‘Dark money’ funds climate denial

A large amount of money funding the climate-change-denial movement passes through organizations that conceal the identity of the original funder, a new study reveals.

“The largest, most-consistent money fueling the climate-denial movement are a number of well-funded conservative foundations built with so-called ‘dark money,’ or concealed donations,” according to a recent article by The Daily Climate, referring to the results of a Drexel University study recently published in the journal Climatic Change.

The study found that untraceable donations going through “pass-through” organizations such as Donors Capital Fund and Donors Trust have risen greatly over the past five years. At the same time, “the traceable cash flow from more traditional sources, such as Koch Industries and ExxonMobil, has disappeared,” the article noted.

“If you want to understand what’s driving this movement, you have to look at what’s going on behind the scenes,” said Robert Brulle, author of the study.