FOX: A climate-focused nonprofit with significant operations in Beijing has wired millions of dollars to fund climate initiatives and environmental groups in the U.S., according to tax filings first obtained by Fox News Digital.
While the Energy Foundation’s financial filings indicate that the group is technically headquartered in San Francisco, a Fox News Digital review determined that the majority of its operations are conducted in China with a staff that boasts extensive ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Its recently filed tax form show the group, which refers to itself as “Energy Foundation China,” contributed $3.8 million to initiatives in the U.S. like phasing out coal and electrifying the transportation sector.
“The Energy Foundation’s ties to China are both extremely disturbing and reprehensible,” Tom Pyle, the president of the Institute for Energy Research, told Fox News Digital in an interview. “These environmental organizations, the recipients of this money, are, in essence, sacrificing our national security and empowering China.”
“We are the richest energy nation in the world with respect to coal, oil and natural gas,” he continued. “And yet the Biden administration and the environmentalists fueled by China are promoting policies that would increase our dependence on China, which controls all the minerals and materials needed for batteries and wind and solar, and curtail our production of oil and gas here at home.”
According to its financial filings, the Energy Foundation’s grant revenue declined 30% year over year to $56.7 million in 2022, but its grant contributions to outside groups and initiatives worldwide increased to $52.1 million, up 27% compared to last year.
Among its more than a dozen grants in the U.S. last year, the group wired $900,000 to the Rocky Mountain Institute, a Colorado-based think tank that has engaged the White House on climate policy and advocates phasing down fossil fuel reliance and net-zero policies. The group also funded a study in 2022 highlighting the dangers of natural gas-powered stovetops, which ultimately led to calls for bans on the appliance.
The Energy Foundation sent another $480,000 to the Washington, D.C.-based International Council on Clean Transportation, which advocates for widespread EV adoption and policies decarbonizing the transportation sector broadly. It also wired grants — one to the University of Maryland and another to the Jackson Hole Center for Global Affairs — worth a total of $450,000 and earmarked for projects to phase out coal power reliance.
The revelation of the Energy Foundation’s extensive funding for U.S.-based climate initiatives comes amid an ongoing congressional probe led by House Natural Resources Committee Republicans over the CCP’s growing influence on the American environmental activist movement. The panel has probed a series of nonprofits with ties to China.
“For years, the CCP has used U.S. nonprofits to influence American public opinion and policy decisions,” a Natural Resources Committee aide told Fox News Digital. “The vast and well-funded CCP nonprofit influence machine is particularly focused on promoting Chinese energy interests and weakening America’s competitiveness.”
“Sadly, radical eco-activists in America do more to advance the interests of the CCP than promoting commonsense energy and environmental policies in the United States,” the aide added.
Overall, while the U.S. is the largest global producer of oil and gas, which still drives every major industry from transportation and power to manufacturing and construction, Chinese companies have established a major foothold in green energy markets.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), for example, China produces about 75% of all lithium-ion batteries, a key component of EVs, worldwide. The nation also boasts 70% of production capacity for cathodes and 85% for anodes, two key parts of such batteries.
In addition, more than 50% of lithium, cobalt and graphite processing and refining capacity is located in China, the IEA data showed. Those three critical minerals, in addition to copper and nickel, are vital for EV batteries and other green energy technologies. Chinese investment firms have also been aggressive in purchasing stakes in African mines in recent years to ensure a firm control over mineral production.
China also continues to dominate the global solar supply chain even as Western nations attempt to increase domestic manufacturing capabilities. According to a July 2022 IEA report, China has a greater than 80% share in all the manufacturing stages of solar panel manufacturing. China further produces a staggering 95% of all global polysilicon, ingot and wafer supplies necessary for solar products.
The Energy Foundation didn’t respond to a request for comment.
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