$US 10 Million for 43 Organizations in a "TAR SANDS" Campaign. Paid for by Tides USA (2009/2010)

Acting in concert, environmental organizations are campaigning against the Alberta oilsands, and more broadly, against the export of Canadian oil. Banning oil tanker traffic on the strategic, north coast of British Columbia, as environmental organizations are demanding, would block exports of Canadian oil to China and other Asian countries. No oil tankers means no oil exports.

In both the U.S. and Canada, a large number of these environmental organizations are all funded by a single American foundation: The Tides Foundation ("Tides USA").

According to U.S. tax returns for 2009 and 2010, Tides USA has paid a total of $10.2 Million to 44 organizations that campaign against Canadian oil. The top recipient was Corporate Ethics International which runs RETHINK ALBERTA, a campaign to pressure the Alberta government by depicting Alberta in a negative light.

In 2010 alone, the Sierra Club was paid $420,000, Environmental Defense Canada Inc. was paid $250,000 and Greenpeace Canada was paid $200,000 for participation in the "Tar Sands Campaign," according to 2010 tax returns for Tides USA.

As reported in The Financial Post, in 2009 the U.S. Tides Foundation and Tides Canada funded a total of 36 organizations that campaign against the development of the Alberta oilsands. Of these, 26 organizations were funded by the Tides USA. The total granted to these organizations by Tides USA was $3.6 Million for 2009, according to U.S. tax returns.

In 2009, Tides Canada Foundation paid at least $7 million to 20 organizations that campaign against Canadian oil, according to analysis of Tides Canada's U.S. tax returns. In 2009, fully half of Tides Canada's grants went towards projects on a small but very strategic part of the Canadian coastline: the north coast of B.C., right smack where oil tankers export bound for Asia would need to travel.

2010 Grants

For 2010, U.S. tax returns show that the Tides USA paid a total of 36 organizations for their participation in a "Tar Sands" campaign, according to the U.S. tax return of the Tides Foundation. The total amount paid to these 36 groups was $4.8 million for 2010 alone.

For several organizations, the amounts paid for the "Tar Sands" campaign doubled from 2009 to 2010. For example:

The top recipient of Tides funding for its "Tar Sands" campaign was Corporate Ethics International (CEI) which runs a campaign called RETHINK ALBERTA. Tides USA nearly doubled payments to CEI, from $750,000 to $1,450,000.

The Sierra Club Foundation more than doubled its funding from $200,000 in 2009 to $420,000 in 2010. Apart from that, Tides USA also funded the Sierra Club for voter registration efforts and a Get The Vote Out campaign. On top of that, Tides USA also paid $135,000 to the Sierra Club of Canada. That included $20,000 for a "Downriver Co-ordinator based in Fort McMurray."

For the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC), money more than doubled from $200,000 to $405,000 including $100,000 for a "2010 Fall Campaign" and $40,000 for a Climate Change campaign.

The amount paid to the Indigenous Environmental Network increased from $115,000 in 2009 to $157,000 in 2010. That included $140,000 for the "Tar Sands Campaign" and $17,000 for "general support." Over 2009 and 2010, the total amount paid by the Tides Foundation to the Indigenous Environmental Network was $255,000o.

In particular, the amounts paid to some Canadian environmental groups increased substantially from 2009 to 2010. For example, from just one year to the next:

Ecojustice Canada Society tripled its funding from $50,000 to $150,000.

The Water Matters Society of Alberta nearly tripled its funding from $22,500 to $60,000.

Environmental Defence Canada Inc. increased from $185,000 to $250,000.

Greenpeace Canada increased from $186,000 to $200,000.

Some environmental groups that were funded to participate in the "Tar Sands Campaign" in 2009, were not funded in 2010, at least not according to Tides' tax return. For example, the World Wildlife Fund Canada was paid $160,000 for participation in the "Tar Sands Campaign" in 2009 but WWF Canada is not listed as a recipient of funds for the "Tar Sands" campaign, not as of the 2010 Tides tax return. Other groups that were funded as part of the "Tar Sands" campaign in 2009 but not in 2010 are The Boreal Songbird Initiative, The Driftwood Foundation, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) and Fresh Energy. Whether these organizations opted out of the "Tar Sands" campaign or whether their funding was unilaterally cut, I haven't asked.

