As I’ve established from the start of this blog back in 2013, and in subsequent funding disclosure updates, I’m a full disclosure guy on this topic. Enviro-activists claim that prominent ‘doubters of man-caused global warming’ hide their funding because ‘they’re ashamed to admit it’s received in exchange for lies that must meet the approval of the funders.’ I have to laugh about it, because I’ve been accused of that exact thing already in various ways, including this year, but my accusers couldn’t prove I’m in any pay-for-performance arrangement for industry-sourced money if their lives depended on it, or that any gift money I receive comes under directions on what to say, do, or think.

My accusers will have a rougher time making that accusation stick this year, but the point in this ongoing exercise is not about me, it’s how much of a rough time any prominent accuser will have in making that accusation stick regarding the whole conspiracy about the ‘fossil industry paying skeptics to spread disinformation undercuting the certainty of man-caused global warming.’ As in the current global warming lawsuits claiming such a conspiracy exists. If they can’t nail supposedly easy targets like me with that accusation, why would major lawsuits against giant energy companies succeed any better at exposing this alleged conspiracy?

So, first things first — the sum total of all my funding this year is exactly as follows:

• a solitary $25 donation to my Donate button (at the upper right of this blog’s home page) from a single giver in the late spring.
• a $2,000 private donation check from a person who arguably fits the description of being an animal rights activist, while also being a science realist.

That.  Is.  It.  My sub-poverty living expenses otherwise came out of my own personal dwindling savings, and I spent the $2,000 donation on airfare, hotel, and registration for the Heartland Institute’s July climate conference. Maybe I should have instead spent that on a tooth implant I will need eventually, but maybe it wasn’t an unwise expenditure; a reporter who did not previously know who Kert Davies or John Passacantanto were arranged to speak at length with me, and he subsequently detailed those two names in one of his investigative articles. Quite likely there will be more pieces like that, considering how Kert Davies is finding himself in increasingly hot water. Knowledge is power and networking is priceless.

How does a person like me afford to keep going? The new development for me starting this month is a free room & board & sustenance living arrangement made possible from my relatives, none of whom have ever expressed open praise for what I do, and more than one of which suggest I need to bail out of the global warming issue entirely. Wait for it, if my accusers are paying attention at all to my disclosures here, they’ll tell each other that I’m pretending to be the caretaker for one of the Exxon brothers’ mansions, as a means of burying illicit funding. Good luck to them proving that one, too.

Of course, my accusers are totally mute on answering my Steyer ‘put-yer-money-where-yer-mouth-is’ challenge. How predictable. If they were truly sincere about their accusation that ‘skeptics are only in this for the money,’ and/or that a person like me would be free to tell real truth if they outbid the ‘disinformation industry’ for my words, then they’d leap at this golden opportunity.

Meanwhile, for friends and supporters, I welcome any donation at all to offset what I donated out of my own pocket toward this issue this year. It’s been one huge sacrifice, considering how I might be enjoying more of a luxurious life at a well-paying job.

And if by chance a sizable last-minute donation lands on me before the end of December, rest assured that I will disclose it here.
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[9/13/20 Author’s addition: I should provide at least some kind of update here, for those who might be wondering about it. First, due to some glitch within the Paypal system last year, I never received a notification that somebody had donated $5 to my Donate button beyond what I disclosed above, and only spotted it earlier this year during an eBay purchase, where the system automatically asked me if I wanted to apply that balance in my account to my purchase. Within this year so far, I have received one solitary $100 donation to my Donate button.
12/30/20 Author’s addition: I received a second $100 donation from the same donor above, except the person mailed the check directly to avoid Paypal skimming their cut from it. Beyond that, I’ve now lived under a free room & board arrangement courtesy of a family relative since last December (whatever that might be worth and whether it could even be considered a form of ‘funding’) at a house in exchange for regular maintenance of it and its surrounding property, and the Heartland Institute again paid for (which I greatly appreciate!) whatever the costs are for web hosting GelbspanFiles.com and its internet registration cost, all of which may be just a smaller factor in their overall costs for their own website. And that. Is. It. for the year 2020.
12/25/21 Author’s addition: In March, a completely anonymous person donated 300 Euros into my Paypal donation account. Somebody likes what I do in Europe, I assume! Then in late September, two separate individuals (known to me but wishing to remain anonymous) found out that I was planning to attend the Las Vegas climate conference basically on my own dime. One offered – unsolicited by me – to cover the cost of the $125 registration fee, and the other sent a $500 personal check – also unsolicited by me – to cover the hotel expense and gas for my car (the hotel ended up being $472, gas was $40, so I made no profit from those donations). Small as these are, I nevertheless greatly appreciate the generosity behind them! Barring any additional donations in these last remaining days, that. Is. It. for the year 2021.
12/1/22 Author’s addition: Barring the unexpected arrival of a donation between now and December 31st, which I will report here if it happens, I have not received a solitary penny in donations for all of 2022. Not one dime. My free room & board living arrangement via a socialist relative who genuinely believes in redistribution of wealth continues, and the Heartland Institute still provides the platform of my WordPress blog site (I assume through their overall online system, so the cost to them for my site may be minimal). Sub-poverty level living sure is inconvenient.
5/13/23 & 1/12/24 Author’s additions: A fund raising effort at the GiveSendGo site was created for me in January so that I could afford to attend Heartland’s climate conference in Florida in February. The amount raised was $1,470. On Dec 28, I received a $400 snail-mailed check from a donor wishing to be anonymous. It went toward the purchase of a newer used desktop computer which can accept the latest in updated web browsers and email handlers. My 2008-era prior computer ceased to have that ability in late 2021 and was becoming increasingly frustrating to use when websites are programmed for later browser versions. ]