Capital Research, April 2026

If their world exists, then our world will not

Letter from the editor

Every single day, organizations working to end American energy as we know it collect millions, mostly in tax-exempt donations. The Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Greenpeace, the Rocky Mountain Institute— together they have built a billion-dollar machine dedicated to a single purpose: replacing the reliable, affordable energy that powers American civilization with weather-dependent wind turbines and solar panels that work only when nature cooperates.

Capital Research Center (CRC) has been shedding light on their efforts for a long time.

For years, CRC’s Green Watch tracked the nonprofit environmental movement—its leaders, its funders, its tactics, and its real-world consequences. We have followed the “dark money” networks bankrolling climate litigation. We have documented the foreign billionaires quietly funding domestic activism. We have exposed the crony capitalism hiding behind the language of clean energy.

A full accounting of the organizations, the money, and the myths driving America’s anti-energy movement, one that arms policymakers and citizens to push back, is the natural next step in our work.

The following pages are the initial installment of a comprehensive investigation into the organizations driving America’s anti-energy agenda.

Before we exposed the groups and their donors, we felt we owed readers something more basic: a clear-eyed look at the factual claims that give this movement its power. This edition of Capital Research examines ten energy myths, covering topics ranging from sea level rise and energy prices to nuclear safety and electric vehicles. These form the intellectual foundation upon which billions of dollars in annual advocacy rests. Understand the myths, and the rest of the story becomes much easier to follow.

The facts are remarkable. Are you aware that Americans pay among the lowest energy prices in the developed world, precisely because we have resisted the policies these groups promote? Germany and the United Kingdom, which have followed the anti-energy prescription most faithfully, now pay more than double what Americans pay for electricity. China, meanwhile, has increased its carbon dioxide emissions by 109 percent since 2005.

Over that same period the United States reduced ours by 20 percent, mostly by replacing coal with cleaner-burning natural gas. That is a genuine environmental success story, achieved without sacrificing prosperity, and accomplished largely through the innovation these groups have fought at every turn.

The following pages are a taste of a much larger investigation into the organizations themselves: their leadership, their donors, their political networks, and the gap between what they say and what they do. Those familiar with our past work on “dark money” will recognize the formula: the names are often different, the playbook is not.

Sincerely,

Kristen Eastlick

Senior vice president, Capital Research Center

***

The pdf of the issue is attached below. Here is the rest of the contents:

Ken Braun: Why it matters: energy equals civilization

Myth 1: The climate emergency (page 5)

Myth 2: Energy Prices (page 7)

Myth 3: American CO2 emissions (page 9)

Myth 4: Fracking and natural gas (page 10)

Myth 5: “Fossil fuel” subsidies (page 12)

Myth 6: Electric vehicles and emissions (page 15)

Myth 7: “Uniquely dangerous” (page 16)

Myth 8: Saving the Earth (page 18)

Myth 9: Wind and solar energy are cheaper (page 20)

Myth 10: Plastic pollution (page 22)

Ken Braun: Yosemite’s conservationists (page 25)