Matthew Sinclair on the irony of those calling for an end to subsidies for fossil fuels are themselves subsidised by taxpayers.
The European Union has been handing out grants to environmentalist groups since 1997. New research by the Taxpayers’ Alliance today shows just how much the different groups have received. The European Environmental Bureau, an umbrella group for a number of the others who are funded directly, has received nearly €11 million. More familiar names funded under the LIFE+ programme include Friends of the Earth Europe, which has received over €7m million, and the European Policy Office of the World Wildlife Fund, which has received nearly €8 million.
The European Union isn’t the only government to hand taxpayers’ money over to the environmentalists. But they are particularly shameless. When DEFRA funds the radical left New Economics Foundation for example, they at least pretend the £58,308 project to commission a report titled Moments of change as opportunities for influencing behaviour is a serious piece of research, though it looked to Communist Cuba for examples of ‘effective government-led intervention.’ The European Union proudly boasts about how LIFE+ is intended to support groups ‘involved in the development and implementation of Community policy and legislation.’ In other words: lobbying and campaigning.
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Matthew Sinclair on the irony of those calling for an end to subsidies for fossil fuels are themselves subsidised by taxpayers.The European Union has been handing out grants to environmentalist groups since 1997. New research by the Taxpayers’ Alliance today shows just how much the different groups have received. The European Environmental Bureau, an umbrella group for a number of the others who are funded directly, has received nearly €11 million. More familiar names funded under the LIFE+ programme include Friends of the Earth Europe, which has received over €7m million, and the European Policy Office of the World Wildlife Fund, which has received nearly €8 million.
The European Union isn’t the only government to hand taxpayers’ money over to the environmentalists. But they are particularly shameless. When DEFRA funds the radical left New Economics Foundation for example, they at least pretend the £58,308 project to commission a report titled Moments of change as opportunities for influencing behaviour is a serious piece of research, though it looked to Communist Cuba for examples of ‘effective government-led intervention.’ The European Union proudly boasts about how LIFE+ is intended to support groups ‘involved in the development and implementation of Community policy and legislation.’ In other words: lobbying and campaigning.