Post-1970s business philanthropy deliberately funded think tanks and intellectuals to reverse environmental regulation.

Evidence

The regulated community’s strategy for changing public attitudes was deliberate and extensive. Among those crafting the strategy were William Simon, who became head of the Olin Foundation in 1977; Irving Kristol, an influential conservative writer; and Richard Scaife of the Mellon Foundation. They, along with others, sought to persuade the business community that ideas were important and that social philanthropy should be affirmatively used to promote ideas sympathetic to the interests of business. Kristol wrote at the time that it was “absurd” to give money to institutions whose views or attitudes they disapproved of and that business should instead give to those who “believe in the preservation of a strong private sector.” “American business,” Simon contended, should stop “fi- nancing the destruction of free enterprise.” What was instead “desperately needed” was to give “funds to scholars, social scientists, writers and journalists who understand the relationship between political and economic liberty.” — Richard J. Lazarus, The Making of Environmental Law, 436

Categorization

• XREF: Explains the intellectual infrastructure behind later environmental-law rollbacks and resonates with Eco-Justice’s structural-failure theme. — connects to: Business opposition to environmental law built its own foundation-backed intellectual apparatus — Richard J. Lazarus, The Making of Environmental Law, 437; Donor-funded think tanks produce policy analysis and media presence — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 134; Business funded a two-decade intellectual pipeline to change environmental law — Richard J. Lazarus, The Making of Environmental Law, 439 (+1 more)
• SEED: Angle: how Olin-Kristol-Scaife foundation strategy seeded the modern deregulatory think tank ecosystem.
• recurring: this claim recurs 3 times within its source

Broader Connections

• Business funded a two-decade intellectual pipeline to change environmental law #corroborates (0.92) — Richard J. Lazarus, The Making of Environmental Law, 439
• Business opposition to environmental law built its own foundation-backed intellectual apparatus #corroborates (0.90) — Richard J. Lazarus, The Making of Environmental Law, 437
• Donor-funded think tanks produce policy analysis and media presence #expands (0.80) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 134
• Capitalism had to teach people to stop paying attention to pollution. #responds-to (0.75) — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 324