by Adam Pack
The Biden-Harris administration has awarded tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to a leftist nonprofit whose China office is under the supervision of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) U.S.-based foreign influence operation, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation has found.
In 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced two grants to the Vermont-based Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC) totaling $60 million serve as a “national grantmaker” for environmental justice projects and a “technical assistance center” for miniature environmental nonprofits application for federal grants.
The ISC has an office in China that is closely affiliated with the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), an organization of the CCP espionage and propaganda Aactor associated with China’s Influence and Intelligence Agency and frequently collaborated with Energy Foundation China (EFC), a non-profit environmental protection organization, long-distance connections to the Chinese government. According to a DCNF analysis of ISC’s website and social media posts, ISC’s activities in China were aimed at improving China’s international climate image, advocating for closer ties between Chinese and US government bodies, and legitimizing the CCP’s environmental actions.
ISC already existed dynamic since 2007 in over 30 Chinese cities. According to the ISC website, it is now a non-profit organization working with China’s 12 municipal governments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants and facilitate local Chinese leaders “guide national policy” on environmental issues.
In 2020, ISC adopted “Beijing representative office” in the country, which subjected the nonprofit organization to mandatory supervision by a Chinese government entity and registration with the Chinese security services. To obtain this up-to-date operational status, the ISC established a formal relationship with the CPAFFC and registered with the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, according to statement on the Chinese-language ISC website.
EXCLUSIVE: Democratic Representative Once Praised ‘Leadership’ of High-Level Chinese Communist – From Leaked Videos https://t.co/yJEgeNVJPy
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 9, 2024
Both the Trump and Biden administrations have identified the CPAFFC as a central element of the CCP’s “united front work,” which has long wanted spread the party’s “influence and propaganda abroad.”
In October 2020, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo completed U.S. government ties to the U.S.-China National Governors Forum regarding CPAFFC’s efforts to “undermine” the forum to advance CCP interests. July 2022 report of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, led by Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, confirmed the Trump administration’s findings that the CPAFFC is a CCP “foreign influence operation” that “the PRC government entrusts with overseeing and developing ‘sisterly’ relationships between Chinese localities in China and the United States and other countries.”
Last analysis of the Jamestown Foundation, a China-focused think tank, reported that the former head of CPAFFC in 2019 defined the unit’s mission as manipulating foreigners to “sympathize with, support and explain the cause of the CCP.”
The Jamestown Foundation did this as well written extensively on the Chinese government strategy co-opting international non-profit environmental organizations to implement the CCP’s agenda. Former Republican Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, said compared the work of global CCP influence-building entities like the CPAFFC to “make idiots useful.”
As the review shows, the most last tax filings by DCNF. In 2022 alone, EFC spent more than $52 million to finance green energy projects and environmental organizations in the US.
DCNF previously reported that at least nine EFC executives previously served in the Chinese government
ISC and EFC have partnered on several climate-related projects in China, according to a review of the two groups’ websites.
In 2018, both organizations financially maintained a “quality certification center” that will “provide key technical assistance for near-zero carbon zone pilot projects in Guangdong.” In May 2023, ISC and EFC held “Seminar on Carbon Neutral Practices for Cities” in Chinese, during which former ISC Vice President for Global Programs Trina Mallik pushed for increased coordination on climate action between Chinese cities and their overseas counterparts.
TO GO claims the nonprofit organization now promotes exchanges between U.S. and Chinese cities and companies “through strategic mutual learning opportunities.” DCNF’s review of Chinese projects listed on the ISC website shows that the nonprofit does promoted exchanges between China and the USA already in 2009. In 2014, ISC cooperated with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to promote climate-focused exchanges between Chinese and U.S. cities under a program known as the U.S.-China Partnership for Climate Smart Low-Carbon Cities (CSLCC). In 2017, USAID featured ISC and EFC $10 million to expand this program to 12 additional cities under a program called the Low Emissions City Alliance (LECA).
“LECA will cover city exchange between China and the United States” – ISC document provides an overview of the LECA program, he says. “Exchanges enable cities from both countries to share strategies and approaches to common challenges. Additionally, this activity will provide market opportunities for U.S. businesses, particularly in the energy and technology sectors. As selected Chinese cities implement their early peak strategies, mutual benefits will come from partnering with US companies that offer the right technologies and services to address urban priorities.
USAID did not respond to DCNF’s request for comment on the agency’s past collaboration with ISC and EFC.
ISC has also worked to improve China’s global climate situation as a country remains the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases.
In 2023, ISC published a document that praises China’s environmental policies and quotes Chinese President Xi Jinping’s speech to the UN General Assembly in 2021, in which he announced the country’s commitment to achieve net carbon dioxide emissions by 2060.
“China is boldly committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to slow global warming,” the ISC document reads. “As the world’s largest greenhouse gas [greenhouse gas] issuer, China’s moonshot target has the potential to eliminate 25% of global net carbon dioxide emissions and will serve as a model for the international community.”
ISC often uses Xi in its Chinese-language communications exhortation “it’s good to tell China’s stories” abroad. In August 2022 post on Chinese social media platform WeChat ISC called for more exchanges between Chinese and foreign cities that would “tell China’s stories well” to the international community. This specific phrase is CCP terminology that often refers to the party’s “external propaganda work,” according to the 2023 U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. report.
In 2018, ISC co-organized a day of panel discussions with the participation of Chinese government bodies and the EFC at the UN climate summit in Poland.
“This side event will invite national and local government officials, experts and representatives of relevant institutions to participate in a meeting that will summarize the excellent practices of Chinese provinces and cities in dealing with climate change, building a public transport bridge and conveying China’s history for outside world,” said the day-long panel co-hosted by ISC and EFC.
ISC announcements also appear to lend credence to the CCP’s domestic and international legitimacy in addressing climate and environmental issues.
In a June 2022 blog post, ISC he claimed that China “has contributed to global climate governance through Chinese wisdom.” In the same post, ISC also wrote that China has the responsibility and obligation to “build a community with a shared future for humanity,” which is a direct call with Xi’s vision of a multipolar world order in which the United States has much less power and influence. The ISC also said China’s net zero target is part of the CCP’s “ecological civilization.” initiative.
“At the 2021 Climate Leaders Summit, President Xi pointed out that the well-being of citizens of all countries is closely linked to the environment” – ISC he wrote in August 2022
“ISC has been committed to supporting communities most affected by the climate crisis for over 35 years. We have a solid track record of completing work around the world, with a project history spanning 5 continents,” Rebecca Kadaru, president of ISC, told DCNF in a written statement. “Our international work is separate from our U.S. program portfolio and environmental justice funder selection.”
Kadaru added that “EPA is not involved” in ISC’s work in China.
EFC did not respond to DCNF requests for comment.
$3 billion Environmental Protection and Climate Justice Block Grants in the Inflation Reduction Act supply committed $50 million of the total $60 million EPA announced in grants to the ISC. EPA did not respond to DCNF’s request for comment on the grant.
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Adam Pack is a reporter at the Daily Caller News Foundation.