The world of climate advocacy has faced considerable setbacks since the reelection of President Donald Trump. [emphasis, links added]
The annual global climate change conference, COP30, was reportedly a disappointment for those who’d hoped it would spark support for climate-change policies in opposition to the Trump administration’s rollbacks.
Polls are showing that fewer people across the world view climate change as a major threat, and legacy media outlets that once reported unquestioningly that the world is transitioning away from fossil fuels are much more likely to report on the failures of those policies.
In this backdrop of falling public support, climate advocacy groups are also scaling back operations in the face of financial trouble.
Last month, 350.org, which led the movement to successfully kill the Keystone XL pipeline and popularized the anti-fossil fuel slogan “keep it in the ground,” announced it is temporarily suspending its programming in the U.S. due to budgetary issues, Politico reported.
However, with all the money invested in what critics call the climate industrial complex, experts say these developments don’t spell the end of the climate movement.
It’s just retreating to a defensive position while it plans to move forward whenever and wherever it finds the opportunity.
“I think that the whole climate alarm industry is undergoing a reassessment of [its] strategic direction,” said David Blackmon, energy analyst and author of “Energy Absurdities.”
Climate advocacy downturn
The announcement from 350.org comes several months after another high-visibility anti-fossil fuel group, “Just Stop Oil,” announced it is ceasing the destructive antics it had become famous for.
This included tossing cornstarch on Stonehenge, throwing soup on Vincent van Gogh’s painting, “Sunflowers,” and shutting down traffic on a major highway around London, which resulted in some of its members serving jail sentences.
As with Just Stop Oil, 350.org was known early on for generating attention for its cause through spectacular protests. Though in the case of 350.org, it was about the size of the protests rather than the antics of the protesters.
In 2009, [350.org] coordinated 5,200 protests across 181 countries, according to Politico, and then in September 2014, the group organized a march that brought 400,000 people to the streets of New York.
Before public fear of the climate crisis began to wane this year, the group was already facing financial troubles.
Other environmental groups are reporting financial trouble, and if there is a trend, it’s possible that the trend exacerbated 350’s existing difficulties.
The Sierra Club, which has $173 million in revenues in 2023, announced layoffs in June. Greenpeace is facing a $667 million judgment over its role in the 2016 Dakota Access Pipeline, and should its appeals prove unsuccessful, it may have to close its doors.
Energy expert Robert Bryce told Just the News the impact on the groups’ funding largely stems from the reelection of Trump.
“It was much easier to give money to these activist groups when there were Democrats in control in Washington,” Bryce said.
With minimal traction to be gained with the Trump administration, Bryce said these groups will be focusing their actions on the city and state levels.
Read rest at Just The News
The link “Greenpeace is facing a $667 million judgment” is well worth reading.