Robert Mercer is an American hedge fund manager, computer scientist, and founder of the private grant-making organization Mercer Family Foundation, which he runs with his daughter, Rebekah Mercer.
Robert Mercer on Climate Change
While recently the Mercer Family Foundation has backed away from public climate change denial, it has a long history of supporting groups and candidates that deny accepted science. Additionally, the Foundation is a co-owner of Breitbart News, a far-right news outlet that often promotes climate change denial.
In 2017, Robert and Rebekah Mercer attended a conference sponsored by the Heartland Institute (a group that received funding from the Mercer Family Foundation). Many people associated with Donald Trump were in attendance, who himself is a noted climate change denier. The conference held a series of events to support the claim that climate change is fake. Some events even included the notion that airborne toxins caused by global warming are good for the body.
In 2016, the Mercer Family Foundation donated around $4.4 million to climate change deniers, including the Heartland Institute, the C02 Coalition, and the Energy & Environmental Legal Institute. They contributed around $20 million in dark money funds during the 2016 elections, investing heavily in Donald Trump’s election bid.
See Also:
C02 Coalition
Energy & Environmental Legal Institute
Climate of Denial