Multiple Environmental Groups (Oceana, Friends Of The Earth, Defenders Of Wildlife.) Got PPP Loans
Dozens of environmental groups, including several that are suing the Trump administration, received millions of dollars in government loans through the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), records show. Recipients of the program, which is meant to keep people employed during the pandemic, include Defenders of Wildlife, Friends of the Earth, Oceana, American Rivers, the Environmental Working Group (EWG), Green America, Earthworks and the Western Environmental Law Center (WELC), according to data released Monday by the Treasury Department.
All of those groups have publicly criticized the Trump administration's environmental policies and in some cases have taken legal steps to block them. Defenders sued the Trump administration on May 12 to stop construction of a security barrier on the border between the United States and Mexico that it says would destroy habitats of animals such as jaguars and ocelots. The lawsuit names the departments of Defense and Homeland Security.
Nine days earlier, the Washington-based nonprofit got a loan worth between $2 million and $5 million through the paycheck program, which is run by Treasury's Small Business Administration (SBA). Defenders has $40 million in assets and $33 million in annual revenue, according to its federal tax return for 2019.
The group defended taking the government money. "We feel no obligation to the Trump administration because we obtained a loan through a program authorized by Congress to help employers retain their staff," Defenders CEO Jamie Rappaport Clark said in a statement to E&E News. "Anyone who knows Defenders knows we would never pull our punches in fighting the Trump administration's damaging and misguided policies for wildlife and public lands."
EDIT
https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2020/07/08/stories/1063524749
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