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For Immediate Release
January, 21 2022, 01:31pm EDT
Contact:
David Rosen, drosen@citizen.org
Derrick Robinson, drobinson@citizen.org
Twelve Years Since Citizens United, Big Money Corruption Keeps Getting Worse
Today marks 12 years since the U.S. Supreme Court's disastrous Citizens United decision.
Lisa Gilbert, executive vice president of Public Citizen, released the following statement:
WASHINGTON
Today marks 12 years since the U.S. Supreme Court's disastrous Citizens United decision.
Lisa Gilbert, executive vice president of Public Citizen, released the following statement:
"This week we were outraged to watch two senators stand in the way of improving democracy. In addition to protecting our right to vote, the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act would have been the first blow struck against the overreaching Citizens United vs. FEC decision which happened more than a decade ago. Shockingly, it has been 12 long years, and neither regulators nor Congress have tackled the dark money tidal wave caused by the Supreme Court's ruling.
"The secret political spending we have seen over the last 12 years has corrupted our political process toward corporate interests and robbed citizens of authentic representation. It plays a large role in the failures to defend our democracy, pass Build Back Better, address climate change, fix our healthcare system, and much more.
"The amount of money flowing into our elections is unprecedented and increases every cycle. A handful of billionaires exert enormous influence over our politics. And as a result, elected officials have grown ever more responsive to the desires of corporations and the ultrawealthy at the expense of their constituents. This week we witnessed a recalcitrant few stymie the will of the majority to fix our democracy. We will not rest until we succeed."
Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, released the following statement:
"In a politically divided nation, there is virtual unanimity in opposition to the Supreme Court's horrific Citizens United decision and the resultant super rich and corporate domination of our elections. Americans believe the system is rigged, and they are right.
"It's hard to encapsulate the degree to which wealth dominates our elections. One measure: Just 100 people - almost all of them white - are responsible for 70% of individual contributions to Super PACs.
"The opposition to Citizens United has engendered a grassroots movement for a constitutional amendment to overturn the decision and restore the people's right to impose limits on campaign contributions and spending, including the commonsense right to prohibit corporate contributions. Twenty-two states and 800 cities and towns have passed resolutions calling for an amendment. Momentum continues to grow and the day is not long off when we will win a constitutional amendment and overthrow the shackles of Citizens United."
Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that champions the public interest in the halls of power. We defend democracy, resist corporate power and work to ensure that government works for the people - not for big corporations. Founded in 1971, we now have 500,000 members and supporters throughout the country.
(202) 588-1000LATEST NEWS
'Time for Half Measures Is Over': Study Warns of Terrifying Atlantic Ocean Current Collapse
"We must avoid this collapse at all costs," said a leading current researcher, who warned that "the stability of the entire planet" is at stake.
Apr 16, 2026
The global climate crisis is causing a critical Atlantic Ocean current system to weaken much sooner than previously predicted, according to a study published on Thursday. If it stops, scientists say it could pose catastrophic consequences for Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is one of the most important current systems in the world for maintaining the delicate balance of the global climate. It helps to keep colder regions like Europe and the Arctic mild by moving warm water northward and pushes large amounts of carbon deep into the ocean, keeping it out of the atmosphere.
Scientists have feared AMOC's decline for some time. Previous studies have shown it to be at its weakest point in 1,600 years. But research published this month suggests that a collapse may come much sooner than anticipated.
One study, published Thursday in the journal Science Advances, used climate models and current data to predict the decline in the coming decades.
Researchers found that the system is on course to slow by more than 50% by the end of the century and could pass a significant tipping point by mid-century, at which point its decline would become irreversible.
"We found that the AMOC is declining faster than predicted by the average of all climate models," said lead researcher Valentin Portmann, of the Inria Research Center of Bordeaux South-West. "This means we are closer to a tipping point than previously thought.”
A major driver of its slowdown has been the rapid melting of Greenland's freshwater ice sheet into the Atlantic, which has diluted denser saltwater, making it harder to transfer northward.
He explained: “The more rapidly Greenland melts, the more freshwater floods the North Atlantic. This disrupts the sinking process, effectively applying the brakes to the entire system.”
This research followed another study published last week by scientists at the University of Miami, which found that AMOC has been weakening at four latitudes in the Atlantic.
