Monday, April 5, 2010

Follow the Money: Climate Deniers, Koch Industries.

Greenpeace USA has put out a report on the amount of money Koch Industries has flushed into the anti-science of Climate Denial.

Here is a picture of the amount of money Koch Industries spends in its lobbying efforts. Only to be outdone by Exxon Mobile and Chevron.

Koch Industries spent a total of $37.9 million on oil and gas lobbying from January 2006 to December 2009. During this period in the oil and gas sector, Koch Industries was outspent only by ExxonMobil ($87.8 million) and Chevron Corporation ($50 million).

  • 2009: $12.5 million total, $9 million spent on in-house lawyers.
  • 2008: $17.93 million total, $15.3 million spent on in-house lawyers
  • 2007: $4.17 million total, with $40,000 to Pyle and Associates and $100,000 to the Rhoads Group (Thomas Pyle worked at Rhoads Group before starting Pyle and Associates and is now President of IER and AEA).
  • 2006: $3.36 million total, with $140,000 to Rhoads Group.

It is worth noting that Koch also hires outside lawyers to lobby on its behalf, in some cases the same firms that lobby for other groups of which Koch is a member. For example:

  • Siff and Lake, $190,000 (2009), $220,000 (2008), $200,000 (2007), which also lobbies for Western Fuels Association.
  • Mehlman/Vogel, $200,000 (2009), $120,000 (2008), $20,000 (2007) which also lobbies for API (2009, 2008),Business Roundtable (2009, 2008), EEI (2009, 2008) and Energy Future Holdings (2009).
  • Pyle and Associates, $40,000 (2007), which also lobbied for the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association, of which Koch is a member.
  • The Rhoads Group, $100,000 (2007), which also lobbies for the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association of which Koch is a member.
  • Hunton and Williams, $60,000 (2009), $150,000 (2008), $80,000 (2007), which also lobbied for National Association of Manufacturers (2009, 2008) and Americans for Affordable Climate Policy (2009), Edison Electric Institute (2009, 2008, 2007), Gas Processing Association (2009, 2008) and the Foundation for Environment and Economic Progress (2009, 2008, 2007).
  • Capitol Tax Partners, $30,000 (2009), $240,000 (2008), $220,000 (2007), which who also lobbies for Edison Electric Institute (2009, 2008, 2007) and National Electrical Manufacturers Association (2008, 2007).

In addition, Koch executives serve on the boards of other organizations wielding influence against clean energy and climate policy. The Executive Vice President for Operations Excellence & Compliance at Koch Industries, James Mahoney, is also a vice-president of the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA). NPRA significantly increased its lobbying budget in 2009, reporting $1.68 million in direct federal lobbying expenses. This more than doubled the lobby spending of the organization from 2008, when its total lobbying budget was $810,000.


People are trying to paint climate science as some sort of hoax. But the truth lies with the amount of money, Big Oil, Gas and Coal are injecting into the argument. If the Science was not strong, why would they invest so much cash into doubting it?

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