Koch Industries Funding Anti-Climate Agenda, and Now Democratic Senators

onJul 30, 2009 @ 17:37 PDT

Oil and gas giant Koch Industries is doling out more and more money to Democrats as it works to turn the polar ice caps into puddles in bipartisan fashion. Formerly regarded as a staunchly Republican funding machine, Koch has given nearly 30 percent of its overall campaign dollars to Democrats so far this year.

Some of that largesse ended up in the coffers of typically environment-friendly members, including Senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR). As E&E News reports ($ubscription req’d) and The Wonk Room relays, Senator Lincoln has collected $10,000 so far this year from Koch Industries, and Senator Baucus has collected $5,000.

Why are Senators Lincoln and Baucus accepting this dirty energy money from Koch? In the League of Conservation Voter’s scorecard of pro-environment members for the 2nd session of the last Congress, Senator Lincoln scored 91% and Senator Baucus scored 100%.

Koch hasn’t had a change of heart or any moral epiphany about its contribution to global warming and planetary demise. So why are these Senators suddenly taking oil and gas money from one of the world’s worst polluters?

As we reported previously here at DeSmog Blog, Koch and its affiliates have funneled millions of dollars to industry front groups who contend that global warming is a liberal conspiracy rather than a scientifically proven fact. Koch-funded groups wage war on science and spout oil and gas industry lies to confuse people into believing that the status quo is just fine, which suits Koch’s oily bottom line perfectly.

Despite the increased donations to Democrats, Koch continues to pour money into fueling its right wing agenda. Koch is bankrolling the astroturf groups Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks, two of the organizations orchestrating the racist, hate-fueled anti-Obama tea party protests.

By accepting Koch’s dirty energy money, Senators Lincoln and Baucus are helping to legitimize Koch’s efforts to attack President Obama, tea parties and all.

By Kevin Grandia

Kevin is a contributor and strategic adviser to DeSmog. He runs the digital marketing agency Spake Media House. Named a “Green Hero” by Rolling Stone Magazine and one of the “Top 50 Tweeters” on climate change and environment issues, Kevin has appeared in major news media outlets around the world for his work on digital campaigning. Kevin has been involved in the public policy arena in both the United States and Canada for more than a decade. For five years he was the managing editor of DeSmogBlog.com. In this role, Kevin’s research into the “climate denial industry” and the right-wing think tank networks was featured in news media articles around the world. He is most well known for his ground-breaking research into David and Charles Koch’s massive financial investments in the Republican and tea party networks. Kevin is the first person to be designated a “Certified Expert” on the political and community organizing platform NationBuilder. Prior to DeSmog, Kevin worked in various political and government roles. He was Senior Advisor to the Minister of State for Multiculturalism and a Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Asia Pacific, Foreign Affairs for the Government of Canada. Kevin also worked in various roles in the British Columbia provincial government in the Office of the Premier and the Ministry of Health. In 2008 Kevin co-founded a groundbreaking new online election tool called Vote for Environment which was later nominated for a World Summit Award in recognition of the world’s best e-Content and innovative ICT applications. Kevin moved to Washington, DC in 2010 where he worked for two years as the Director of Online Strategy for Greenpeace USA and has since returned to his hometown of Vancouver, Canada.