Texas Public Policy Foundation's National Climate Action Crusade

The Texas Public Policy Foundation develops laws, campaigns for influence, and takes legal action to promote fossil fuels.

When a lawsuit was filed to block the nation's first major offshore wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts, it seemed like a direct showdown between who wins their lives thanks to the sea and others who would install turbines and underwater installations. cables that could interfere with harvesting squid, flukes, and other fish.

The fishing companies challenging federal permits for the Vineyard Wind project were from the state of Bay as well as Rhode Island and New York, and a video made by the opponents featured a bearded fisherman with a distinct New England accent.

But the The financial muscle behind the fight was born thousands of miles from the Atlantic Ocean, in a dusty oil country. The group that funded the lawsuit filed last year was the Texas Public Policy Foundation, an Austin-based nonprofit supported by oil and gas companies and Republican donors.

Through lobbying, legal action, and model legislation, the group promotes fossil fuels and attempts to halt the transition of the US economy to renewable energy. He is outspoken about his opposition to Vineyard Wind and other renewable energy projects, making no apologies for his advocacy work.

Even after the Democrats in Congress passed the largest climate law in US history this summer, the organization is unwavering, and its continued efforts highlight the myriad forces working to keep oil, gas and in business.

In Arizona, Texas The Public Policy Foundation campaigned to keep one of the largest coal-fired power plants in the West open. In Colorado, he called for looser restrictions on hydraulic fracturing or hydraulic fracturing. And in Texas, the group crafted the first so-called "energy boycott" law to punish financial institutions that want to cut investment in fossil fuel projects, legislation passed by four other states.

At the same time, the Texas Public Policy Foundation has been spreading misinformation about climate science. With YouTube videos, regular appearances on Fox and Friends, and social media campaigns, the group's leaders sought to convince lawmakers and the public that a transition away from oil, gas, and coal would hurt Americans.

They have frequently seized on current events to promote dubious narratives, blaming high gas prices on President Biden's climate policies (economists say this isn't is not the engine) or claiming that the winter 2021 blackout in Texas was the result of unreliable wind power (it was not).

ImageThe T.P.P.F. blamed the February 2021 Texas blackouts on frozen wind turbines, though utility officials said the root cause was the state's natural gas suppliers.Credit...Tamir Kalifa for the New York Times

They are traveling the country to encourage state lawmakers to punish companies that try to cut carbon emissions. And through an initiative called Life:Powered, the group presents what it calls "the moral case for fossil fuels," which argues that American prosperity is rooted in an economy based on oil, gas and fuel. coal and that poor communities and developing countries deserve the same opportunities for growth.