Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer is playing a big role in a liberal conference this week, signifying that a wealthy group of donors from the left plans to make climate change a factor in the 2016 presidential election.
According to
Politico, Steyer is scheduled to host three sessions dealing with climate change during the spring gathering of the Democracy Alliance in San Francisco. The conference began Sunday and will conclude Wednesday.
Politico reports the group will urge its members to donate money to several environmental groups, a list that includes LeadingGreen — an alliance between the Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund and the League of Conservation Voters that was formed in 2014.
Members of the Democracy Alliance, an invitation-only group, must donate a minimum of $200,000 annually to organizations recommended by the group. Democracy Alliance was launched in 2005 and has channeled more than $500 million to liberal groups.
According to a document called
"A 2020 Vision for the Democracy Alliance: Funding Recommendations" obtained by Politico, dealing with climate change is on the group's list of issues to tackle in the next half-decade.
Hillary Clinton turned down an invitation
to attend this week's conference, according to Politico, but her campaign chairman
John Podesta will be there, along with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a California resident.
Clinton entered the race for president on Sunday.
Steyer has long been a Clinton supporter and backer. On Monday, the nonprofit he runs reacted to Clinton's candidacy:
Clinton has been
talking about climate change during her run-up to announcing her presidential bid, signifying that it could play a key role in her campaign. Podesta all but confirmed that it would in a tweet on Sunday:
A hedge-fund manager,
Steyer spent $100 million on the 2014 midterm elections, with the end goal of making climate change a pivotal issue in the 2016 race for the White House.
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