The Southern Environmental Law Center and Its Misanthropic Donor

Many prominent environmentalist groups, such as Greenpeace ($32.5 million in 2022) or the Sierra Club, ($167 million in 2022) rake in massive amounts of revenue. However, lesser-known organizations are also bringing in nearly as much revenue. One of these is the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), a left-of-center environmentalist 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Charlottesville, Virginia. The SELC’s yearly revenue more than doubled from $23.9 million in 2014 to $53.5 million in 2023. However, its stance on nuclear energy and financial ties to controversial pass-through organizations do not paint an image of environmental dedication.

The SELC has continuously led campaigns against nuclear energy in states such as Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. The group’s opposition to nuclear energy is not unique. Many of the largest environmentally focused groups have similar posturing. Yet this position is especially out of line with its stated goal of reducing CO₂ emissions.

The SELC has claimed that new advancements in nuclear energy technology, such as small modular nuclear reactors (SMNRs), are “unproven, risky, and expensive.” However, the International Atomic Energy Agency argues that the simple design of SMNRs makes them cost effective and that they have the potential to reduce or entirely eliminate the release of hazardous radioactive material. According to the Office of Nuclear Energy, nuclear power has many advantages that align with the SELC’s environmental goals. A nuclear reactor requires only a fraction of the land required by renewable energy sources. Additionally, a single inch-sized pellet of uranium contains the same amount of potential energy as 120 gallons of oil or one ton of coal. However, if the U.S. government’s statistics are not convincing, reports from the Nuclear Energy Institute highlight that in 2021, use of nuclear energy was responsible for avoiding 476 million metric tons of CO₂ emissions.

Association with an Anti-Humanist Billionaire

The SELC receives funding from various left-of-center groups, including the Foundation for the Carolinas (FFTC), a donor-advised fund provider. FFTC donated $88,554,800 to the SELC between 2020 and 2022. Although the tax filing years do not line up exactly, these FFTC grants made up approximately 54 percent of the SELC’s total revenue for those three years. The FFTC is notable for one of its largest known account holders, Fred Stanback. Stanback is a “known proponent of anti-humanist environmentalism,” immigration restrictions, and population control initiatives. Stanback is a large donor to the Population Media Center, a group whose drama

shows promote population control through family planning. Stanback also donated to Population Connection, a group that supports U.S. funding for the UN Population Fund, which has allegedly funded coercive abortions and forced sterilization in China.

Stanback has his hands in a variety of other left-leaning nonprofits, such as the Environmental Defense Fund, NumbersUSA, and Planned Parenthood South Atlantic. It is hard to say how much Stanback has donated to these groups, as they are not required to disclose their donors. However, a 2018 article reported that Stanback had given at least $50 million to the SELC. His wife and son even previously sat on the group’s presidential council.

While the SELC may not subscribe to Stanback’s population control beliefs, FFTC funding is so crucial to the SELC’s revenue that it begs the question: What does the SELC have in common with the more obviously contentious groups funded by Stanback? The SELC has more than just donor-based ties to controversial philanthropy. They also donate to it. In 2023, the SELC donated $250,000 to the Tides Foundation, a major left-leaning grantmaking group with almost $900 million in net assets. The Tides Foundation is regarded as one of the largest “dark money” funding networks in the country. The grant was given for the Tides Foundation’s Frontline Justice Fund, an environmental grantmaking initiative created to give climate-impacted communities legal resources.

Implications

The SELC highlights the growing financial capacity of environmentalists, while some of the group’s more controversial donors make it noteworthy. Even though the SELC’s yearly revenue is dwarfed by some of America’s largest politically active nonprofits, they have nonetheless continuously amassed tens of millions of dollars every year. At least some of the group’s revenue has been put toward anti-nuclear advocacy that directly contradicts its clearly outlined and noble goal of reducing emissions, and they are not the only environmentalist group doing this.

The group’s ties to the FFTC and the misanthropic Fred Stanback could delegitimize its claims of environmental advocacy transcending politics. Even if Stanback and the SELC don’t entirely line up ideologically, his large donations to the group raise suspicion as to its true beliefs and intentions. It is easy to present environmental activism as a bipartisan issue that seeks to resolve a problem that all of humanity faces, which is why these groups sometimes fly under the radar of criticism. However, environmental groups’ claims of unquestionable humanitarianism do not always hold up upon closer inspection.