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Key Findings

Despite their claims about advocating on behalf of "local" communities, Texas environmental activists rely on large financial backers that are located out of state, including San Francisco and New York. Many of the environmental groups most active in Texas are also part of the “Keep it in the Ground” campaign, an extreme and fringe movement to ban the use of all fossil fuels.

Campaigns against drilling in Texas are often deceptively phrased as “local control” or “best practices,” an attempt to mask the groups’ goal of stopping energy development, which is unpopular in Texas. Many of the Texas environmental activist groups are involved in anti-fracking campaigns with their parent organizations – for example, Environment America’s “Stop Fracking Our Future” and Sierra Club’s “Beyond Oil” and “Beyond Natural Gas” campaigns. Many Texas environmental activists support anti-drilling policies, including extreme setbacks and prohibitive regulations. This allows them to advocate for de facto drilling bans without having to admit they want to ban drilling.

One of the largest environmental groups in Texas – the Sierra Club – receives $750 from a solar company for each panel system the company installs.

The Sea Change Foundation receives significant contributions from an offshore account in Bermuda. Sea Change funds environmental groups directly, but also indirectly through millions of dollars in contributions to the Energy Foundation, which is a major funder of environmental activism in Texas.

Anti-drilling groups in Texas receive funding from deep-pocketed foundations and firms with renewable energy investments.