Newsweek
BY JEFF YOUNG ON 10/19/23 AT 4:15 PM EDT
When the Rockefeller Foundation launched a high-profile campaign last month to support climate solutions, the move gained attention for two reasons: the $1 billion-plus size of the pledge and the name attached to it.
The Rockefeller name has been synonymous with the oil industry since John D. Rockefeller, Sr.’s Standard Oil Company became the dominant source of petroleum in the U.S. around the turn of the 20th century. Today, however, many of Rockefeller’s heirs and the philanthropies they founded are using one of the world’s most storied oil fortunes to help end the use of fossil fuels.