publication

Enemies of Energy: The Myths, the Movement, and the Money

Published on:May 27, 2026

Enemies of Energy is a lively research report profiling what are currently the fifteen most influential opponents of nearly 90 percent of the fuels that built modern America and sustain our prosperity: oil, gas, coal and nuclear power. Examples include household names such as the Sierra Club, and similarly influential, yet less known groups such as the Rocky Mountain Institute.

It is also an analysis of the fifteen largest known donors to these NGOs. Here again the list includes well-known anti-energy donors, such as Michael Bloomberg, and more enigmatic anti-energy billionaires such as Fred Taylor.

The report begins with ten common misconceptions used to promote the agenda of the anti-energy movement. Examples include myths about dangerous sea level increases; the dangers of natural gas and nuclear power; the supposed benefits and cost advantages of weather dependent, unreliable wind turbines and solar power; and China’s progress (or lack thereof) in reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

As noted in the introduction, the conclusion, and throughout the report, we once had a conservation movement that was not the enemy of energy. Once a Sierra Club board member, iconic nature photographer Ansel Adams was a strong proponent of nuclear power. Biophysicist William Siri, president of the Sierra Club in the 1960s, tried unsuccessfully to keep the group steered in a pro-energy direction.

That Sierra Club is now gone, as is nearly all of America’s pro-energy conservation movement. The central argument of his report is that we need that old conservation movement to return. Only a rich nation can afford to protect the features and creatures Americans love. And only abundant, reliable energy will continue to fuel that prosperity.

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Contents

Executive Summary

Introduction: Yosemite’s Conservationists

Myths and Misconceptions

  1. THE CLIMATE EMERGENCY
  2. ENERGY PRICES
  3. AMERICAN CO2 EMISSIONS
  4. FRACKING AND NATURAL GAS
  5. “FOSSIL FUEL” SUBSIDIES
  6. ELECTRIC VEHICLES AND EMISSIONS
  7. “UNIQUELY DANGEROUS” NUCLEAR POWER
  8. SAVING THE EARTH
  9. WIND AND SOLAR ENERGY ARE CHEAPER
  10. PLASTIC POLLUTION

The Anti-Energy NGOs

  1. League of Conservation Voters (LCV)
  2. Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)
  3. Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
  4. Sierra Club
  5. Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI)
  6. World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
  7. Earthjustice
  8. Greenpeace
  9. World Resources Institute (WRI)
  10. Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)
  11. Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC)
  12. GRID Alternatives
  13. Center for Biological Diversity (CBD)
  14. Climate Reality Project (CRP)
  15. 350.org

The Anti-Energy Donors

  1. Fred Taylor / Sequoia Climate Foundation
  2. Sergey Brin
  3. Michael Bloomberg
  4. Jeff Bezos
  5. Fred Stanback
  6. Hewlett Foundation
  7. Jeremy Grantham
  8. Freedom Together Foundation
  9. Skyline Foundation
  10. Heising-Simons Foundation
  11. Sall Family Foundation
  12. Climate Imperative Foundation
  13. Climateworks Foundation
  14. U.S. Energy Foundation
  15. Windward Fund

Afterward: The Heretic

Endnotes