Caltech lands second-largest donation ever for climate research

The wealthy owners of the company that produces Fiji Water and Pom Wonderful are reportedly donating $750 million to the California Institute of Technology for climate change research. 

Stewart and Lynda Resnick’s donation will be the second-largest donation ever to an American university to combat climate change, according to The New York Times, which reported the donation Thursday. 

The funds will be used to build a research center that will support a range of projects centered on mitigating climate change, according to the Times.{mosads}

Stewart Resnick described himself as a moderate who currently leans Democratic in an interview with the Times, but said he doesn’t see the donation as political. 

“No one likes to deal with something that is unpleasant if they can kick it down the road,” he told the newspaper. 

“No experts are saying take your time. It’s happening now.”

Resnick also said the donation is a way to help protect future generations. He said he and his wife have seen the impact of climate change in their own business. 

Their Wonderful Company’s brands also include Wonderful Pistachios and Teleflora. 

Resnick also pushed back on criticism that his own businesses are detrimental to the environment. Plastic water bottles, for example, have long been criticized as an unsustainable industry and pistachios and almonds take large amounts of water to grow. 

A Mother Jones investigation in 2016, which the Times cites, found the Resnicks’ businesses were California’s largest water consumers during a drought. 

“You can’t grow healthy food without water,” Resnick told the Times. “We use that water to create crops that create food and jobs for people.”

He also said “if we had an alternative to plastic we would use it.” 

The reported donation follows global climate strikes this week, many led by youth, as world leaders gathered for a United Nations climate summit in New York City.