Revealed: Shell Oil Foundation Donated to Anti-Climate Groups Linked to Project 2025

A foundation associated with Shell Oil has funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to right-wing and religious organizations that challenge climate science, tax records reveal. Fourteen of these groups are part of the advisory board for Project 2025, a conservative agenda aimed at significantly reducing the powers of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Between 2013 and 2022, the Shell USA Company Foundation donated $544,010 to various organizations advocating conservative policies. These include groups opposing LGBTQ+ rights, limiting access to abortions, downplaying climate change in school curricula, and pushing for major changes to the federal government.

Among the recipients was the Heartland Institute, known for spreading climate misinformation, which falsely claimed in a May 2022 video that "the scientific data continue to show there is no climate crisis." Other donees include the American Family Association, which views the "climate change agenda" as an attack on religious beliefs, and the Heritage Foundation, the primary force behind Project 2025.

Adrian Bardon, a professor at Wake Forest University who studies climate denialism, said, "Shell has every reason to maintain close ties with organizations that wield significant political influence and support the fossil fuel industry."

The Shell USA Company Foundation operates by matching employee donations to non-profits, up to $7,500 per individual. A Shell spokesperson stated that employees decide which non-profits receive donations, but did not clarify whether the foundation matched donations to specific groups.

According to tax records, Gretchen Watkins, the current president of Shell USA, also served as the president of the foundation in 2022. However, the foundation insists that it does not endorse any organizations, stating that "giving is a personal decision not directed by the company."

Shell, a multinational oil and gas company based in London, reported earnings of $28.25 billion last year. Its American subsidiary, Shell USA, has long operated the Shell USA Company Foundation, which provides grants to U.S. non-profits. While most of these donations support non-political causes like youth groups and mainstream charities, the Guardian and DeSmog's analysis identified at least 21 right-wing groups funded by the foundation, many of which oppose progressive economic and cultural changes, including addressing global warming.

Peter Montgomery, research director at People for the American Way, remarked, "They're all working within the right-wing policy and propaganda space, including the anti-regulation corporate right and the religious right's culture warriors."

Since 2013, the Shell foundation has contributed $59,264 to the American Family Association, another Project 2025 advisor, labeled a "hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center for its anti-gay activism. Additionally, Shell's foundation gave $23,321 to the Heritage Foundation, which has long opposed climate science, and $58,002 to the Alliance Defending Freedom, a group instrumental in overturning Roe v. Wade.

Other Project 2025-affiliated recipients include Hillsdale College ($105,748), the American Center for Law and Justice ($14,321), and the Texas Public Policy Foundation ($8,275). Shell's foundation also donated to religious right groups not directly involved with Project 2025, such as Focus on the Family ($79,874) and Texas Right to Life ($65,103), both of which have expressed skepticism about climate change.

Shell's contributions to these groups help the company maintain its place within a broader conservative coalition, Bardon noted, adding, "In the absence of real transparency, one can only speculate on the motives behind these donations."