Climate Hypocrites and the Media that Love Them

The not-so-green habits of Hollywood gasbags

Matt Damon: Oil Money for Eco-causes

Net worth: $75 Million

Famous for: Actor (The Bourne Identity, Good Will Hunting, Oceans Eleven, The Monuments Men)

Notable Quote: “Nobody wants to go see a movie where they get a message at the end.”

Jason Bourne might have his memories back, but Matt Damon can’t seem to remember how to follow his own advice on climate change.

Damon’s 2012 movie Promised Land which attempted to villainize the natural gas industry, was produced “in association with” Image Media Abu Dhabi. That company was owned wholly by the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). According to the CIA World Factbook, UAE exported $166 billion of crude oil in 2013. UAE is also a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Oil producing nations have been very concerned by U.S. fracking for financial (not environmental) reasons.

Documentary director Phelim McAleer asked Damon about the foreign-oil funding at a December 3, 2012, promotional event for Promised Land in New York. McAleer, who directed the pro-fracking film FrackNation, asked Damon, "how does it feel to be a fully-paid advocate for an oil-rich Middle Eastern government – and doesn't that really negate any artistic credibility... that the Promised Land might have?"

Damon, who served as both writer and producer of Promised Land, claimed that “[t]he first time we were aware that Image Nation was involved with our movie was when we saw the rough cut and saw their logo."

Damon was also in denial about what constituted “bias.” The actor said that he didn’t make a biased movie and claimed he just wanted to start a conversation on the subject. “Nobody wants to go see a movie where they get a message at the end. That really wasn't our intent. It was just to show this moment in time in our country, and what happens when big money collides with real people, people who are struggling on the back end of a recession,” he told The Morning Call, a Lehigh Valley, Pa., newspaper. Damon was right about one thing. Not very many people wanted to see his movie.

Climate alarmists often attack climate skeptics with allegations of fossil fuel funding, but Damon remains a high-profile environmentalist in spite of the connection.