Energy 45 Fund

Energy 45 Fund is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization founded “to promote the Trump energy agenda." Mandy Gunasekara, who was the Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and a senior Trump administration adviser, founded the group and now serves as its president. Prior to joining the Trump administration, Gunaskera was the Senior Director of Legislative Affairs at the National Association of Chemical Distributors. Energy 45 Fund's donors are anonymous will not be disclosed, leading the Center for Responsive politics to deem it a "dark money" group. Gunasekare also has spoken at Independent Petroleum Association of America events.

Energy Fund 45 was announced in co-occurrence with the Green New Deal (GND). Gunasekara resigned from the EPA to start the organization at the same time the GND was formally introduced to the house. Gunasekara stated her intention to fight "radicalized left armed with a Venezuelan-styled energy scheme" and "crony 'green new deals'" by "educating the public on the many success" of the Trump Administration. Energy 45 Fund's website includes a page for “Exposing Liberal Energy Fantasies” stating: “led by self-avowed socialists, the Democrats have made a leftward lurch so dramatic that it would make Stalin blush. Their policies to combat climate change are nothing but a proxy for draconian government control that prohibits car ownership,[sic} kills domestic energy production, and harms low-income communities the most.”

Gunasekara has condemned the Paris Climate Accord and is touted on the Energy 45 Fund website as the “chief architect” of the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the agreement. The organization's website also touts that Gunasekare “worked to repeal the disastrous Clean Power Plan” and create “opportunities for beautiful clean American coal.”

According to Open Secrets, Gunasekara is "best known in D.C. circles" for playing a role in Senator James Inhofe’s highly publicized snowball stunt on the floor of the Senate when the senator tossed a snowball towards the presiding lawmaker on the Senate floor protest overly alarmist warnings of rising temperature and man-made climate change. Gunasekara brought Inhofe the snowball.

Domain registration records, according to Open Secrets, state that the group’s website was quietly registered to Surya Gunasekara -- Mandy's husband. Surya Gunasekara lobbies the EPA on behalf of Ameresco energy company.

Other topics covered on the website include "Defending the Trump Energy Agenda," "Promoting Positive Environmental Gains," "Withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord," and "America First Environmentalism."