{
  "id": 10678134,
  "title": "How Corporate Influencers Facilitated Trump’s Assault on Climate Research",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/29/how-corporate-influencers-facilitated-trumps-assault-on-climate",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-29T11:30:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Mother Jones",
    "slug": "mother-jones",
    "url": "https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/09/fossil-fuel-industry-giving-influence-philanthropy-university-climate-research-trump/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A new study published in the journal Energy Research & Social Science reveals how corporate influences have increasingly shaped US universities, particularly in climate and energy research, under the Trump administration. Noel Healy, lead author of the study, warns that the erosion of university autonomy has made institutions more susceptible to corporate interests. In 2025, the Trump administration froze billions of dollars in research funding, launched investigations into 75 institutions, and pushed colleges to sign agreements for federal funding support.\n\nPrinceton University, for instance, saw $4 million in climate research grants canceled, and scientists were accused of contributing to \"climate anxiety.\" Healy notes that young researchers may hesitate to ask questions that could jeopardize their funding, thereby influencing the direction of research and ultimately affecting policy decisions. The Academic Freedom Index, which gauges the freedom of scholars and universities to teach, research, and express ideas, plummeted from 3.3 in 2019 to 1.7 in 2025. As a result, scientists are being forced to delete the term \"climate change\" from their grant applications to avoid rejection.\n\nThe study reveals that corporate donors have long sought to influence university governance and research. In the 1920s, electric utilities collaborated with academics to defend their monopoly, while fossil fuel companies funded research to cast doubt on the health impacts of their products in the 1950s. Internal industry documents highlight the importance of academic research for building credibility and shaping public debate.\n\nLibertarian donor networks and fossil fuel companies have played a significant role in reshaping university priorities. For example, David Koch, the billionaire industrialist from Koch Industries, donated over $185 million to MIT and served as a lifetime member of its governing body. From 2010 to 2020, six fossil fuel companies alone provided more than $700 million in donations to US universities, helping legitimize industry solutions to climate change and undermine regulatory approaches.\n\nSome of this funding came with agreements that granted outside actors control over decisions traditionally made by faculty, including hiring and curriculum development. Donor-influence models have also been incorporated into state laws. Arizona, for instance, created the first publicly funded libertarian academic center in 2016, with subsequent states following suit. These centers operate independently of faculty control and are funded through taxpayer dollars. State legislatures have also attempted to limit faculty power by proposing legislation to abolish tenure, block faculty involvement in lawsuits, and regulate educational programming.\n\nFrom 2021 to 2023, over 150 state bills were introduced targeting tenure, faculty governance, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Healy stresses the importance of faculty having the power to review major gifts before acceptance and the ability to refuse funding that threatens academic freedom. Transparency and faculty oversight are crucial to addressing corporate capture and regaining public trust in higher education.",
  "summary": "This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Recent attacks on US universities by the Trump administration have built on decades of efforts by libertarian donor networks, fossil fuel companies, and conservative think tanks to reshape university governance and increase outside influence, according to a new study. The authors…",
  "key_points": [
    "Corporate influences shaped US universities under Trump administration.",
    "Princeton University lost $4M in climate research grants.",
    "Academic Freedom Index dropped from 3.3 in 2019 to 1.7 in 2025."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}