CBS to Charles Koch: Is Dark Money Good for the Political System?

Charles Koch, the chairman and CEO of Koch Industries, appeared on CBS' Sunday Morning. Charles, along with his brother David and their network of conservative mega donors, are planning to spend a staggering $889 million on politics in 2015 and 2016. Koch tells CBS that about $300 million of that would be spent on federal and state elections in 2016.
Unsurprisingly, several GOP presidential candidates flocked to Charles and David Koch’s donor conference this past August, leading Donald Trump to call his rivals Koch "puppets." Meanwhile, top Senate Democrats, led by Harry Reid, are strategizing how to fight back against the powerful Koch brothers′ network and their flood of money into the upcoming election.
In his first national television interview, Charles Koch was asked by CBS correspondent Anthony Mason on Sunday about the current field of presidential candidates. "You said, you're not particularly high on any of the candidates so far?," asked Mason.
"Well, I didn't say that," Koch replied. "I said I don't have the evidence that they're going to change the trajectory of the country."
"Are you intending to support a candidate for President?," Mason asked.
"Well, it depends," said Koch.
Then Mason asks, "If Donald Trump got the nomination, would you support him?"
"I made a vow: I'm not going to talk about individuals," Koch said. "David said he liked [Scott] Walker, so now all the press is, 'Well, we put all this money behind Walker, and he had to drop out.' We didn't put a penny [on him]. David said he liked him. That doesn't mean we've picked him."
"The Koch brothers have helped fund complex networks of political action committees and advocacy groups, many of them tax-exempt so donors don't have to be disclosed," says Mason. "The network, which now rivals the Republican National Committee in its financial clout, will spend $300 million dollars in the next election year. Do you think it's good for the political system that so much, what's called, dark money is falling into the process now?"
See what Charles Koch had to say about that in this video:
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
John Oliver Rips Fracking Industry for its Deadly Bakken Boom, Killing One Person Every Six Weeks
Disturbing Images Expose the Horrific Impact of Plastic Trash on Marine Animals
Ted Cruz Lies Again About the Science of Climate Change
California Bans Captive Breeding of Killer Whales at SeaWorld
At first glance, you wouldn't think avocados and almonds could harm bees; but a closer look at how these popular crops are produced reveals their potentially detrimental effect on pollinators.
Migratory beekeeping involves trucking millions of bees across the U.S. to pollinate different crops, including avocados and almonds. Timothy Paule II / Pexels / CC0
<p>According to <a href="https://www.fromthegrapevine.com/israeli-kitchen/beekeeping-how-to-keep-bees" target="_blank">From the Grapevine</a>, American avocados also fully depend on bees' pollination to produce fruit, so farmers have turned to migratory beekeeping as well to fill the void left by wild populations.</p><p>U.S. farmers have become reliant upon the practice, but migratory beekeeping has been called exploitative and harmful to bees. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/10/health/avocado-almond-vegan-partner/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported that commercial beekeeping may injure or kill bees and that transporting them to pollinate crops appears to negatively affect their health and lifespan. Because the honeybees are forced to gather pollen and nectar from a single, monoculture crop — the one they've been brought in to pollinate — they are deprived of their normal diet, which is more diverse and nourishing as it's comprised of a variety of pollens and nectars, Scientific American reported.</p><p>Scientific American added how getting shuttled from crop to crop and field to field across the country boomerangs the bees between feast and famine, especially once the blooms they were brought in to fertilize end.</p><p>Plus, the artificial mass influx of bees guarantees spreading viruses, mites and fungi between the insects as they collide in midair and crawl over each other in their hives, Scientific American reported. According to CNN, some researchers argue that this explains why so many bees die each winter, and even why entire hives suddenly die off in a phenomenon called colony collapse disorder.</p>Avocado and almond crops depend on bees for proper pollination. FRANK MERIÑO / Pexels / CC0
<p>Salazar and other Columbian beekeepers described "scooping up piles of dead bees" year after year since the avocado and citrus booms began, according to Phys.org. Many have opted to salvage what partial colonies survive and move away from agricultural areas.</p><p>The future of pollinators and the crops they help create is uncertain. According to the United Nations, nearly half of insect pollinators, particularly bees and butterflies, risk global extinction, Phys.org reported. Their decline already has cascading consequences for the economy and beyond. Roughly 1.4 billion jobs and three-quarters of all crops around the world depend on bees and other pollinators for free fertilization services worth billions of dollars, Phys.org noted. Losing wild and native bees could <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/wild-bees-crop-shortage-2646849232.html" target="_self">trigger food security issues</a>.</p><p>Salazar, the beekeeper, warned Phys.org, "The bee is a bioindicator. If bees are dying, what other insects beneficial to the environment... are dying?"</p>EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
Australia is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. It is home to more than 7% of all the world's plant and animal species, many of which are endemic. One such species, the Pharohylaeus lactiferus bee, was recently rediscovered after spending nearly 100 years out of sight from humans.
Trending
Scientists have newly photographed three species of shark that can glow in the dark, according to a study published in Frontiers in Marine Science last month.
- 10 Little-Known Shark Facts - EcoWatch ›
- 4 New Walking Shark Species Discovered - EcoWatch ›
- 5 Incredible Species That Glow in the Dark - EcoWatch ›
FedEx's entire parcel pickup and delivery fleet will become 100 percent electric by 2040, according to a statement released Wednesday. The ambitious plan includes checkpoints, such as aiming for 50 percent electric vehicles by 2025.
Lockdown measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus pandemic had the added benefit of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by around seven percent, or 2.6 billion metric tons, in 2020.
- Which Is Worse for the Planet: Beef or Cars? - EcoWatch ›
- Greenhouse Gas Levels Hit Record High Despite Lockdowns, UN ... ›
- 1.8 Billion Tons More Greenhouse Gases Will Be Released, Thanks ... ›