Washington, D.C. (January 21, 2025) – Today marks the anniversary of the controversial 2010 Supreme Court Citizens United ruling. This decision unleashed a flood of corporate money into our political system. It allowed the fossil fuel industry to spend hundreds of millions of dollars this election cycle, overwhelmingly with republican candidates, to exert their influence over our democracy.
“By ruling that unlimited campaign contributions are protected speech, the court freed the fossil fuel industry to strengthen its stranglehold on our economy,” said Folabi Olagbaju, Greenpeace USA’s Democracy Campaign Director. “Citizens United has put politicians completely in the pockets of the biggest donors, often the fossil fuel industry, which has no investment in the wellbeing of our fragile blue planet.”
The flooding in Asheville, N.C., Florida’s record-breaking 2024 hurricanes, and most recently the tragic Los Angeles wildfires starkly remind us of the lack of political action on a worsening climate emergency. Politicians are nowhere to be found when it comes to halting this climate crisis and managing the transition away from fossil fuels. Greenpeace USA urges lawmakers to end the corporate capture of our democracy. Our elected leaders must prioritize frontline communities, advance the transition away from fossil fuels, and pass measures like the Freedom to Vote Act (S.2747) to restore power to the people over corporate polluters.
Contact: Madison Carter, Greenpeace USA Senior Communications Specialist, [email protected]
Greenpeace USA is part of a global network of independent campaigning organizations that use peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future. Greenpeace USA is committed to transforming the country’s unjust social, environmental, and economic systems from the ground up to address the climate crisis, advance racial justice, and build an economy that puts people first. Learn more at www.greenpeace.org/usa.
