OPINION/COMMENTARY

The Politics of Environmental Defense, Inc., Will John Kerry Listen to ED Trustee Teresa Heinz Kerry?(pdf)

Environmental Defense, Inc. (ED)is a well-connected Washington, D.C. political advocacy group. Its staff, many of whom were influential in the Clinton administration, is consulted by members of Congress. The media reports its research studies as news. And its budget ($42 million in 2002 according to its tax forms) guarantees that ED can pay for the lawsuits (more than a dozen active in 2002)and lobbying ($805,455) that are the principal reason for its existence. ED’s targets are oil and other natural resource companies and the Bush administration. Its revenues come from the dues of its 400,000 members, from private foundations — and from federal EPA grants.

This election year, ED is operating in high gear. Teresa Heinz Kerry, a member of the ED board of trustees for 20 years, could become the nation’s First Lady in six months. Not surprisingly, ED is backing the presidential candidacy of John Kerry through its institutional membership in the League of Conservation Voters, which has given Kerry its official endorsement.

Earlier this year, Heinz Kerry bowed to pressure from her husband’s campaign and “suspended” her membership on the Environmental Defense board, where she has been vice-chair for the past 12 years. But the wealth she dispenses through her foundation philanthropy and her political connections make her an obvious presence at ED....