In British Columbia, seven environmental groups alone, were paid $505,000 for their involvement in a "Tar Sands" campaign. Five of these B.C.-based environmental groups were new (as of 2010) to the list of Canadian groups that were paid for a "Tar Sands campaign." The new environmental groups in 2010 were:

Living Oceans Society, paid $55,000 plus $5,000 for a Tar Sands Tanker Route Conflict Map. (NOTE: The Living Oceans Society is a federally registered charity in the United States, and reports to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) but is not listed in Revenue Canada's on-line database of registered charities. For highlights of the U.S. tax return filed by the Living Oceans Society, click here).

The T. Buck Suzuki Foundation, paid $30,000

The Northwest Institute for Bioregional Research Society (NWIBRS), paid $72,628. In 2009, NWIBRS reported to Revenue Canada that two thirds of its revenue was from foreign sources. In 2010, half of NWIBRS's revenue was from foreign sources.

The Tyee Society, paid $15,000

The West Coast Environmental Law Research Foundation, paid $50,000. Back in 2006, WCELRF was also paid $100,000 by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund "to prevent the development of a tanker port and pipeline that would endanger the Great Bear Rainforest."

Below, here are the excerpts from the 2010 tax return of the Tides Foundation, showing amounts paid to 36 organizations for a "Tar Sands" campaign, in 2010:

Corporate Ethics International: RETHINK Alberta: $1,450,000
Ceres Inc., Boston: $100,000
Dogwood Initiative (No Tankers): $65,000 plus $14,275 "for continued work to help British Columbians exercise local control and create healthy and prosperous communities"
Earth Justice, Oakland CA: $100,000 plus $5,000 for general support and $10,000 for "sustainable energy efforts in Hawaii"
Earthworks, Washington D.C.: $50,000 plus $30,000 for general support and $10,000 for an "Oil and Gas Accountability Project"
Ecojustice Canada Society: $150,000
Environmental Defense Canada ("Exposing the Tar Sands"): $250,000
Center for Energy Matters, Edmond OK: $25,000
Environmental America Research and Policy, Washington DC: $25,000
Environmental Law & Policy Center, Chicago IL: $60,000
Equiterre: $80,000
Friends of the Earth, Washington D.C.: $50,000 plus $5,000 for general support
Forest Ethics, San Francisco CA: $150,000
Greenpeace Canada: $200,000
Great Bear Initiative: $100,000
Indigenous Environmental Network, Bemidji MN: $140,000
Living Oceans Society: $55,000 plus $5,000 for a Tar Sands Tanker Route Conflict Map
Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy: $20,000
National Wildlife Federation, Washington DC: $100,000
NRDC, Washington DC: $265,000 plus $251,947, including $100,000 for a "2010 Fall Campaign" and $40,000 for a Climate Change campaign
Northwest Institute for Bioregional Research Society: $72,628
Plains Justice: $75,000
PLATFORM, based in London UK: $60,000
Polaris Institute, NY: $75,000
Public Citizen Foundation, Austin TX: $20,000
Public Interest Projects/Science First: $25,000
Rainforest Action Network, San Francisco: $50,000
Rainforest Conservation Society: $20,000
Sierra Club Foundation: $420,000
Sierra Club of Canada: $135,000
T. Buck Suzuki Foundation: $30,000
Tides Center Global Community Monitor: $50,000 plus $13,000 for a Refinery Reform Campaign
Tyee Solutions Society: $15,000
Water Matters Society of Alberta: $60,000
West Coast Environmental Law Research Foundation: $50,000
Western Organization of Research Councils Education Project: $200,000 plus $30,000 for a "No Dirty Fuels" Campaign and $35,000 for an Energy Campaign

In addition to the organizations listed above which were explicitly funded to conduct a "Tar Sands Campaign," Oil Change International was paid $25,000 for a project titled, "Bridging from the Gulf Oil Tragedy to Shifting Fossil Fuel Subsidies Project."

Excerpts of 2009 U.S. Tax Returns for the Tides Foundation ("Tides USA")

For a write-up of 2009 grants from Tides USA and Tides Canada to 36 organizations that campaign against the Canadian oil industry, click here.
For excerpts of U.S. tax returns showing grants from Tides USA to 17 American organizations in 2009, click here.
For excerpts of U.S. tax returns showing grants from Tides USA to 12 Canadian groups in 2009, click here.
For excerpts of Tides Canada's U.S. tax return for 2009 showing grants to 10 Canadian groups that campaign against Canadian oil, click here.

Spreadsheets: