We believe the public should be as informed as possible so that public policy addresses environmental issues based on knowledge and reason. We have funded several organizations that seek to bring environmental issues to public attention, both directly and through better-informed media. (Major grants are listed on the left.)

Our support for Greenpeace enabled a 225-strong student delegation (representing 44 states and 120 colleges) to travel to The Hague, Netherlands for the Kyoto Protocol treaty negotiations. This was the first time such a large group of American students traveled abroad as environmental activists.

Seeking to make an impact on policy-makers, our grants have supported direct efforts to place news and educational stories in the media through such organizations as National Environmental Trust, Natural Resources News Service and the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The Foundation helped create and develop Grist magazine, an Internet-based environmental journal aimed at younger generations. Today, Grist is the premier online environmental news source.

We supported the writing and publishing of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, which assessed the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being and the scientific basis for action needed to enhance the conservation and sustainable use of those systems.

We also supported the writing and publishing of Punctuated Equilibrium and the Dynamics of U.S. Environmental Policy, a book edited by Dr. Robert Repetto that is an outgrowth of his work at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, seeking to understand and overcome policy gridlock in the environmental area.

In addition, the Foundation has provided funds to environmental information sources including E/The Environmental Magazine, Earth Day Network, Earth Journalism Network, and the Environmental Leadership Program.