Koch brothers poured $145+ million into climate denial groups, creating a web of 'dark money' think tanks to obstruct climate action

For nearly two decades, some of the most powerful industrialists in America systematically bankrolled organizations that told the public climate change wasn't real. The Koch brothers—Charles and David Koch, whose industrial empire generated massive profits from fossil fuels and petrochemicals—funneled at least $145 million between 1997 and 2018 into a coordinated network of think tanks, advocacy groups, and academic institutions dedicated to undermining climate science.

At the time, the Kochs and their network maintained they were simply funding legitimate policy research. When critics pointed to the obvious conflict of interest—that the Kochs' own industrial operations depended on fossil fuel consumption—defenders argued there was genuine scientific debate about climate change. They insisted these organizations represented honest intellectual inquiry, not propaganda. The general public heard little about where the money actually came from, which was precisely the point.

What remained hidden for years was the deliberate architecture of concealment behind this funding. A comprehensive 2013 study by researchers at Drexel University analyzed two decades of climate denial funding and discovered something striking: the vast majority moved through what researchers called "dark money" channels. Organizations with intentionally vague names—groups that didn't clearly identify their funders or their purpose—received the lion's share of support. This wasn't accidental. The researchers found evidence of a deliberate strategy to obscure the true agenda and origin of the funding.

The money flowed to recognizable organizations like the Heartland Institute, Americans for Prosperity, and the Cato Institute. These groups produced studies, opinion pieces, and policy recommendations that cast doubt on the scientific consensus about human-caused climate change. They funded academic researchers who published contrarian views. Some of this work was legitimate intellectual disagreement. But internal documents later revealed that when Koch-funded scientists actually accepted the scientific consensus on climate change, they were dropped from funding. This wasn't philosophy—it was conditional support based on reaching predetermined conclusions.