Climate Science Facts and Dark Money in Politics

On October 13, 2022, Kim Monson opened with Aristotle’s timeless wisdom on free thinking and critical evaluation, setting the stage for a show packed with revelations about climate science and the hidden machinery of political nonprofits. Russ Carter, Gregory Wrightstone, Karen Levine, Hayden Ludwig, and Tina Francone joined the conversation as Colorado voters prepared for a critical election.

A Citizen Steps Into the Arena

Start listening at 1:27 – Hour 1

Russ Carter, candidate for Colorado House District 30, describes how he became a candidate by simply showing up at caucus when no one else stepped forward. Carter, a native Coloradan and business owner who homeschooled his children for over two decades, argues that government has grown too intrusive, citing the COVID-19 shutdowns of churches and businesses as a wake-up call. He reports that after knocking on approximately 6,000 doors in Lakewood, residents consistently express frustration about living paycheck to paycheck while facing rising crime rates.

Carter connects the state’s energy problems to Senate Bill 181, which Democrats passed shortly after Colorado voters rejected similar restrictions at the ballot box. The disconnect between voter intent and legislative action fuels his campaign’s message about representative government.

“The government’s gotten to be too big, of course. And it’s reaching into every area of our life. Like you said, between force and freedom. And it’s more about force. I mean, look at the last two years. We’ve been shut down. The churches and businesses. Unbelievable to me. And how can they get away with that?”

Russ Carter, Candidate for Colorado House District 30

The Climate Science Al Gore Ignores

Start listening at 33:34 – Hour 1

Gregory Wrightstone, executive director of the CO2 Coalition and author of Inconvenient Facts: The Science That Al Gore Doesn’t Want You to Know, presents data that contradicts mainstream climate narratives. The geologist notes that current CO2 levels of 420 parts per million represent near-historic lows compared to Earth’s average of 2,600 ppm throughout geological history, with peaks approaching 8,000 ppm without ocean acidification occurring.

Wrightstone challenges the framing of modest warming as catastrophic, pointing out that temperature has risen only eight-tenths of a degree since 1900. He cites India’s record-breaking crop yields as evidence that warming combined with increased CO2 benefits ecosystems. On wildfires, he reveals that current U.S. burn acreage represents just 20 percent of 1920s and 1930s levels, attributing recent fire intensity to forest mismanagement that has produced four to five times too many trees per acre since the 1980s.

“When I started researching this, I got angry. Because just about every subject and claim they were making, as I looked into it, it turned out to be false.”

Gregory Wrightstone, Executive Director, CO2 Coalition

Prop 123 and the Housing Affordability Trap

Start listening at 63:39 – Hour 2

Karen Levine, a RE/MAX Alliance realtor and National Association of Realtors director, examines Proposition 123 on Colorado’s ballot. While the National Association of Realtors supported the measure seeking housing solutions, Levine concludes that subsidies typically harm the middle class they intend to help. She acknowledges the organization may not have fully analyzed the long-term implications of creating new bureaucracies with grant-making authority that can accept gifts from public and private entities.

Kim Monson adds that municipalities accepting Prop 123 funds must increase subsidized housing by three percent annually, a compounding requirement that could make homeownership progressively less attainable while expanding government control over housing markets.

“When you subsidize a situation, somebody wins and somebody loses. And typically subsidies harm the middle class.”

Karen Levine, RE/MAX Alliance

Exposing the Arabella Dark Money Network

Start listening at 72:20 – Hour 2

Hayden Ludwig, senior investigative researcher at Capital Research, exposes how the Arabella Advisors consulting firm operates a network of nonprofits that move billions in dark money from left-wing foundations. Ludwig explains that Arabella, a for-profit LLC, created five in-house nonprofits over 15 years that it then hired as clients, enabling wealthy donors like Ford Foundation and Gates Foundation to fund activist campaigns without public disclosure.

Ludwig details how these pop-up groups create websites appearing to be local grassroots organizations while actually operating from plush D.C. offices. He connects a $25 million Arabella donation to the Center for Tech and Civic Life in 2020, theorizing it may have preceded even the Zuckerberg funding that influenced election administration in Wisconsin’s five Democratic cities. The researcher also traces the abortion advocacy network’s funding, documenting how Warren Buffett’s foundation has moved approximately $4 billion into pro-abortion causes over two decades.

“We can see money going into this pot. We can see money going out. But I can never connect the original donor to this radical left-wing activist campaign.”

Hayden Ludwig, Senior Investigative Researcher, Capital Research

Campaign Volunteers and Critical Thinking

Start listening at 3:27 – Hour 1

Tina Francone, working with the Russ Carter campaign, emphasizes that elected officials must continuously think critically about legislation rather than taking information at face value. Drawing from her experience on the RTD board when Kim Monson served on city council, Francone recalls how they often stood together against big money interests to represent everyday citizens.

She distinguishes between the roles of activist, candidate, and elected official, noting that each requires different approaches but all benefit from constituent input across the political spectrum to avoid echo chamber thinking.

“You have to think, you have to evaluate, you have to critically think about the policies and the legislation that you want to bring forward so that you can accurately represent your constituency.”

Tina Francone, Political Consultant