‘Bloomberg’s ‘Beyond Carbon’ Campaign Receives $500 Million Donation

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg this week announced his intent to spend $500 million on a campaign to replace coal plants and prevent the construction of new natural gas plants in favor of renewable energy sources.

The Washington Examiner noted that this $500 million, along with the $500 million Bloomberg previously gave to the “Beyond Carbon” campaign, make it one of the largest philanthropic efforts involving climate change ever.

“By working with our partners across the country, we hope to transform the way we power America by moving beyond fossil fuels and replacing them with renewable energy,” Bloomberg, a United Nations special envoy on climate ambition and solutions, said during the U.N. Global Assembly in New York on Wednesday.

In a press release, the former mayor’s organization Bloomberg Philanthropies announced that it has helped to retire more than two-thirds of all the coal plants in the United States. The group is also helping to fund several environmentalist groups in the country, including Sierra Club, Earthjustice, and the League of Conservation Voters.

Chris Jahn, chief executive of the American Chemistry Council, hit out at the announcement in a statement to The New York Times.

“Attempts to shut down American chemical manufacturing are a bet against millions of hard-working men and women in our industry,” Jahn said, adding that this program “would send essential jobs overseas and threaten America’s leadership to innovate and compete with countries like China.”