Is Fossil Fuel Industry Secretly Behind a New Campaign Against Fossil Fuel Divestment?

authordefault
on

By Andy Rowell, crossposted with permission from Oil Changeย International

Last week a newly formed organization, The Institute for Pension Fund Integrity (IPFI), published its first โ€œwhite paperโ€ on the topical issue ofย  โ€œgetting politics out ofย pensionsโ€.

Reviewing the report, the headline on theย Institutional Investorย website summed up the main finding: โ€œNew Pensions Group Says Forget About Climateย Changeโ€.

โ€œPension funds should focus solely on getting the best investment returns and ignore issues such as climate change and other political issuesโ€, continued theย Institutional Investor.

Which really is a polite way of saying โ€œforget about your and your kidโ€™s future, make as much money as possibleย now.โ€

So what does the report actually say? The IPFI report warns that โ€œpolitically driven divestment is a growing movement across the countryโ€. It continues: โ€œMuch of the push is for public pensions to divest from industries with negative externalities, including being damaging to the environment; being unhealthy; and otherwise being perceived as a social โ€˜badโ€™. While this is not a novel concept, current movements focus on groups pushing for divestment from fossil fuel companies given their perceived negative impact on the climate andย environment.โ€

โ€œOther examplesโ€ it adds, โ€œinclude divesting from tobacco companies, soda companies, gun manufacturers, and the military and nuclear industrial complex.โ€ The reportโ€™s final conclusion is clear: โ€œget politics out of public pensionย management.โ€

So who is behind the report warning against the burgeoning fossil fuel disinvestmentย movement?

The author of the report and founder of the IPFI is Christopher Burnham, a former Treasurer of the State of Connecticut, and formerย United Nationsย Undersecretary. He is also a former โ€œenergy investment bankerโ€ and chairman of an advisory / PR company,ย Cambridgeย Global Advisors. He has also, most recently, served as a member of Donald Trumpโ€™s Presidential Transition Team at the Department ofย State.

Burnham has previously written forย Cambridge Globalย Advisors on the subject of pensions saying that โ€œa new era of activists, without any regard to fiduciary responsibility, is injecting politics into pension systems, yet again, by trying to make states, counties and municipalities across the country divest of shares in energy companies. Why would we seek to undermine the integrity of a secure retirement for our teachers and governmentย employees?โ€

But letโ€™s dig a little deeper. The IPFAโ€™s address is exactly the same as theย East Port Analystics, on which board Burnham sits. However,ย its phone numberย is the same as Cambridge Globalย Advisors,ย although Cambridge does not give out its full address on its website, so it’s probably all the sameย office.

Maybe a greater clue is who is behind the Instituteโ€™s website. The IPFI website was set up last month by Burnham himself on March 22. Two days later records show that Burnham was showing as the registrant name. However by April 9, the contact for the website had been changed to Fred Wollenberg from the Bergman Group, which is an advertisingย company.

According to hisย biog on Bergmanโ€™s website, it says Wollenberg โ€œjoined the Bergman Group, where he has developed speciality marketing for ExxonMobil, Sandler Training, CapTech, American Express, Martha Jefferson Hospital, DCI Group, Beaumont Hospitals of Detroit, Wells Fargo, VCU Health System, the National Audubon Society, American Enterprise Institute, the George W. Bush Foundation and Capitalย One.โ€

Now this maybe a total coincidence, but Wollenberg just happens to have developed โ€œspeciality marketingโ€ for Exxon as well as theย DCI Group, the PR firm linked to the Republican Party, which has a long history of being involved in anti-climate change work and also which has been accused of being behind another anti-fossil fuel disinvestmentย campaign.

Asย Bloombergย reported last year, there is another anti-divestment campaign which is called โ€œProtect Our Pensions isnโ€™t what it appears to be โ€ฆ much of the writing is actually done by public affairs firms operating in theย shadowsโ€.

It continued: โ€œBut there are clues pointing to the involvement of DCI Group LLC, a Washington public affairs firm known for its work with the energy industry and for building grass-roots coalitions that sometimes obscure theirย funders.โ€

Bloombergย noted that the groupโ€™s website, โ€œwww.helpprotectourpensions.org, is linked to the same internet protocol address as DCIโ€™s corporate website, according to reverse IP lookup tools. Shared IP addresses can sometimes be a coincidence, but of the 11 other sites connected to that address, at least eight are for coalitions or projects related to DCIย clients.โ€

DCI neither confirmed or denied toย Bloombergย that they worked on the Protect our Pensions campaign, and they will probably say the same here about another uncannily similarย initiative.

authordefault

Related Posts

on

New documents show close coordination between the oil major and a coalition of free-market think tanks at a crucial moment in climate diplomacy.

New documents show close coordination between the oil major and a coalition of free-market think tanks at a crucial moment in climate diplomacy.
Analysis
on

Right wing YouTuber Tim Pool is the latest to own โ€˜climate peopleโ€™ with fake facts spouted by a grizzled TV oilman.

Right wing YouTuber Tim Pool is the latest to own โ€˜climate peopleโ€™ with fake facts spouted by a grizzled TV oilman.
on

Critics say the controversial GWP* method โ€“ which New Zealand appears close to adopting โ€“ is โ€œopen to significant abuseโ€.

Critics say the controversial GWP* method โ€“ which New Zealand appears close to adopting โ€“ is โ€œopen to significant abuseโ€.
on

Lord Moynihan of Chelsea, who holds shares in Shell and TotalEnergies, called the green transition a โ€œchildrenโ€™s crusadeโ€.

Lord Moynihan of Chelsea, who holds shares in Shell and TotalEnergies, called the green transition a โ€œchildrenโ€™s crusadeโ€.