You may not have heard of Koch Industries, and when you think of corporate climate change deniers, you likely think of companies like Exxon. Compared to Koch’s funding of the great climate change denial machine, Exxon has spent chump change. From 2005 to 2008, Koch has spent $25 million to fund denier groups and lobby organizations opposed to clean energy and climate legislation – compared with Exxon’s measly $8.9 million (this is not to belittle the substantial leadership effort Exxon has put forth in climate denial).
Koch is one of the largest privately held companies in the U.S., and works in the shadows to fund their denial network based on the model of Big Tobacco. This is the thrust of a new Greenpeace report released earlier this week called Dealing in Doubt: The Climate Denial Industry and Climate Science. The report reveals a steady stream of cash, nearly $50 million since 1997, to fund lobbyist groups, avowed climate change deniers, and fake scientific studies in an ongoing effort to confuse the public and thwart clean energy and climate legislation in Washington. Such is not the basis for a reasoned debate.
The New York Times published a response from Koch yesterday.
Additional sources and further reading:
Huffington Post
DeSmogBlog
