Co-Opting the Conservation Movement

By Christian Probasco, 8-18-08

	Photo courtesy Bryan Correira, Copyright 2008

Jim Stiles, editor of Moab, Utah’s Canyon Country Zephyr, has a long, well-researched article in the latest issue about “How the Mega-Rich are Co-opting Environmentalism and Turning IT into a Big Business too.” Among those who come under scrutiny: David Bonderman, venture capitalist, contributor to various environmental groups, board member of the Grand Canyon Trust, the Wilderness Society and the World Wildlife Fund and committed enemy of the environment itself, through his other holdings, such as European discount airline Ryanair. 

Ryanair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary, chosen by Bonderman himself, opposes the European Union’s carbon emissions trading market and was once quoted as saying, “Most of this environmental hysteria (including the debate over global warming) is an excuse for the government to raise tax revenues.”

Ciaran Cuffe, spokesman for Ireland’s Green Party, called Ryanair “one of the most ardently anti-green airlines in Europe.”

Also on the list, John Hendricks, founder of the Discovery Channel, who lives in a 27,000 square foot house. Hendricks was responsible for the “Gateway Canyons Resort,” a big development of “motels, restaurants, retail stores and one of the largest vintage automobile museums in the world,” on what was once open land near Gateway, Colorado. Hendricks, who has given large donations to many environmental groups, has also largely escaped criticism by them for his development.

And then there’s Hansjorg Wyess, the gazillionaire who sat on the boards of the Wilderness Society and Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA), who used to fly his Gulfstream IV into the remote corners of Utah’s backcountry so he and his staff members could take a hike. According to Stiles, on a cross-country trip, the “GIV” spews about 1.5 to 2 times the amount of carbon into the atmosphere than the average American produces from “all activities in an entire year.”

The thrust of Stiles’ article, though, is about how big money warps environmental groups’ agendas. When Bonderman’s equity corporation, Texas Pacific Group (TPG), acquired TXU, a huge Texas power company, and promised to “transform the utility company into one of the greenest in the nation,” he was praised by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), which helped draft the plan for the transformation. A few months later, Bonderman announced that the TXU would continue with plans to build what will become the nation’s largest nuclear power plant. EDF was silent on the issue, which was odd considering it’s own statement in the previous year’s newsletter: “Serious questions of safety, security, waste and proliferation surround the issue of nuclear power. Until these questions are resolved satisfactorily, Environmental Defense cannot support expansion of nuclear generating capacity.”

Stiles also has a problem with environmental groups such as SUWA, which has distanced itself from him, encouraging an “amenities,” i.e. tourist-based, economy, while at the same time trying to block extraction of the oil and coal resources which will be necessary to fuel it.  Or rather, he has a problem with them not fighting the amenities economy as strongly as they did the extractive industries. As you might guess from the Zephyr’s motto—“Clinging Hopelessly To The Past Since 1989”—Stiles is a bit of a throwback.  I disagree with him on some issues like motorized access to public lands. But I find myself nodding my head every time I read one of his articles.

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