John Sexton writes for HotAir.com about a significant development in the world of climate alarmism.
Bill Gates funds a climate change policy group called Breakthrough Energy aimed at reducing carbon emissions. The group seems to combine investments in clean energy tech as well as lobbying for public policy. This pitch for the group was posted four years ago.But as of today, Gates appears to be pulling back pretty dramatically on this one-stop climate shop. He is cutting staff here and abroad.
Dozens of staff members were cut, including Breakthrough Energy’s unit in Europe, its team in the United States working on public policy issues and most of its employees working on partnerships with other climate organizations, according to three people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly.
The change shows how Mr. Gates is retooling his empire for the Trump era. With Republicans controlling both houses of Congress and the White House, Mr. Gates calculated that the Breakthrough policy team in the United States was not likely to have a significant effect in Washington, said the people familiar with his thinking. The U.S. policy team was also one of the largest and most expensive parts of the organization. …
… I don’t think it takes a genius to see that now is not the moment for climate change lobbying in Washington. There were reports last month that Breakthrough would be cutting funding to partner groups.
Bill Gates’ climate tech advocacy organization has told its partners that it will slash its grantmaking budget this year, dealing a blow to climate-focused policy and advocacy groups that relied on the Microsoft founder, Heatmap has learned.
Breakthrough Energy, the umbrella organization for Gates’ various climate-focused programs, alerted many nonprofit grantees earlier this month that it would not be renewing its support for them.
