Well, hey, they have no choice!
(NY Times) The nation’s largest environmental group is earning money from an oil well on land it controls in Texas, despite pledging a decade ago not to permit new oil and gas drilling on land supposedly set aside for conservation.
That revelation is contained in a forthcoming book about climate change by the writer and activist Naomi Klein, and the essential facts of the case were confirmed last week by the Nature Conservancy, the environmental group in question.
The Nature Conservancy — which says it helps protect about 20 million acres in the United States — argues that it has had no choice in the case of the well. Under the terms of a lease it signed years ago with an oil and gas company and later came to regret, the group says it had to permit the drilling of the well in 2007.
They could have sold the permit. They could have done terminated the lease. But, like so many “environmental” groups, they need the cold hard cash for their operations. Their investment policy makes it clear that they won’t invest in any company
- That derive 5 percent or more of their revenue from the production of coal or oil sands (the highest emitting fossil fuels); or
- That approve new coal-fired electric generating capacity, unless equipped with carbon capture and storage technology to mitigate CO2 emissions.
They say they will be divested of all that do not meet the criteria by 2014. But, as Klein noted in May 2013
What we know:
-Refused to answer any questions or to provide any details about its holdings or policies
-Financial statements reveal it has at least $22.8 million invested in the energy
sector
-Has relationships with fossil fuel companies including: BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell
Considering divestment?
-No comment
I can’t find one article that shows that the Nature Conservatory has divested. Of course, since they pretty much keep their holdings secret, it is hard to check.
This is not to say they are bad organization. They’ve done great work regarding real environmental issues. At the end of the day, though, the Nature Conservancy, like most environmental groups, are hypocrites when it comes to fossil fuels.
