I guess I'm old fashioned enough to believe that we should judge political candidates based upon their record, not whether we think they are cool, nice, more or less innocuous than their opponent, or performed well on SNL.

It seems to me most people who profess to being "environmentalists" don't have much knowledge, understanding, and awareness of how the national environmental organizations' "capitulation agenda" was and is corporate funded. They also tend not to know about the political battles for control of these organizations. For instance, there was a fairly big battle over control of the Sierra Club, leading up to the 2000 elections. It was partly over endorsement of Gore, but more about an anti-democratic drift within the organization, and controversy over a small group of it's board, dedicated to forcing it's anti-immigration agenda on the national and local Sierra Clubs.

Americans pour as much as $3 billion into environmental causes every year. A sizable chunk of that money goes to the 12 large groups that dominate the green scene in Washington , D.C. With all this money rolling into the national environmental movement, some critics, such as investigative journalist Mark Dowie, suggest that size does matter -- in reverse: The larger a group gets, the more bureacratic and less effective it becomes. As Dowie and others have noted, amazing work is being done at the grass roots level against tremendous odds, but these struggles are often neglected by the press and unnoticed by the larger public.

In an attempt to correct the record, Jeffrey St. Clair (mentioned in my post above) and Bernardo Issel prepared a brief consumer profile of some of the largest and most ubiquitous environmental organizations in In These Times magazine in 1997. They charted their organizational history, political leanings and financial status. (Jeffrey St. Clair reports on the environment for Counterpunch. Bernardo Issel is a freelance writer based in Washington, D.C.

Here is what they reported:

Environmental Defense Fund
Created in 1967 by a small band of lawyers seeking to ban DDT, EDF evolved into George Bush's favorite environmental group. The group is the premier advocate or market-oriented solutions to environmental problems. EDF was a cheerleader for NAFTA, and gets excited about pollution credits, emissions trading systems and user fees for recreational use of public lands. it hosts the Barbra Streisand Chair of Environmental Studies, the perch of scientist Michael Oppenheimer, who advocates buying up development rights in the Third World as a solution to global climate change. EDF convinced McDonalds in 1991 to reform its solid-waste disposal practices and to move from Styrofoam to paper packaging (but remained mum on quality of food, ecologically destructive ranching practices and abusive treatment of animals and workers.) In cooperation with major timber companies, the group developed a "paper-use task force," whose recommendations discreetly ignored sustainable alternatives to paper such as industrial hemp and kenaf. Inc. magazine praised president Fred Krupp for his ability to "speak capitalism."
Budget: $25.4 million
Staff: 160
Members: 300,000
Salary of CEO: $262,000, including benefits


Greenpeace USA
Greenpeace sprang up in 1971 out of protests against U.S. nuclear testing in the Aleutians. The group has gained a reputation as a media-savvy, confrontational organization with a radical eco-agenda to end pollution, protect biodiversity and bring about global disarmament. it has waged war against factory trawlers, whaling ships, pulp mills and the French nuclear navy. Its membership exploded in the '80s, reaching 4.8 million internationally at its peak in 1991. Since then, it has been on the decline. Greenpeace is one of the few national groups to demonstrate some sensitivity to the social and economic problems of Third World nations. The group valiantly fought NAFTA and GATT, but recently joined forces with NAFTA proponents in support of a controversial bill to weaken US dolphin protection laws. it recently smothered efforts to unionize its legions of canvassers Earlier this year, 16 founding members criticized the group for becoming too bureaucratic, lacking focus and doling out high salaries. Ex-Greenpeacer Cpt. Paul Watson of the Sea Shephard Society calls the group the "Avon ladies of the environmental movement." Budget: $32 million
Staff: 250
Members: 600,000
CEO Salary: More than $65,000


National Audubon Society
One of the oldest and most high-brow of American conservation groups, the Audubon Society has long been a bastion of Rockefeller Republicans. It demonstrates a particular obsession with Third World birth rates, advocating harsh population control measures. In 1991, the group fired Les Line, the award-winning editor of Audubon magazine, and replaced him with Malcolm Abrams, former editor of The Star tabloid. The group takes in hundreds of thousands of dollars from conservative foundations, such as Pew Charitable Trusts (Sun Oil), the J.M. Kaplan Fund (a former pass-through for CIA moneys) and the Ford Foundation. It has also raked in millions from royalties on oil and gas wells in its Rainey Wildlife Reserve in Louisiana. Last year, the group purged staff, including Brock Evans, widely regarded as the best eco-lobbyist on Capitol Hill. Former staffers say the new president, John Flicker, wants to turn the group into a Nature Conservancy for the birdwatching crowd. Local chapters, such as Sassafras Audubon in Bloomington, Ind., and Kalmiopsis Audubon in Port Orford, Ore., often demonstrate a refreshing degree of independence.
Budget: $44.9 million
Staff: 300
Members: 550,000
CEO Salary: More than $180,000 including benefits


