30 March 2010 - International
— Billionaire tycoon David Koch likes to
joke that Koch Industries is, “The biggest
company you’ve never heard of”. But the
nearly US$50 million that he and his brother
Charles quietly funneled to front groups
which deny that climate change is a problem
is no joking matter. Our new report shows
how that cash, between 1997 and 2008, went
to groups working to prevent action being
taken against climate change.
It's now crystal clear
- and every journalist, scientist and politician
needs to know - that denial of climate change
is not something based on healthy scientific
scepticism and debate: it is manufactured
and bears the "Koch" brand.
To put their financial
commitment into context, from 2005-2008
the Koch brothers pumped in double the amount
that even Exxon spent on undermining climate
action over the same period.
If you thought Exxon
was bad, take a look at these guys:
Charles and David have
a vested interest in preventing climate
action: they’ve made billions from Koch
Industries, an oil and manufacturing giant
that is the second largest privately-held
company in America with tentacles extending
around the globe. It’s time more people
were aware of the brothers Koch and just
what they’re up to.
The Greenpeace report
“Koch Industries: Secretly Funding the Climate
Denial Machine” reveals the connections
between the Koch family, their employees,
and a global network of ‘front groups’ engaged
in trying to sabotage climate science.
Download the whole report
as a PDF to check out how the Kochs use
their cash to block solutions to climate
change. The interactive version shows who
Koch money is going to, and has more information
on how it is used to muddy the debate and
prevent climate action.
Key front groups take
Koch cash and do their dirty work
From 1997 to 2008, the Kochs funneled more
than US$48.5 million to organisations aligned
with the Kochs’ agenda, while presenting
themselves as ‘experts’. If you were outraged
that ExxonMobil spent US$24 million in the
same period, then these guys should make
you twice as mad.
Some top recipients
of Koch money include:
?Mercatus Center - ?$9,247,500
received from Koch foundations 2005-2008
[Total Koch foundation grants 1997-2008:
$9,874,500]??The Mercatus Center is a conservative
think-tank at George Mason University, in
which Charles Koch sits on the Board of
Directors.?
?Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFP)
- ?$5,176,500 received from Koch foundations
2005-2008. ??Beginning in 2008, Americans
For Prosperity organised fake 'grassroots'
local events across the US including the
"Hot Air Tour”, featuring a hot air
balloon, that was intended to build opposition
to US legislation on clean energy and climate
change.?
?The Heritage Foundation
- US$1,620,000 received from Koch foundations
2005-2008 [Total Koch foundation grants
1997-2008: US$3,358,000].?The Heritage Foundation
is a conservative think tank that misinterprets
science and policy regarding the climate
and uses its conclusions to argue against
action against climate change.
?Cato Institute?- US$1,028,400
received from Koch foundations 2005-2008
[Total Koch foundation grants 1997-2008:
US$5,278,400].?The Cato Institute focuses
on disputing the science behind global warming
and questioning the rationale for taking
action.
How does Koch Industries
influence the climate debate?
Last year, a Koch-funded study claimed that
renewable energy in Spain had led to the
country losing jobs. This is simply not
true and the report was thoroughly discredited.
Flawed though the study was, it was used
in efforts to influence US politicians against
taking climate action.
Our Koch report also
features case studies on how the Kochs’
anti-climate propaganda is spread and echoed
throughout a vast network of front groups.
You can read all this in the report.
And you thought they
were the good guys...
When you realise what Charles and David
Koch are involved in, a visit to the Koch
Industries website suddenly seems like a
trip to fairyland.
Take the "Koch
Sustainablity Vision". "We create
value by using resources more efficiently;
protecting the environment and the safety
and health of our workers and others; consistently
applying good science...". Interesting
reference to "good science", given
the tens of millions they have pumped into
precisely the opposite.
Then there's the matter
of corporate responsibility on which Charles
Koch is quoted: "For business to survive
and prosper, it must create real long-term
value in society through principled behavior".
That doesn't really cut it either.
Koch Industries has
also trade marked the slogan "Transforming
Daily Life". Now that's something we
can't fault them on: unbridled climate change
is pretty certain to change the world as
we know it.
Let the world know exactly
who the Kochs are, and unmask the ‘experts’
who take their money to write reports that
undermine action to save the planet.
