NC Sierra Club
Group
The Sierra Club is the largest and one of the oldest environmental organizations in the country. This article from the Oregonian contends that Sierra Club’s contributors are now putting the “almighty dollar before mother earth” and cites a report by the Energy & Environment Legal Institute that reveals that many “environmental activists benefit richly from their donations to the Sierra Club.” The article gives examples of the very wealthy making money from their philanthropy.
“Nathaniel Simons, a hedge fund baron worth an estimated $12 billion, has donated more than $14 million to the Sierra Club since 2009. Those contributions have largely been earmarked for campaigns to “educate the public about clean energy” but have proven quite worthwhile to Simons. While he was underwriting the Sierra Club’s efforts to promote renewables, Simons was quietly creating a venture fund that invests in clean energy.”
The Oregonian article goes on to say that the Sierra Club’s “Beyond Coal” campaign had been discredited because it had been funded by board members and donors who “benefit financially from the organization’s anti-fossil fuel crusades.” It goes on to say that “eight of the Sierra Club Foundation’s 18 directors are involved with organizations that profit from the ‘Beyond Coal’ Campaign.
“Those directors are owners, founders and CEOs of renewable energy companies and investment firms who donated millions to the Sierra Club’s war on fossil fuels. These green energy tycoons knew lambasting coal, oil and natural gas would increase demand for renewables like solar and wind … and generate more money for their businesses.”
The NC Sierra Club is a member of the of the radical/liberal Blueprint NC network. Blueprint NC is the left-wing political group that gained infamy with its memo calling for followers to “eviscerate, mitigate, litigate, cogitate and agitate” the state’s leadership. The Sierra Club is even opposed to ”cleaner natural gas.” In 2012, Civitas Review Online quoted a Sierra Club official to that effect: “The Sierra Club has serious doubts about the net benefits of natural gas,” said Deborah Nardone, director of the group’s Beyond Natural Gas campaign.
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People Connections:
| Person | Position | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Andy McGlinn | Steering Committee Member | Current |
| Blake Fleming | Lead Organizer | Current |
| Bob Pollett | Piedmont Plateau Chair | Current |
| Britten Cleveland | Chapter Organizer | Current |
| Cassie Gavin | Senior Director of Government Relations | Current |
| Chelsea Barnes | Conservation Chair | Current |
| Chris Turner | Blue Ridge Chair | Current |
| Cynthia Smith | Office Manager | Current |
| David Ames | Cypress Chair | Current |
| David Fairall | Foothills Chair | Current |
| Doug Veazey | South Mountains Chair | Current |
| Elyse Jung | Personnel Chair | Current |
| Emily Cedzo | Steering Committee Member | Current |
| Eric Miller | Medoc Chair | Current |
| Erin Carey | Director of Coastal Programs | Current |
| Ginny Kloepfer | Nominations Chair | Current |
| Janet Smith | Membership Chair | Current |
| Jim Reynolds | Chapter Vice Chair | Current |
| Jim Reynolds | Steering Committee Member | Current |
| John Shaw | PAC Treasurer | Current |
| Judy Mattox | Wenoca Chair | Current |
| Kathy Rigsbee | Outings Chair | Current |
| Kathy Rigsbee | Steering Committee Member | Current |
| Ken Brame | Political Chair | Current |
| Ken Brame | Steering Committee Member | Current |
| Kenneth Rose | Headwaters Chair | Current |
| Margaret Lillard | Communications Manager | Current |
| Marshall McCallie | Pisgah Chair | Current |
| Max Felsher | Orange-Chatham Chair | Current |
| May Becker | Orange-Chatham Chair | Current |
| Michael Murdoch | Croatan Chair | Current |
| Nick Brown | Capital Chair | Current |
| Pat Carstensen | Board Secretary | Current |
| Pauline Endo | Cape Fear Chair | Current |
| Pauline Endo | Membership Chair | Current |
| Penny Adams | Chapter Coordinator | Current |
| Robert Hodgman | Member | Current |
| Robert Scull | Outings Chair | Current |
| Roger Diedrich | Central Piedmont Chair | Current |
| Rosa Hodge-Mustafa | Organizer | Current |
| Rosemarie Sawdon | Steering Committee | Current |
| Steve Copulsky | Board Chair | Current |
| Steve Copulsky | Fundraising Chair | Current |
| Steve Copulsky | Steering Committee | Current |
| Suresh Iyer | Board Treasurer | Current |
| Todd Barlow | Political Compliance Chair | Current |
| Zak Keith | Chapter Organizer | Current |
| Carina Barnett-Loro | Chapter Organizer | Former |
| Chuck McGrady | President | Former |
| Dick Schneider | Legal Chair | Former |
| Dustin Chicurel-Bayard | Director of Communications | Former |
| Jacquie Ayala | Associate Field Organizer | Former |
| Kristen Thornburg | Energy Policy Analyst | Former |
| Mac Montgomery | Chair of Cape Fear Group | Former |
| Melissa Williams | Associate Press Secretary | Former |
| Molly Diggins | State Director | Former |
| Nation Hahn | Development Coordinator | Former |
| Reid Wilson | Political Director | Former |
| Tom Jensen | Director - Cool Cities Campaign | Former |
This group funded by:
| Funder | Year | Amount | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foundation For The Carolinas | 2007 | $17,468.00 | Program development For Mountain Island Lake Drinking Water project |
| Educational Foundation of America | 2005 | $80,000.00 | Program development For North Carolina Leadership Project: Enhanced Citizen Mobilization |
| Educational Foundation of America | 2004 | $80,000.00 | For North Carolina Leadership Project: Enhanced Citizen Mobilization |
Issues:
Networks:
Address 1:
112 S Blount Street
City:
Raleigh
State:
NC
Zip:
27601
External Links: