THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume V, Issue # 37, February 22, 2003
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
GREEN WEALTH FUNDING THE ENEMY
By Alan Caruba
Green and animal-rights organizations do not subsist on the sale of calendars, books, and stuffed animals. They are wealthy beyond the comprehension of most Americans, includ- ing those misguided persons who support them in the belief they are "protecting the en- vironment" and saving animals from "cruelty" and "extinction."
You will be astonished to learn that there are more than 4,000 environmental groups in America today. "And the number is growing," warns Ron Arnold of the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise, "and they are really out to get you." Worse, they have the clout and the money to do it." They use it to lobby and support members of Congress to initiate legislation harmful to the interests of all Americans.
Hugo Gurdon of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, in a recent National Post article, noted that "The 12 biggest environmental pressure groups in the United States enjoy combined annual revenues of $1.95 billion, according to the latest Internal Revenue Service figures. Only 725 of the United States' 20 million companies can boast such magnificent cash flow."
"Among the Green dozen, are some--Nature Conservancy ($731 million) and the Wildlife Conservation Council ($311 million)--that are merely Left-of-Center. But there are gen- uinely extreme organizations--the World Wildlife Fund ($118 million) and the Sierra Club ($73 million)--that militate aggressively against the free market and attack property rights to the detriment of the economy and the majority of ordinary people," said Gur- don.
Arnold has written several excellent books on this topic--books that demonstrate how the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Environmental Working Group, and the Rain- forest Action Network have a long record of activities that undermine entire industries and the welfare of the nation's mining, ranching, and farming enterprises.
In the case of the animal-rights groups, Arnold has documented how People for the Ethi- cal Treatment of Animals (PETA) is a case history of IRS tax law violations, stolen trade secrets, advocacy of arson, and assault on business executives.
The Greens and the animal-rights groups use every protection afforded by the Consti- tution and every loophole in our legal and IRS codes to pursue their war on capitalism, property rights, and the welfare of this nation. They are a Socialist Taliban.
Americans for Medical Progress, a group that monitors the animal-rights movement, which opposes the use of animals for medical research, recently released information concerning the wealth of some of the leading groups. PETA's annual budget amounts to $13,499,614. It has net assets worth $4,480,988. It heavily underwrites the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, whose budget runs $2,915,847.
The American Anti-Vivisection Society has assets in excess of $11,561,737 and an annu- al budget of $1.2 million. The Fund for Animals has net assets in excess of $189,438,862 and runs an annual budget of more than $5.6 million. Defense of Animals is worth $1,483,334. There are others, including the Animal Welfare Institute, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, the Doris Day Animal League, and the Humane Society of the United States.
The Greens are leading the battle against genetically modified foods, a scientific break- through that promises to end famine. They are behind the U.S. government's former forest management policies that have led to years of catastrophic fires. Within the pass few weeks, the Bush administration has announced the revisions necessary to thwart this menace. Through their use of the Endangered Species Act and other "environmental" legislation, the Greens fund the attack on property rights, the keystone of the American economy. They have undermined the training of our nation's military through such laws as well.
While our attention is focused on the threat of the global Islamic Jihad, we also have to keep an eye on the environmental and animal-rights extremist groups. The threat of the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberal Front is international in scope and in- creasing daily here on the home front. They have begun to use violence against individ- uals to achieve their goals. In the past, they have specialized in arson and vandalism, some of which has destroyed years of scientific research for the benefit of humans and animals and for the protection of natural resources such as our forests.
You can learn the facts by visiting such websites as www.undueinfluence.com and www.ranamuck.org, all provided by the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise, www.cdfe.org. In the interest of full disclosure, I am an adjunct scholar of the CDFE.
The next time someone buys a Sierra Club calendar or gets a slick brochure asking for a donation to these causes, that money will fund the enemies of America.
More on Policy Issues Relating to
Energy, Environment, & Natural Resources
Alan Caruba is a veteran business and science writer, a Public Relations Counselor, Communications Director of the American Policy Center, and Founder of the National Anxiety Center, a clearinghouse for information about media-driven scare campaigns. Caruba writes a weekly column, "Warning Signs," posted on the Internet website of the National Anxiety Center (www.anxietycenter.com). He is the author of A POCKET GUIDE TO MILITANT ISLAM and THE UNITED NATIONS VS. THE UNITED STATES, both available from the National Anxiety Center, 9 Brookside Road, Maple- wood, New Jersey, 07040.
Copyright 2003 Alan Caruba
Published with Permission of Alan Caruba
ACaruba@AOL.Com
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Conservative & Free-Market Analysis of Government, Politics & Public Policy, Covering Political, Legal, Constitutional, Economic,
Cultural, Military, International, Strategic, & Geopolitical Issues
Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity