With Environmental Rules at Stake, Dark Money Set To Flood 2016 U.S. Elections

Are megabucks from fossil fuels and other big industries corrupting the election of federal government officials? The U.S. public has little chance of knowing under current rules that are bringing "dark money" to ascendancy in American politics.

That lesson was underlined by the revelation January 26, 2015, that a shadowy donor network backed by the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch aimed to spend $889 million on the 2016 presidential election. The revelation came at a private Rancho Mirage, California, meeting of donors and candidates organized by Freedom Partners, one of the arms of the Koch political money network.

Under current federal rules, the donors of the money do not have to be disclosed to the public.

Tracking that money might be of interest to environmental reporters and their audiences. The Koch brothers and their allies have organized support for Congressional efforts to block environmental regulations. Through another anonymous-donation entity, Donors Trust, they have funded efforts to undermine confidence in established science on manmade climate change.

• "Koch-Backed Network Aims To Spend Nearly $1 Billion on 2016 Elections," Washington Post, January 26, 2015, by Matea Gold.
• "Secret Funding Helped Build Vast Network of Climate Denial Thinktanks," The Guardian, February 14, 2013, by Suzanne Goldenberg.
• "Buying a Nominee," National Journal, January 23, 2015, by Shane Goldmacher.
• "Rand Paul Stands Apart in His Pitch for Koch Brothers Cash," National Journal, January 26, 2015, by Rebecca Nelson.
• "The Rise of Dark Money and the Koch Party," National Journal, January 27, 2015, by Ron Fournier.
• "Dark Money Comes Out of the Shadows," The Scrutineer (Aljazeera), January 27, 2015, by Naureen Khan.
• "At Least 1 in 4 Dark Money Dollars in 2012 Had Koch Links," Center for Responsive Politics, December 3, 2013, by Robert Maguire.
• "How Dark Money Flows Through the Koch Network," ProPublica, January 28, 2015, by Al Shaw, Theodoric Meyer, and Kim Barker.
• "Exclusive: The Koch Brothers' Secret Bank," Politico, September 11, 2013, by Mike Allen and Jim Vandehei.
• "This Political Ad Was Paid for by — Oh, Never Mind," Morning Edition (NPR), October 20, 2014, by Peter Overby.
• "Koch-Funded News Outlet Defends Dark-Money Organizations," Media Matters, January 2, 2015, by Daniel Angster.