“Do you have a minute to save the planet?”
Perhaps you've been asked this question recently on some Washington sidewalk by a young twenty-something. But where do you suppose the money goes if you accept his sales-pitch and make a financial pledge to his organization or one like it?
One possible destination for your cash: huge salaries for top environmental non-profit executives.
The chart below lists only the top beneficiaries of the Green non-profit culture. Among the honorable mentions is former Clerk of the House Jeffrey Trandahl, who made a mere $270,000 at the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in 2007. For the purpose of comparison, Fred Smith of the pro-business Competitive Enterprise institute, which deals mostly with envirnomental issues as well, makes just over $200,000.
The ten top-paid environmental executives
| Name | Organization | Position | Salary | Retirement Plan/Deferred Compensation | Total |
| Frederic Krupp | Environmental Defense Fund, Inc. | President | $446,072.00 | $50,102.00 | $496,174.00 |
| Carter Roberts | World Wildlife Fund | President | $439,327.00 | $47,067.00 | $486,394.00 |
| Frances Beinecke | Natural Resources Defense Council | President | $357,651.00 | $75,308.00 | $432,959.00 |
| David Yarnold | Environmental Defense Fund, Inc. | Executive Director | $323,801.00 | $41,972.00 | $365,773.00 |
| David Festa | Environmental Defense Fund, Inc. | VP West Coast | $325,559.00 | $35,313.00 | $360,872.00 |
| Stephanie K. Meeks | Nature Conservancy | Acting President | $318,507.00 | $30,866.00 | $349,373.00 |
| Larry Schweiger | National Wildlife Federation | President | $309,579.00 | $35,425.00 | $345,004.00 |
| Eileen Claussen | Pew Center on Global Climate Change | President | $311,500.00 | $23,599.00 | $335,099.00 |
| Rodger Schlickeisen | Defenders of Wildlife | President | $254,947.00 | $57,949.00 | $312,896.00 |
| William Meadows | The Wilderness Society | President | $289,750.00 | $18,715.00 | $308,465.00 |
Source: IRS, 2007 data.
— With Amanda Kruse