Professor Stefan Rahmstorf, a leading AMOC researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, who was not involved in either study, called it "an important and deeply concerning result" that "confirms that the ‘pessimistic’ climate models—those projecting a severe weakening of the AMOC by 2100—are the most accurate."
"The most dramatic and drastic climate changes we see in the last 100,000 years of Earth history have been when the AMOC switched to a different state," Rahmstorf explained.
A shutdown of the current system poses what Canadian climate activist and marine conservationist Paul Watson described as a "domino effect of climatic upheavals."
Scientists have projected that temperatures in northern Europe could plummet dramatically, with winters in London sometimes reaching below -20°C (-4°F) and those in Norway reaching -48°C (-54°F). It also threatens to dramatically shorten growing seasons, putting food security in peril for hundreds of millions of people.
Tropical storms in the North Atlantic would also become more severe. As the current slows, sea levels are expected to rise, and the greater temperature difference between cooling Europe and the warming tropics can fuel more intense hurricanes and increase the risk of flooding in major coastal cities.
"We must avoid this collapse at all costs," Rahmstorf said. "The stakes are too high; this isn’t just about Europe’s climate, but the stability of the entire planet."
Such a dramatic change in the flow of global heat could scramble temperature and rainfall patterns worldwide, putting some areas at greater risk of drought and disrupting the monsoon season that fuels agriculture in many regions.
It also risks becoming self-perpetuating, as the large amounts of carbon released from the ocean could further accelerate AMOC's collapse. Research published last week found that carbon emissions from the Southern Ocean alone could increase global temperature by about 0.2°C.
"The science is clear: The AMOC is teetering on the edge of collapse, and the window to act is closing," Watson said. "Yet global leaders remain paralyzed by short-term politics and denial."
The conclusion of the most recent United Nations climate summit, COP30, has been described as woefully insufficient to address the mounting climate emergency. The roadmap for action released by the host nation, Brazil, excluded any mention of the phrase "fossil fuels" after the conference was overrun by industry lobbyists.
"The time for half-measures is over," Watson said. "The choices we make in the next decade will determine whether future generations inherit a manageable climate or a world plunged into chaos."
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As Americans Struggle With Soaring Prices, Trump Says $4 Gas Is ‘Not Very High'
After brushing off Americans' concerns about high gas prices, the president posted a message on social media discussing the latest plans for his luxury ballroom.
Apr 16, 2026
President Donald Trump on Thursday brushed off Americans' concerns about paying $4 per gallon of gas, telling a group of reporters that this price is "not very high."
While speaking with journalists on the White House lawn, Trump was asked by a reported from ABC News how long Americans should expect to be dealing with high gas prices, which have soared since the president launched an unconstitutional war of choice with Iran more than six weeks ago.
"They're not very high," Trump said. "If you look at what they were supposed to be to get rid of a nuclear weapon, with the danger that entails, so the gas prices have come down very much over the last three or four days."
Q: How much longer will American continue to see these high gas prices?
TRUMP: Well, they're not very high
Q: $4 a gallon still
TRUMP: That's what ABC says, but the stock market is up. Everything is doing really well. pic.twitter.com/yIxHXKqXII
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 16, 2026
In fact, Trump-appointed Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said under oath during congressional testimony that Iran's uranium enrichment program was "obliterated" by US airstrikes last year, and that there had been no effort by the Iranians no effor to rebuild their enrichment capability since.
Additionally, gas prices have not come down "very much" over the last four days. According to AAA, gas prices in the US currently average $4.09 per gallon, a slight decrease from the $4.16 they averaged the week prior.
After the reporter informed Trump that gas was still over $4 a gallon, he replied, "Well, that's what ABC says, but the fact is, if you look at the stock market, it's up. Everything's doing really well."
Shortly after Trump shrugged off concerns about high gas prices, he posted a message on Truth Social discussing the security features he wants to see in the luxury ballroom he's been planning to build on White House grounds.
Among other things, Trump said he wanted the ballroom to have "Bomb Shelters, a State of the Art Hospital and Medical Facilities, Protective Partitioning, Top Secret Military Installations, Structures, and Equipment, Protective Missile Resistant Steel, Columns, Roofs, and Beams, Drone Proof Ceilings and Roofs, Military Grade Venting, and Bullet, Ballistic, and Blast Proof Glass."
