Today kicked off the beginning of New York City Climate Week. With dozens of events being hosted across the city, covering a myriad of different climate issues, one important topic is being ignored: Natural gas. Natural gas has cut 50 percent more emissions in the United States than wind or solar combined since 2005. So why isn’t it receiving more attention from self-proclaimed champions of the environment?

Rockefeller-Funded NYC Climate Week May Have Ulterior Motives

The answer may lie in the hosts of Climate Week, and more importantly, the powerful funders fueling their efforts. New York Climate Week is hosted by The Climate Group, an organization that originated as an in-house research project at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) before eventually evolving into its own independent institution. Today, RBF continues to be a major backer of the organization, giving The Climate Group at least $1 million dollars for the annual New York Climate Week since 2016.

RBF has a long history of supporting action to combat climate change, but are doing so by trying to shut down the very industry that is driving emissions reductions. The organization has funded articles, academic studies, activist nonprofits, public relations firms, and even legal organizations to go after fossil fuel companies in court. In 2016, they co-hosted a strategy session with the Rockefeller Family Fund at their joint headquarters in New York that, according to the leaked agenda, sought to “delegitimize” ExxonMobil and “call into question the advantages of fracking, as compared to coal.”

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