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In 1990, as both Republicans and Democrats proposed a cap and trade system to address acid rain, Koch financed a front group called “Concerned Citizens for the Environment” to battle proposed regulations. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that the group “has no citizen membership of its own,” but produced studies arguing that acid rain was a myth and that deregulation would benefit the environment. Koch refineries and factories,
top emitters of acid rain-causing toxins, were impacted by the successful cap and trade system. A front group founded by David Koch, Citizens for a Sound Economy (which later changed its name to Americans for Prosperity), also battled regulations designed to combat acid rain, labeling the problem a “myth.”
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– Koch funneled large amounts of donations into electing George Bush in 2000 (even sending Koch-linked lobbyists to help disrupt the Florida recount). At the time, Koch Industries faced a 97-count federal indictment charging it with concealing illegal releases of 91 metric tons of benzene, known to cause leukemia, from its refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas.
When Bush took office, his Justice Department dropped 88 of the charges and settled the case for a small amount of money. – As the Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson has reported, Koch Industries emits over
300 million tons of greenhouse gases a year.
That is why, as a Greenpeace study has found, Koch Industries has pumped about $50 million into dozens of front groups denying the existence of climate change. To block EPA regulations of Koch’s carbon pollution, Koch fronts, like Americans for Prosperity, the Hot Air Tour, and the Regulation Reality Tour, have expanded their lobbying to
children.
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After a lobbying campaign waged by Koch fronts Americans for Prosperity, Competitive Enterprise Institute, Cato Institute, and others to stop federal action on climate change, Koch fronts have worked to decimate state-level efforts to curb carbon emissions. As ThinkProgress first
reported, Koch fronts were at the forefront of an effort last year to repeal California’s landmark clean energy law. Currently, Koch fronts, including the State Policy Network and the American Legislative Exchange Council, are working to
revoke the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in New England.
– Koch Industries is one of the largest producers of formaldehyde, a chemical that “several major scientific studies have concluded” causes cancer in human beings. Koch’s conservative front groups have battled proposed regulations on formaldehyde, and David Koch used his position on the National Institutes of Health to try to stop the EPA from classifying it as a “
known carcinogen” in humans.