usage with environmentalist-approved energy sources, intending to create economic growth. RMI uses its own research and analysis in support of implementing these changes. ³

The Rocky Mountain Institute is an opponent of nuclear energy. ⁴ Nuclear power plants produce no carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gas emissions, and as of 2021 accounted for 20 percent of American electricity production—the largest source of zero carbon electricity in the United States. ⁵ An October 2018 proposal from The Nature Conservancy noted that zero-carbon nuclear plants produced 7.8 percent of total world energy output and recommended reducing carbon emissions by increasing nuclear capacity to 33 percent of total world energy output. ⁶

In 2013, the RMI partnered with the National Development and Reform Commission, a Chinese government agency responsible for economic planning, to encourage households within China to replace preexisting appliances with “clean energy technologies.” ⁷

Opposition to Nuclear Energy

The Rocky Mountain Institute is opposed to nuclear energy, stating on its website that producing nuclear power is “costly and dangerous and a poor alternative to renewable energy sources.” ⁸ Nuclear power plants produce no carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gas emissions, and as of 2021 accounted for 20 percent of American electricity production—the largest source of zero-carbon electricity in the United States. ⁹ An October 2018 proposal from The Nature Conservancy noted that zero-carbon nuclear plants produced 7.8 percent of total world energy output and recommended reducing carbon emissions by increasing nuclear capacity to 33 percent of total world energy output. ¹⁰

Gas-Stove Study

In December 2022, the RMI published a study which claimed that roughly 13% of childhood asthma is attributed to the usage of gas stoves within a household. According to the Free Beacon, the study itself was roughly nine paragraphs and used data from several sources including 2019 U.S Census information and Australian-based analyses from 2018. According to Yale professor of medicine Dr. Harvey Risch, “This paper does not do any research on possible association between residential natural gas use and risk of childhood asthma…It only calculates a percent of childhood asthma that could be attributable to residential natural gas use and risk of childhood asthma.” ¹¹ In addition, the Free Beacon reported that the two authors of the study do not have relevant scientific education or background: RMI researcher Talor Gruenwald has a master’s degree in international affairs, while head of RMI’s “Carbon-Free Buildings” program Brady Seals graduated with an MBA from the University of South Dakota. ¹²

In January 2023, Consumer Product Safety commissioner Richard Trumka Jr commented on imposing a possible ban of gas stoves by stating, “Any option is on the table. Products that can’t be made safe can be banned.” ¹³ He later walked back his comments after public outcry and confirmed on January 12 to CNN that any regulations would apply to “new products” and further noted, “we are not looking to go into anyone’s homes and take away items that are already there…We don’t do that.” ^{14 15}

However, earlier on January 4, 2023, RMI posted on their twitter page, “JUST IN: More than 12% of US childhood asthma is preventable, if we remove gas stoves from homes and move towards electric stoves instead.” ¹⁶

Funding

In 2017, Rocky Mountain Institute raised nearly $42 million. ¹⁷ Among the top donors are major left-of-center organizations like the Bloomberg Family Foundation, which donated upwards of $100 million to similar environmental organizations like the Sierra Club to oppose conventional energy sources. ¹⁸ In 2016, the left-leaning Oak Foundation awarded RMI $1.4 million in grants to support climate change activism and push global warming policies. ¹⁹ RMI receives substantial grants from the ClimateWorks Foundation, a left-of-center “pass-through” funding entity that takes donations from wealthy left-wing foundations. ²⁰

People

Amory Lovins is the co-founder and chief scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute. He is the author of Reinventing Fire: Bold Business Solutions for the New Energy Era. ²¹

Fred Stanback is a major benefactor of the Rocky Mountain Institute, having donated over $1 million as of 2012 ²²

Edward “Ted” White, is the board chair of RMI and managing partner of Fahr LLC, a company formerly directed by Tom Steyer, a left-wing, hedge-fund billionaire turned climate-change activist. ²³

Jean Oelwang is the compensation committee chair of RMI and the president of Virgin Unite, a non-profit founded by airline magnate and environmentalist activist Richard Branson in 2004. In 2009, Branson co-founded Carbon War Room (CWR), a non-profit that promised business solutions to climate change. ²⁴ Branson failed to invest a promised $3 billion towards developing a low carbon fuel, and the low carbon alternatives he was exploring have been widely discredited as viable alternatives to conventional fuels, because of their climate change impacts and increases to the cost of food. ²⁵ Carbon War Room merged with RMI in 2014.

