The ‘Inconvenient Youth’ Scam

Whatever happened to the good old days when manufactured corporate front groups were difficult to spot?

Public relations powerhouse Burson-Marsteller claims teenagers were inspired by global warming profiteer Al Gore to create Inconvenient Youth, “a new non-profit, non-partisan network” that trains young people “to educate others about global warming and what they can do to fight it.” The group’s website claims its members are teenagers “who give a damn about our future.”

Burson-Marsteller’s press release notes that its executive director is young Mary Doerr, but conveniently omits the fact that she is the daughter of venture capitalist John Doerr. Mr. Doerr is a partner in the financial firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and sits on the advisory board of Gore’s Generation Investment Management.

Both firms are gambling big time on global warming-related investments. (For more on Al Gore’s financial investments in climate change, see the August 2008 issue of Foundation Watch.)