A progressive grantmaking organization with a history of supporting Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-affiliated green energy initiatives sponsored California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D.) 2023 climate-focused trip to China, records reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon show. [emphasis, links added]
At Newsom’s request, the Hewlett Foundation paid $300,000 to cover the California delegation’s travel expenses, according to California’s behested payment database, which tracks when public officials in the state request private funding.
It was the only third-party payment Newsom requested to fund the trip.
One of the Hewlett Foundation’s largest beneficiaries is Energy Foundation China (EFC), a CCP-tied climate nonprofit that operates out of Beijing and has been accused of trafficking energy policies that promote Chinese strategic interests in America.
Over the last decade, the Hewlett Foundation has directed at least $112 million to EFC, an eye-popping sum that dwarfs the amount it has given to most of its other grant recipients, enough to make it a “key funder” of the group.
The chief of Hewlett’s environment program sits on EFC’s board, another sign of the foundation’s support for the Beijing group’s mission.
EFC has been the subject of several congressional and watchdog investigations in recent years.
Critics say the group, whose staff largely consists of former CCP officials, advances Chinese interests by backing causes aimed at shutting down fossil fuels and promoting green energy alternatives.
While the United States is the world’s largest oil and gas producer, China dominates global green-energy supply chains.
The Hewlett Foundation has also awarded grants to the Natural Resources Defense Council and Rocky Mountain Institute—two groups that have collaborated with the Chinese government—for their green energy work in China.
And, in 2023, it gave $800,000 to the Peking University Education Foundation (PKUEF), which is a fund that funnels millions of dollars to Peking University—a Chinese state-run academic institution in Beijing—every year.
Between 2021 and 2023, the foundation gave another $3.6 million to the University of California, Berkeley’s California-China Climate Institute (CCCI), making it one of the institute’s primary funders.
Former California Gov. Jerry Brown (D.) founded the CCCI in 2019 in partnership with the Chinese government’s climate czar Xie Zhenhua and the state-run Tsinghua University.
It all puts a renewed focus on Newsom’s 2023 trip to China. And it calls into question whether the Hewlett Foundation or the entities it funds exercised any influence over Newsom’s engagements during the trip.
Top image via KTLA 5/YouTube screencap
Read rest at Free Beacon