RMI trustee Todd Stern was the U.S. Special Envoy on Climate Change under the Obama administration, appointed by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. ²⁶ Stern has a long history of contributing to Democratic political candidates and to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). ²⁷

Coalition Memberships

Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) (Non-profit)

Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN) (Non-profit)

Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA) (Non-profit)

Associated Organizations

Ameresco (For-profit)

Business Renewables Center (BRC) (Non-profit)

Black Bear Energy (For-profit)

Carbon War Room (Non-profit)

City of Denver

Collective Sun (For-profit)

Duke Energy (For-profit)

E Source (For-profit)

Energy Web Foundation (EWF) (Non-profit)

The Good Traveler (Non-profit)

Holy Cross Energy (For-profit)

Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) (For-profit)

MobilityData (Non-profit)

WattTime (Non-profit)

Donor Organizations

Airport Cooperative Research Program (Government Agencies)

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (Nonprofit)

Aria Foundation (Non-profit)

Aspen Community Office for Resource Efficiency (CORE) (Non-profit)

Bloomberg Family Foundation (Bloomberg Philanthropies) (Non-profit)

Caldera Foundation (Non-profit)

City of Boulder, Boulder Energy Challenge (Government Agencies)

ClimateWorks Foundation (Non-profit)

Clinton Climate Initiative (Non-profit)

Craigslist Charitable Fund (Non-profit)

David and Lucile Packard Foundation (Non-profit)

Denver Foundation (Non-profit)

Department of Energy (Government Agency)

Dutch Postcode Lottery

Educational Foundation of America (Non-profit)

The Environment Foundation (Aspen) (Non-profit)

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund (Non-profit)

Flora Family Foundation (Non-profit)

Foundation for the Carolinas (FFTC) (Non-profit)

Gates Family Foundation (Non-profit)

Global Environment Facility (For-profit)

Google Foundation (Non-profit)

Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment (Non-profit)

Smith Richardson Charitable Trust (Non-profit)

Heinz Endowments (Non-profit)

Heising-Simons Foundation (Non-profit)

John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (Non-profit)

Kettering Family Foundation (Non-profit)

Lewis Foundation (Non-profit)

Luther College (Non-profit)

Mertz Gilmore Foundation (Non-profit)

Nathan Cummings Foundation (Non-profit)

New Belgium Family Foundation (Non-profit)

Oak Foundation USA (Non-profit)

Robertson Foundation (Non-profit)

Rockefeller Brothers Fund (Non-profit)

Rudy and Alice Ramsey Foundation (Non-profit)

Sandler Foundation (Non-profit)

Virgin Unite (Non-profit)

Walton Family Foundation (Non-profit)

William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (Non-profit)

Board of Trustees

Edward “Ted” White, Board Chair of RMI, Managing Partner of Fahr LLC

Thomas Dinwoodie, Lead Independent Trustee and Executive Committee Chair of RMI, Founder and CTO of SunPower Corporation System

David Allen, Principal and Executive Vice President of McKinstry

Roy Bedlow, Chief Executive and Co-Founder of Low Carbon

Mark Ferron, former COO of the Global Markets Division of Deutsche Bank in London, 2001-2009

José Maria Figueres Olsen, former President of the Carbon War Room, former President of Costa Rica, Co-Founder Ocean Unite

Michael Haas, Founder and CEO of Orion Renewable Energy Group LLC, Co-Founder of RDC Developments Ltd., and Founder of Alliance for Climate Education (ACE)

Maria van der Hoeven, Finance Committee Chair of RMI, former Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, 2011-2015

Jules Kortenhorst, Chief Executive Officer of RMI, former CEO of Topell Energy BV, founding CEO of the European Climate Foundation

Rachel Kyte, CEO of the Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for SEforALL

Amory B. Lovins, Co-founder RMI, Chief Scientist of RMI and Chairman Emeritus

Dennis McGinn, former Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy, Installations and Environment, 2013-2017

Reuben Munger, Founder and Managing Partner of Vision Ridge Partners, LLC, Co-founder and CEO of Bright Automotive

Jean Oelwang, Compensation Committee Chair of RMI, CEO of Virgin Unite, former joint CEO of Virgin Mobile

Martha C. Pickett, Managing Director, and General Counsel of RMI

George Polk, Programs & Strategy Committee Chair of RMI, Managing Partner of Tulum Trust

Mary Powell, President and CEO of Green Mountain Power (GMP)

Elizabeth Sall, Development Committee Chair of RMI, Founder and President of UrbanLabs LLC

Todd Stern, former U.S. Special Envoy on Climate Change

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    @RMIBuildings @Sydney_Uni @EinsteinMed: https://bit.ly/3jLuNmL #ElectrifyEverything.” Twitter, January 4, 2023. https://twitter.com/RockyMtnInst/status/1610687164446117906?s=20&t=bA32zYW9OsYBU7qqP8T3nw
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