Thirty years ago, the environmental movement was a grassroots David taking on a corporate Goliath. Today, it's an international network of multimillion dollar organizations, many with salaries and perks for their chief executives at a quarter of a million a year and more. In 1993, a researcher at the CATO Institute surveyed just 12 environmental organizations--including the Environmental Defense Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council, Nature Conservancy, National Wildlife Federation, Greenpeace, National Audubon Society, and the Sierra Club, among others--and found that they had a combined income that year of just over $660 million. Since there are hundreds of environmental activist organizations in the United States, the funding base of this movement easily tops $1 billion a year and more.

Many of these activist groups obtain a significant part of their funding from the very industries and organizations they claim are plotting against the environment. As Jonathan Adler, Director of Environmental Studies at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, pointed out recently on the pages of the Wall Street Journal, the Pew Charitable Trusts and the W. Alton Jones Foundation, two of the most aggressive givers to environmentalist causes, were both endowed by oil money and continue to invest heavily in chemical, tobacco, and other industries routinely attacked by environmentalists. According to Adler, Pew was instrumental in launching the Environmental Information Center, a propaganda outlet that excels at smearing free-market groups and others as fronts for "corporate polluters."

Environmental groups are also direct recipients of corporate largesse in the form of grants, product tie-ins, and in-kind contributions. Since 1984, the Capital Research Center in Washington, D.C., has been tracking gift-giving by U.S. corporations and publishing the results in an annual report Patterns of Corporate Philanthropy. The 1996 edition can be purchased for $20 by calling the Capital Research Center at 202-483-6900. It's an illuminating read.

The issue of corporate funding inevitably brings to mind the words of ABC News "Nightline" commentator Ted Koppel. On February 24, 1994, while on the air, Koppel publicly scolded Vice President Al Gore for attempting to smear scientists who didn't support his views of global catastrophe. The compelling issue for Gore was funding, but Koppel concluded: "The measure of good science is neither the politics of the scientist nor the people with whom the scientist associates. It is the immersion of hypothesis into the acid of truth. That's the hard way to do it, but it's the only way that works."

We heartily concur. But since funding continues to be an issue for environmental activists, who gets what and from whom is worth noting, for the record. The following lists of 1994 corporate donations to environmental groups--$2,761,950--are from Patterns of Corporate Philanthropy and are the latest figures available.

AMOCO--Oil, gas, chemical and petroleum products

Grants to:
Nature Conservancy	$202,000
Resources for the Future	15,000
Isaak Walton League	10,000
Coastal Conservation Association	5,000
Conservation Fund	1,000
National park Foundation	5,000
TOTAL to environmental groups:	$238,000

Atlantic Richfield--Coal, gas, oil, petrochemicals

Grants to:
Audubon Society	$ 11,000
Center for Marine Conservation	10,000
Ducks Unlimited	10,000
Environmental Law Institute	5,000
Environmental & Energy Study Inst.	2,500
Isaak Walton League	5,000
Nature Conservancy	12,500
Resources for the Future	10,000
TOTAL to environmental groups	$ 66,000

Chevron--Oil, gas, petroleum products

Grants to:
Audubon Society	$ 10,000
Center for Marine Conservation	10,000
Chesapeake Bay Foundation	10,000
Ducks Unlimited	15,000
Earthwatch	16,500
Environmental Law Institute	15,000
Isaak Walton League	5,000
Natl. Institute for Urban Wildlife	5,000
National Park Foundation	5,000
National Wilderness Institute	5,000
Nature Conservancy	37,000
Resources for the Future	25,000
Student Conservation Association	25,500
World Environment Center	25,000
World Resources Institute	111,250
TOTAL to environmental groups	$320,250

Chrysler--Automobiles

Grants to:
Conservation Fund	$ 1,000
Environmental Law Institute	2,000
National Park Foundation	5,000
Resources for the Future	10,000
World Environment Center	1,000
World Resources Institute	10,000
TOTAL to environmental groups	$ 29,000

E.I. Dupont--chemicals

Dupont, now reaping huge profits from the nation's forced changeover to CFC-substitutes, refused to disclose individual dollar amounts of its grants, but listed the Audubon Society, Conservation Fund, Environmental Law Institute, Environmental and Energy Study Institute, Global Tomorrow Coalition, National Park Foundation, National Wildlife Federation, Nature Conservancy, Resources for the Future, World Environment Center, and the World Resources Institute among the recipients.

Enron--Natural gas, petrochemicals, pipelines, alternative energy

Grants to:
Nature Conservancy	$330,000
TOTAL to environmental groups	$330,000

Exxon--Oil, coal, petroleum products

Grants to:
Coastal Conservation Association	$17,500
Ducks Unlimited	150,000
Environmental Law Institute	5,000
Natl.Institute for Urban Wildlife	25,500
National Park Foundation	10,000
Nature Conservancy	296,000
National Wilderness Institute	15,000
Student Conservation Association	25,000
Trout Unlimited	15,000
World Environment Center	20,000
TOTAL to environmental groups	$479,000

Ford Motor--Automobiles

Grants to:
Audubon Society	$ 5,000
Conservation Fund	1,000
Environmental Law Institute	25,000
National Park Foundation	10,000
Nature Conservancy	11,000
Resources for the Future	25,000
World Resources Institute	1,000
World Wildlife Fund	10,000
TOTAL to environmental groups	$ 88,000

General Motors--Automobiles

Grants to:
Conservation Fund	$ 25,000
Nature Conservancy	750,000
TOTAL to environmental groups	$775,000

Mobil--Oil, gas, petroleum products

Grants to:
Environmental Law Institute	$ 7,500
National Wilderness Institute	10,000
Nature Conservancy	107,500
TOTAL to environmental groups	$125,000

Monsanto--Chemicals

Grants to:
Audubon Society	$1,000
Ducks Unlimited	10,000
Nature Conservancy	2,000
TOTAL to environmental groups	$ 13,000

Occidental Petroleum

Grants to:
Resources for the Future	$25,000
TOTAL to environmental groups	$25,000

Phillips Petroleum

Grants to:
Audubon Society	$2,200
Ducks Unlimited	2,500
Environmental Law Institute	2,500
Fdn. for Research on Econ. & Env.	10,000
Isaak Walton League	5,000
Nature Conservancy	51,000
Trout Unlimited	1,000
TOTAL to environmental groups	$ 74,200

Texaco--Oil, gas, petroleum products

Grants to:
Conservation Fund	$5,000
Global Tomorrow Coalition	20,000
Natl. Coalition for Marine Conserv.	1,000
Nature Conservancy	10,000
Resources for the Future	25,000
TOTAL to environmental groups	$ 61,000

Union Carbide--Chemicals

Grants to:
Fdn. for Research on Econ. & Env.	$5,000
Nature Conservancy	1,000
Resources for the Future	7,500
World Wildlife Fund	7,500
TOTAL to environmental groups	$ 21,000

Unocal--Oil, gas, petroleum products

Grants to:
Conservation Fund	$10,000
National Park Foundation	5,000
Resources for the Future	5,000
TOTAL to environmental groups	$ 20,000

Weyerhaeuser--Timber products

Grants to:
Chesapeake Bay Foundation	$1,500
Conservation Fund	2,000
Environmental Law Institute	2,000
Natl. Institute for Urban Wildlife	1,000
National Recycling Coalition	10,000
Nature Conservancy	21,000
Resources for the Future	50,000
World Environment Center	10,000
TOTAL to environmental groups	$ 97,500

GRAND TOTAL $2,761,950