The Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) is an organization that has opposed responsible investing practices, most notably by authoring – at the behest of an oil executive – the Texas law that directed the state to stop doing business with financial institutions that had divested from the fossil fuel industry. According to a study by Wharton Business School, the law will cost Texas taxpayers $416 million annually. TPPF has received millions in funding from oil and gas interests, and nearly half of their Board of Directors are involved in the fossil fuel industry.
Coordinated Action. TPPF has also helped push similar anti-responsible investing legislation in other states by assisting Andy Puzder of the Heritage Foundation with drafting a model bill for the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) based on the Texas law. TPPF has been involved in the national anti-responsible investing fights as well, including suing the EPA for designating greenhouse gases as a danger to public health and filing an objection to the SEC proposal requiring companies to disclose financial risks from climate change.
Misinformation. The Texas Public Policy Foundation has been a source of climate-science denialism and pro-fossil fuel propaganda. The New York Times stated that TPPF “has spread misinformation about climate science” and promoted “dubious narratives.” David Michaels, an epidemiologist at George Washington School Of Public Health stated that TPPF “is part of the fossil fuel disinformation playbook” and its role is “to promote the interests of their sponsors.” And TPPF has done just that, even going so far as to have an initiative called Life:Powered where it makes what it calls “the moral case for fossil fuels.” An executive at TPPF tweeted that he was “thankful to live a high-carbon lifestyle” while also stating that “decarbonization is dangerous and deadly.” That same executive, Jason Isaac, has also stated that while man is having an impact on the climate, he disagrees “with the argument that it’s dangerous.”
Backdoor Deals. The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s ties to the oil and gas industry run deep. Nearly half of the Board of Directors of the organization are involved in the oil and gas industry (nine of 19 directors). The Vice-Chairman of TPPF is Tim Dunn, the billionaire CEO of oil and gas company Crownquest Operating, who once stated that only Christians should hold leadership positions and also claimed that God deposited oil in the ground a mere 4,000 years ago, despite scientific consensus that the Earth is 200 million years old.
Polluter Funding. The Texas Public Policy Foundation has also received millions in funding from the fossil fuel industry. TPPF has taken $8.3 million from the foundations of Charles Koch, the owner of the dirty energy conglomerate Koch Industries, including $3.6 million from 1986-2017 and an astonishing $4.75 million from 2018-2021 according to Charles Koch Foundation and Charles Koch Institute tax forms. TPPF has also received funding from coal producer Peabody Energy, oil giants ExxonMobil and Chevron, as well the aforementioned oil billionaire Tim Dunn.
Fact: The anti-responsible investment law written by The Texas Public Policy Foundation costs Texas taxpayers $416 million annually, according to a study by Wharton Business School.