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'Foreign Billionaires First, America Last': Critics Slam GOP Over Mining Approval Near Minnesota Boundary Waters
"We don’t allow mining in Yellowstone, Yosemite, Zion, Acadia, Glacier, or any of our nation’s revered national parks—and we shouldn’t allow it in the watershed of the Boundary Waters, either," said one congresswoman.
Apr 16, 2026
Democratic lawmakers and environmental protection groups condemned Senate Republicans on Thursday for their "heartbreaking" passage of a House resolution to overturn a 20-year moratorium on mining in the watershed of Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, the nation's most visited wilderness area—a vote that critics said was the result of years of lobbying by a foreign-owned mining firm.
House Joint Resolution 140 now heads to President Donald Trump's desk, nearly a decade after Chilean conglomerate Antofagasta, the owner of Twin Metals Minnesota, began discussing with Trump's first administration its desire to build a copper mine over the pristine area.
"Because of this extremely short-sighted vote, our nation’s most-visited wilderness area faces the threat of permanent toxic pollution," said Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.). "Why? So Antofagasta, a Chilean corporation that owns Twin Metals, can mine American copper and ship it to China to be smelted and sold on the global market. Twin Metals has been lobbying President Trump and Republicans in Congress for over ten years to remove the protections from this watershed and renew their mine plans to extract American minerals at the expense of freshwater for future generations."
The 50-49 vote in the Senate, said Environment America, puts the 1.1 million-acre wilderness area for heavy metals leaching into the soil and water through acid mine drainage.
Toxic runoff from copper mining, said the group, "ultimately poisons the land and water surrounding a mine, making the ecosystem unlivable for wildlife."
Leda Huta, vice president of government relations for American Rivers, called the vote "a betrayal of the public trust."
“We share in the deep disappointment of millions of Americans who expect our elected leaders to protect our clean water, our abundant wildlife, and access for all to unmatched outdoor recreation spaces," said Huta. "This is a heartbreaking moment.”
Amanda Hefner, manager of Save the Boundary Waters Action Fund, wrote in a column in Minnesota Reformer last October that "in a water-rich environment like the Boundary Waters, with its low buffering capacity, pollution would spread quickly through interconnected lakes and streams." She also wrote that it was "reckless" to risk the preserve's 17,000 jobs and over $1 billion in annual revenue "for a foreign-owned mine that would pollute and leave toxic waste for generations."
According to Jacobin, Antofagasta spent $200,000 on lobbying in the final quarter of 2024 and $230,000 in the first quarter of 2025 "on issues including federal leases for Twin Metals." The Chilean company is owned by billionaire Andrónico Luksic, who rented out his $5.5 million mansion in Washington, DC to Trump's daughter Ivanka and her husband, then-White House adviser Jared Kushner, from 2017-21.
The Sierra Club noted that to pass the mining ban reversal, Senate Republicans "utilized a baseless interpretation of the Congressional Review Act (CRA)."
"The CRA only allows Congress to disapprove of administrative rules," said the group. "No previous administration has considered mineral withdrawals to be 'rules' that are subject to the CRA."
Athan Manuel, director of the Sierra Club's Lands Protection Program, said that "allowing a foreign company to open a toxic mine on its doorstep puts a fragile ecosystem at risk and shows the Trump Administration will always act to benefit corporations over the American people.”
“The Boundary Waters is one of the country’s most iconic wilderness areas, visited by thousands every year. It should be a place for recreation and conservation, not for pollution and exploitation," said Manuel.
Despite Trump's refrain, "America First," Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) said the vote made clear that "for the GOP, it’s foreign billionaires first, America last."
McCollum warned that the mining moratorium was "the only way to protect this wilderness, which is home to some of the cleanest water in the entire world.
"We don’t allow mining in Yellowstone, Yosemite, Zion, Acadia, Glacier, or any of our nation’s revered national parks—and we shouldn’t allow it in the watershed of the Boundary Waters, either," said the congresswoman. "One hundred percent of copper mines have failed, leading to polluted waters. This case will be no different."
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