18 Oct 2012 New GroupSnoop.org Profile Unveils Earthworks’ Extremist Funding and Severe Job-Killing Positions

Earthworks’ Campaigns Harm American Workers, Energy Independence and National Security

Washington, D.C. – A new GroupSnoop.org profile of the radical environmental group Earthworks published by the National Center for Public Policy Research finds that Earthworks – which has helped lead opposition to the Keystone XL Pipeline and the yet-to-be proposed Pebble Mine in Alaska – operates on an extreme anti-business bias, uses bad science to make its case and is fueled by far-left funders.

“Earthworks presents itself as a noble group trying to protect the environment. In reality, the Earthworks radicals are funded by extremist groups such as the Tides Foundation and EcoTrust, and are affiliated with wealthy donors such as George Soros, Bob Gillam, Ted Turner and Gordon Moore,” said National Center general counsel and Free Enterprise Project director Justin Danhof. “Earthworks’ initiatives hurt American jobs, the American economy and American security while increasing our nation’s reliance on hostile foreign energy supplies and Chinese minerals.”

Earthworks, for example, is a leading opponent of a yet-to-be-proposed mining project in Bristol Bay, Alaska known as the Pebble Mine. Formed in 2007, the Pebble Partnership (a 50-50 partnership between Anglo-American plc and Northern Dynasty Minerals Limited) has been informally considering mining operations at the Pebble site. According to one estimate, the Pebble Mine might be worth $400 billion and “could potentially triple U.S. reserves of copper, increase its gold reserves by 50 percent and make America the world’s largest holder of mineral molybdenum, an essential component of high-strength steel alloys.” Additionally, the project is estimated to create thousands of high-wage jobs in an impoverished region.

“Earthworks is using scare tactics and bad science to garner more opposition to the Pebble Mine. They are relying on speculative studies by the Nature Conservancy and the Environmental Protection Agency to claim the mine would damage the local environment and fishing industry. However, neither Earthworks nor the EPA can actually assess the mine since the Pebble Partnership has not submitted a final plan for federal or state approval,” said Danhof.

Earthworks is also a leading opponent of the Keystone XL pipeline. The proposed pipeline could bring 830,000 barrels of oil per day to U.S. refineries and create an estimated 20,000 construction jobs.

“Increasing energy independence and creating more American jobs is a no-brainer. Earthworks is standing in the way of the American economy and American security,” said Danhof. “It is time that the truth about their anti-American activities are brought to light.”

The National Center for Public Policy Research is a conservative, free-market, non-profit think-tank established in 1982. It is supported by the voluntary gifts of over 100,000 individual recent supporters. In 2011 it received over 350,000 individual donations. Two percent of its revenue comes from corporate sources. Contributions to it are tax-deductible.

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