The left’s biggest dark money network is behind a "grassroots" organization pushing Democrats’ $500 billion plan to fight "environmental racism."
Rewiring America, one of many environmental groups that has endorsed the BUILD GREEN Act, is part of a massive dark money network run by the D.C.-based Arabella Advisors. The nation’s wealthiest liberal donors use Arabella’s $731 million activist network to secretly fund a host of liberal causes.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y) cited Rewiring America’s support in a press release announcing the legislation. The bill’s cosponsors blame "corporate" interests for damaging the climate.
Rewiring America is powered by the Windward Fund, an Arabella subsidiary whose stated mission is to promote "community-based, grassroots grant making." The Windward Fund and Rewiring America are not required to disclose their budgets, spending, or finances.
The legislation includes a call for the country to shift entirely to renewable energy and to replace all vehicles with electric cars. Rewiring America’s executive director Adam Zurofsky praised the legislation for "decarbonizing our economy and meeting the climate challenge."
But many of the bill’s provisions are not related to the climate or the environment. The legislation would redistribute wealth to low-income and minority communities, as well as communities "facing environmental injustice." It would also institute "strong labor provisions" for union workers and establish a $15-per-hour minimum wage.
Liberals frequently use "environmental racism" to justify a host of radical policies. The bill’s sponsors claim that "environmental racism" justifies everything from reparations payments to single-payer health care. The left-wing Sunrise Movement, which endorsed the legislation, supports abolishing "police and prisons" in order to achieve "climate justice."
President Joe Biden invoked "environmental justice" on the campaign trail, pledging to have the Justice Department prosecute fossil fuel companies "to the fullest extent permitted by law."
The legislation has also been endorsed by left-wing groups like 350.org, Greenpeace, and Zero Hour, which claims the world has less than nine years left until it’s made uninhabitable by global warming.
While it remains unclear how much these dark money groups have spent lobbying for the legislation, in January the Windward Fund hired AJW Inc., which lobbies for environmental groups including the Clean Air Task Force and the Environmental Defense Action Fund.
The legislation is Democrats’ latest attempt to usher in radical policies using climate legislation. Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal includes provisions to provide free health care and jobs to every American. In February 2021, Democrats introduced legislation that would declare a climate change emergency and give the federal government power to combat "environmental injustice" by promoting labor union membership.