National Wildlife Federation
The National Wildlife Federation is the largest environmental group on the planet, with nearly 5 million members. It represents the old guard of the conservative establishment, including many hunting, fishing and gun clubs sustained by a history of racism. For decades, the group was largely funded through the sale of wildlife stamps. Through the '80s and early '90s, the federation was dominated by its CEO, Jay Hair, who had a passion for limousines, expensive travel budgets, swank office furnishings and deal-making. The group has invited corporate chieftains, including Dean Buntrock of Waste Management Inc., to join its board of directors. It's the favorite charity of John Denver and big oil companies, including Arco, Chevron and Mobil.
Budget: $80 million
Staff: 600
Members: 5 million
CEO salary: More than $180,000 including benefits


National Resources Defense Council
Born in the wake of the first Earth Day, the groups' early years were spent litigating the new litany of environmental laws, such as the Clean Air Act of 1970 and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. By the '80s, it had largely settled into an eco-think tank and lobby shop, generating monthly blizzards of white papers. Its bank accounts are lavishly seeded by the Rockefeller and Ford Foundation grants. NRDC is the favorite roost of Hollywood celebs, such as Robert Redford and Meryl Streep. It is a zealous promoter of electric utility deregulation; founding member John Bryson now heads nuke-laden Southern California Edison. The group betrayed the Huaorani Indians in Ecuador by trying to broker a deal allowing oil development of tribal lands. Executive director John Adams boasted that NRDC had "broken the back of environmental opposition to NAFTA."
Budget: $27.5 million
Staff: 172
Members: 350,000
CEO salary: More than $200,000, including benefits


The Nature Conservancy
The titan of green groups, the Nature Conservancy sits on nearly a billion dollars in assets and is awash in cash, thanks to a tidal wave of corporate donations, much of it from notorious polluters such as Arco, Archer-Daniels-Midland, British Petroleum, DuPont, Shell and Freeport-McMoRan. The group eschews political work in favor of the relatively noncontroversial project of buying land. Calling itself "Nature's real estate agent," the Nature Conservancy purchases private land and then sells it to state and federal agencies, often, according to its critics, at a considerable mark-up. Last year, the group violated its apolitical policy to concoct the compromise rewrite of the Endangered Species Act with a secret coalition of corporations and trade associations, including the National Homebuilder's Association and timber giant Georgie-Pacific. The group is led by John Sawhill, former energy aide to Nixon and Ford and a fanatical proponent of nuclear power, who has enjoyed lucrative positions on the boards of Procter & Gamble, North American Coal Company and Pacific Gas & Electric.
Budget: $337 million
Staff: 1,200
Members: 720,000 individuals; 220 corporations
Salary of CEO: More than $196,000, including benefits


Sierra Club
Founded in 1892 by John Muir, who preached a conservationist message that led to the creation of Yosemite National Park, the Sierra Club promotes itself as the nation's "oldest and most effective grass-roots environmental organization." It largely settled into little more than a hiking club for the well-heeled from the Bay Area, until David Brower took the helm in the '50s and led the group in great battles to save Grand Canyon, create Redwood National Park and protect Alaskan wilderness. Brower was ousted in 1969 after the club lost its tax-exempt status for his aggressive political work. The club fought hard against NAFTA and was an early proponent of environmental justice issues. It still maintains the most democratic structure of any major group, though critics, such as Margaret Young, claim the club leadership has used repressive measures to stifle dissent. Under the leadership of Carl Pope, an intimate of Al Gore, the club twice endorsed the Clinton/Gore ticket over the raucous objection of many members. The membership overwhelmingly passed a 1996 ballot initiative calling for an end to commercial logging on public lands, despite the fierce opposition from the group's leaders and lobbyists. The club is currently riding the media hype of Gen-X Board President Adam Warbach.
Budget: $50 million
Members: 550,000
Staff: 150
CEO salary: More than $100,000 including benefits