The other day I had an unpleasant interaction with a man collecting donations for a non-profit: The Nature Conservancy. His need to collect donations was so dire that he shouted at me across the sidewalk – and the conversation went downhill from there. I was very angry, but yelling at the poor guy making $15 an hour is not effective, so I decided to send an email notifying you (The Nature Conservancy) as to why you will never receive any of my money.

The Nature Conservancy first came to my attention because of poor land use in my neighborhood. You own a third of a block of prime real estate on 14th avenue here in Portland. Half of the lot is taken up by parking – an awful use of land in my walkable neighborhood. The building itself is aesthetically pleasing but it rarely has occupants for its 18,000 square feet of commercial space. It does have big signs on the expansive porch to ensure none of the local unhoused population has a dry place to sleep. Since your org is a non-profit, you’re not paying any taxes for the municipal services that you’re receiving – i.e. your building is a drain on the local community. That’s particularly important given that three of my favorite small businesses have gone bankrupt on the next block over.

Next we consider the guys making $15 an hour begging for donations. Since the same guys will be out there tomorrow with ACLU vests on, I know that you are simply hiring a company that specializes in this sort of thing. I haven’t done this job myself, but I’ve talked to several people who have, and it sounds awful: lousy pay, poor working conditions, and unrealistic quotas. You support shitty labor practices.

For all the desperation that your employees have, it doesn’t seem like the need for my $20 a month is all that dire. Your annual report brags about how you have three billion dollars in assets that you’re managing. It makes me wonder: where are those assets being invested? Is it all in real estate with poor land use? Is that money invested in overvalued tech stocks? Or maybe you value stability and keep your investments in energy stocks (i.e. oil companies)?

In an attempt to be positive I looked at some of your most recent climate analysis, to see what sort of output your organization produces. The analysis is solid, and valuable. My question: how many airplane flights and how many vehicle miles traveled did it take to produce those reports? How much carbon did you dump into the atmosphere to find the best places in North Macedonia for solar panel farms? Do you think it was worth it?

The United States is facing some huge crises. The leaders that should be making systemic change are busy flying around the world on jets, driving expensive cars, and dining at luxury restaurants. The Nature Conservancy sounds like an organization that should be fighting all of that. It sounds like an organization that would support good land use, fair labor practices, and investment in local change. 

I’m a climate justice activist, and I support several climate change organizations. The organizations I support are the ones that show up at protests. I support organizations that contribute to the local community, have fair labor practices, and actually have something to show for their work. As far as I can tell, you’re just another leech, sucking the life out of the local economy to support greenwashing. Screw you. You’re not getting a dime of my money.

– Kate

P.S. REEF INSURANCE! You consider REEF INSURANCE to have a positive impact! You’ve made a bet with an insurance company on whether the Hawai’i reefs will get destroyed and you claim this is a climate WIN?