The senior director of the Heinz Endowments Environment Program, Caren Glotfelty, has left the organization abruptly, causing speculation that her departure was tied the Endowments’ newfound funding of fracking-related operations.
The Heinz Endowments exists to fund organizations and efforts in the southwestern portion of Pennsylvania that enhance the community, primarily educationally, culturally, ecologically and economically. Prior to a March partnership with the Center for Sustainable Shale Development, an organization funded by oil giants Shell and Chevron, the Endowments had largely funded operations critical of fracking.
“The board has indicated that it is moving in a different direction with regard to the Environment Program, and it is clear to me that this is the right moment to leave,” Glotfelty said in a statement to the Post-Gazette. “I have been privileged to be part of The Heinz Endowments and very proud of all the grantees and partners who have worked so hard during my tenure to make the Pittsburgh region a better place.”
However, an email sent by Glotfelty to her former colleagues at the Endowments indicates the decision to leave wasn’t one made by her alone.
“Changes are taking place at the Heinz Endowments, and one of the results is that I will no longer be employed there… I apologize for the abruptness of the news, but I only learned about it late last week,” Glotfelty wrote.
The debate surrounding fracking is contentious in Pennsylvania, as the state sits atop the Marcellus Shale formation, one rich with oil. While neighboring New York has put fracking operations on hold while it conducts an environmental assessment, Pennsylvania has moved full steam ahead — and not everyone is pleased.
At the heart of the issue is the Endowments’ funding of the Center for Sustainable Shale Development, an operation that touts itself to be an environmental organization, but whose existence depends upon the fracking industry.
In essence, the nonprofit organization aims to assure that fracking operations are done in an “environmentally-friendly” manner. Its board of directors is robust with those in the oil industry, including Paul Goodfellow of Shell, who serves as the board’s vice president.
The organization itself is funded by the oil industry and philanthropic foundations, which since March has included the Heinz Endowments. Among its campaigns are those that seek voluntary regulations for the industry, and the continuation of oil companies not disclosing “trade secret” chemicals used in the fracking process.
Specifically, the Center will require oil companies to submit their own “independent” reviews of their fracking operations. If the Center finds them to be in compliance with 15 of its core measures, they’ll get green certification through the Center.
At the time the partnership with Heinz and big oil groups like Chevron and Shell was made, Heinz Endowments Foundation President Robert Vagt defended his organization’s alliance.
“Our sole motivation at The Heinz Endowments — one I believe is shared by all CSSD partners — is to engage directly the challenges of developing (shale oil and gas), which are being argued primarily in sound bites for the media rather than in constructive dialogue,” Vagt wrote in an email to the Huffington Post.
Vagt will now take over temporarily for Glotfelty, taking on her role for writing and issuing environmental grants. Vogt is also a board member for Houston-based Kinder Morgan, which owns the nation’s largest natural gas pipeline and storage network, according to The Associated Press.