PragerU, the prominent right-wing advocacy group that promotes climate change denialism, was forced to evacuate its West Coast headquarters by the Los Angeles wildfires, which experts and scientists have said were exacerbated by climate change, the Daily Beast can reveal.
The Daily Beast had reached out to the group to request comment for an unrelated story on the use of PragerU-produced materials in public schools when a spokesperson for PragerU replied that its offices are “closed right now due to the fires.”
The mailing address listed on PragerU’s website is located in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley, an area where many residents have been given evacuation notices in recent weeks, including as recently as last week.
Sherman Oaks is outside of the areas where officials say fire has damaged and destroyed properties, but is northeast of Santa Monica, parts of which have incurred severe damage.
The spokesperson advised that PragerU would “not be able to respond today but would be happy to next week.”
Given the extraordinary circumstances, the Daily Beast held off on publishing and obtained comment from PragerU for that story a week later.
PragerU—which is not a university or accredited educational organization—produces videos aimed at children that Republican politicians have approved for use in schools in Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, Montana, Louisiana, South Carolina, Idaho and Arizona.
Among them, as Scientific American reported, are clips telling schoolchildren that climate activists are like Nazis, that wind and solar power pollute the Earth, and that the record global temperatures in recent years are simply the product of natural temperature cycles.
On its website, PragerU urges visitors to sign a pledge to “stand up against climate misinformation” and lambasts the “fake ‘climate crisis.’”
The group has also shared one of its videos from 2020 during the current crisis which explicitly claims that “Environmental regulations are causing wildfires in California.”
Meanwhile, experts say the Los Angeles wildfires that forced PragerU staff to abandon their offices were made worse by the very thing the conservative group denies, and that regulations are but one potential factor.
Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles found that the vegetation in the area where the Palisades and Eaton Fires ignited was 25 percent drier than it would be without the impact of hotter, drier conditions and more dramatic seasonal swings in temperatures caused by climate change.
“While fires are common and natural in this region, California has seen some of the most significant increases in the length and extremity of the fire weather season globally in recent decades, driven largely [by] climate change,” Professor Stefan Doerr, director of Swansea University’s Centre for Wildfire Research, told the BBC about the LA wildfires.
Extreme weather and temperatures—2024 was the hottest on record—killed thousands and displaced millions last year, according to Imperial College London researchers.
“Significant harm from human-induced climate change is not a future threat, but present day reality,” they wrote.
When asked about being forced to vacate its offices due to an environmental catastrophe that was in part fueled by climate change, a PragerU spokesperson said the group encouraged people to watch its videos on climate and forest management, as well as an interview it recently conducted with President Donald Trump’s nominee for energy secretary, businessman Chris Wright.
Wright has rejected linking wildfires and climate change, contrary to scientific consensus.
“We believe there’s a crucial perspective missing from much of today’s media and educational discourse,” the PragerU spokesperson added. “This is an opportunity to inform the public about a matter that deeply impacts our lives. At the very least, we urge everyone to engage in thoughtful, scientific dialogue on these pressing issues.”
Founded by conservative talk show host Dennis Prager, the 501(c) PragerU made just under $69 million in revenue in 2023, the last year for which figures are available, according to IRS filings.
Among its biggest backers are billionaire oil and gas fracking brothers Farris and Dan Wilks, who The Guardian reported gave given more than $8 million between 2013 and 2023. The brothers have also poured millions into rightwing media outlet The Daily Wire.
In 2013, Farris Wilks suggested climate change was a matter for the divine rather than a scientific one: “If [God] wants the polar caps to remain in place, then he will leave them there.”
