Mark Steyer, NextGen’s primary supporter
Far left environmentalist, Tom Steyer, may want to check the mission of his NextGen organization – is it a Democratic money laundering outfit or is it an organization dedicated to advancing his environmental agenda? Politico this morning reported on the spending of Steyer’s organization after it was revealed that he raised a paltry $500,000 in July from one other donor, the founder of Patagonia. From Politico:
Meanwhile, NextGen continues to spend big, with expenses last month totaling more than $6.5 million. That includes $1.4 million to a state-level NextGen committee in Pennsylvania; $250,000 to another state-level NextGen in Maine; $150,000 to the League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund; $250,000 for the VoteVets.org Action Fund; $200,000 to American Bridge 21st Century; and $282,146.99 in reimbursements for staff time and overhead for NextGen Climate Action, a separate 501(c)(4). The super PAC also reported paying Boston-based Buzzards Bay Strategies more than $90,000 for grassroots consulting services. And NextGen sent the Senate Majority PAC $500,000, adding to a $5 million check Steyer funneled to the Democratic PAC via NextGen earlier this year. [Peak emphasis]
According to the NextGen website, here is the organization’s mission:
“NextGen Climate is a non-partisan organization focused on bringing climate change to the forefront of American politics.”
It’s tough to think of NextGen as nonpartisan (not that we ever did) when it donates to the Democratic Senate Majority PAC. Like the fractivists in Colorado, NextGen must decide whether it is a Democratic organization or an environmental organization. This was an issue we touched upon earlier this month when it became apparent that, for fractivists, party trumped issue:
“Think about it. Fractivists shout from every Colorado mountaintop that fracking causes cancer, birth defects, and poisoned water (none of these are accurate, but we digress). Yet, if they truly believe all of what they say, how could Giddens and other radical environmentalists possibly vote for recent fracking converts like Udall and Hick? It would be a betrayal of their own survival instincts.”
We suspect that, despite Steyer’s calls for a clean environment, he’s really just about dirty politics as usual.