“Ethically speaking, it’s concerning” said CharityWatch CEO, Laurie Styron, in an interview with The New York Post when asked for comment on billions in grants made by the EPA to climate charities towards the end of Biden’s presidency. Many of the recipient charities were relatively new organizations whose tax filings were not yet available in public databases and that had no track record of responsible use of public funds due to having been in existence for only a short time.

“FBI agents…questioned Environmental Protection Agency employees regarding a Biden administration grant program for climate and clean-energy projects, escalating a criminal probe that already caused one veteran prosecutor to resign, according to two people familiar with the matter,” according to The Washington Post.

The New York Post reported one case of an organization, Climate United Fund, that received $7 billion in April 2024 despite having not been incorporated until November 30, 2023, according to public records. A search for the organization in the IRS’s Tax Exempt Organization Search database produces no results, and “there is no publicly published accounting of how it plans to spend the $7 billion,” according to the NY Post.

Styron commented to The New York Post, posing additional questions about the grants, saying:

“‘What was the purpose of creating middlemen entities when there are so many established groups in the climate space with good track records? What was the value-added in [by] doing it this way, especially with such large sums of taxpayer funds?'”

Update: March 13th, 2025

CharityWatch CEO, Laurie Styron, recently spoke with National Correspondent, Alana Austin of Newsmax about the issue.

“The best practices in the nonprofit sector, which includes government money that goes to nonprofits, is you want to make sure that the charities you’re giving large grants to have a track record, have a demonstrated track record, of being able to use those funds efficiently and responsibly…”

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