Political fundraising group aims to promote pro-environment candidates for state offices

The state has its first political fundraising organization for the environment. The group Indiana United for Our Future — or INUF— hopes to raise money for environmental candidates running for the state legislature.

The nonpartisan group wants to see more state lawmakers pass legislation that addresses climate change and protects Indiana’s natural resources like wetlands and forests. INUF’s Beth Sprunger said when it comes to who gets in office — money talks.

“Hopefully we can start competing with some of those other donors who are donating money for organizations that are kind of pushing towards bills that are a detriment to the environment," she said.

Last year, state candidates got more than $2 million from donors invested in energy and natural resources. Many of the top contributors were electric utilities and coal companies.

Sprunger said environmental issues have gone under the radar for too long.

Contact reporter Rebecca at rthiele@iu.edu or follow her on Twitter at @beckythiele.

Indiana Environmental reporting is supported by the Environmental Resilience Institute, an Indiana University Grand Challenge project developing Indiana-specific projections and informed responses to problems of environmental change.