US Universities Received , $700 Million From Fossil Fuel , Industry Over 10 Years.
According to a new study, six major fossil fuel companies
channeled over $700 million in research funding to
27 American universities between 2010 and 2020.
'The Guardian' reports that this funding was used to
conduct climate research that can shift not only
agendas but policies that favor the fossil fuel industry.
Think tank Data for Progress and
nonprofit group Fossil-Free Research
teamed up to conduct the study.
The report's authors also found that major oil
companies invest heavily in both economics and
public policy research that supports deregulation.
$700 million is probably an absolute bare minimum. There’s so little transparency around these gifts, Grace Adcox, polling analyst for Data for Progress, via 'The Guardian'.
'The Guardian' reports that the top five schools to receive
large chunks of funding from fossil fuel companies include
University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University. .
'The Guardian' reports that the top five schools to receive
large chunks of funding from fossil fuel companies include
University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University. .
The study was created from publicly-available data that
included fossil fuel company foundations' tax records and
annual reports from both universities and oil companies.
'The Guardian' reports that the research hints at
the vast amount of money invested by fossil fuel
companies in research that impacts policy. .
These research projects have
real-life implications – for example
a lot of the fossil fuel-funded
research has re-centered natural gas
in the conversation about renewables, Bella Kumar, lead author of the Data for Progress report, via 'The Guardian'