I have to admit perhaps the Libs have been way too clever? Trying to hide this source of funding?
during the early 90's- actually it started in the late 80's, the Sierra Club has run its marketing bell curve out. so many environmental problems were solved that they lost their donor base. So they went hunting for foundation money. thing was, after the North Sea oil finds, the Saudis were sweating it out because of the North Sea Brent competition. Oil was tanking from supply, peaking in the mid to late 90's.
So, the Saudis didn't want any more competition. In fact in '95, they went berserk when ANWR was proposed to be welled up and up and running by about '99 or 2000.
Anyway- make a long story short- some in the Arab world got the bright idea to influence Congress via these enviro-whack groups and they did.
The environental whack cases get money from oil Arabs to STOP the US from providing Americans with lower energy prices AND less dependence on their product. It's that simple. It's a business decision and those in Congress- generally in the Northeast, who accept endorsements or advertising "issue ads" from the likes of the Sierra Club or the socialists in the NRDC (a real bunch of totalitarians), should be asked to refrain from voting on ANWR. This is worse than Enron- much worse.