Topic
They process about one in four barrels of US-bound Alberta bitumen, and pump millions of dollars into highly conservative, anti-green causes. Latest in a series.
Owners of Koch Industries, a major processor of Alberta crude, spent millions to foment and support a movement against Obama's climate change policies.
In Madison, where labour rights are under siege, a BC unionist joins the protest.
Texas refiner banks big on oil sands and pours millions into Prop 23, a bid to halt Golden State climate policies, and maybe BC's too.
What do Tea Party rallies, Republican victories, climate change deniers, Wisconsin's anti-union push and attacks on a cap and trade market for carbon emissions have in common?
They're all fueled in part by profits derived from Alberta's oil sands.
Those profits, flowing to a single company, are helping bankroll a libertarian offensive that many observers think is shifting America's political culture profoundly to the right.
One of the central tenets of that campaign is a disbelief not only in the pressing risks of climate change, but that humans are even causing it.
That article of faith is now being embraced by the American public, with only 51 per cent concerned about global warming, compared to 66 per cent three years ago.
And it's no exaggeration to say that the roots of this campaign can largely be traced back to two powerful businessmen: Charles and David Koch. Together, America's fifth-richest citizens -- each worth $21.5 billion -- own Koch Industries, a refining, pipeline, chemical and paper conglomerate.
They manufacture common household products such as Brawny paper towels and Stainmaster carpets. They're also one of the biggest refiners of Alberta oil sands crude, handling an estimated 25 per cent of all imports entering the U.S.
Any time a clean energy law threatens to impact those operations, the Kochs fight back hard. Not content anymore to wage war from the sidelines, the brothers and their allies have now installed themselves at the heart of Republican power in Washington, D.C.
Never before in the U.S. has the oil sands industry enjoyed such direct political influence.
Kochs pulled out of shadows
Despite being America's second-largest privately run company, Koch Industries was virtually unknown to the wider public until last spring.
That was when Greenpeace released a report detailing how the conglomerate had funneled tens of millions of dollars between 2005 and 2008 to groups skeptical that climate change exists.
Such activism is central to the Koch brothers' hard-line libertarian ideology, which espouses a general distrust of government control.
As more reports surfaced about Koch Industries -- notably a lengthy New Yorker expose in August -- the company's growing political influence gained national attention.
The brothers are now widely thought to have been one of the driving forces behind the Tea Party movement, founding an advocacy group called Americans for Prosperity which has provided critical funding and logistical support.
Americans for Prosperity played a lead role in the Republican takeover of congress in last December's midterm elections.
Budgeting $45 million for political advocacy, the group ran hard-hitting radio and TV ads throughout the year extremely critical of Democrat congressmen, especially those who'd endorsed national climate change laws.
In one, average-looking Coloradans filmed in front of rancher's fields lambast Betsy Markey, their representative, because she "voted for cap and trade, the new energy taxes that would cost Colorado thousands of jobs."
Putting together a Tea Party
At the same time Americans for Prosperity helped coordinate and organize Tea Party rallies from coast to coast.
Drawing upon an often confusing mix of grassroots idealism, government distrust and oil company mandates, the movement endorsed right-wing candidates across America, many of which were elected to the House and Senate last year.
Though David Koch denied any links to the Tea Party movement, an unnamed Republican insider quoted by The New Yorker thought otherwise.
"The Koch brothers gave the money that founded [the Tea Party]," he said. "It's like they put the seeds in the ground. Then the rainstorm comes, and the frogs come out of the mud -- and they're our candidates."
It's highly probable that at least some of that money came from Koch Industries' major investments in Alberta's oil sands industry.
Billionaire oil barons David and Charles Koch fueled Tea Party-tied campaign of anti-union Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.
Flint Hills Resources, a fully owned Koch subsidiary, operates a Minnesota refinery capable of processing 320,000 barrels of crude a day, about four-fifths of which is sourced from Alberta.
To put that in context, SolveClimate News recently estimated that this single refinery handles one quarter of all oil sands crude entering the U.S. That would make Koch Industries one of the top players in the industry.
(It's not clear exactly how much revenue that refinery brings in, because the company is privately held and doesn't make those figures publicly available.)
Kochs target global warming laws
Oil sands crude requires more energy to produce and refine than conventional oil, generally resulting in much higher greenhouse gas emissions. Refineries that depend on it are especially vulnerable to the types of clean energy legislation proposed in growing force over the past few years.
Koch Industries appears to be particularly attuned to global warming laws which could hurt its bottom line. The company was one of the first oil firms to lobby directly against a national low carbon fuel standard in 2007, filing records that state: "Oppose restraints on production and use of energy."
Since then, as previous reporting in this series explained, fuel standards have become one of the fiercest battlegrounds in Washington's war over the oil sands. Those laws, if ever enacted, could be equivalent to taking 30 million cars off the road by 2020, according to research cited by Barack Obama during his presidential election campaign.
They would do this in part by discouraging American suppliers from using road fuels derived from Alberta's oil sands and other high-carbon sources -- precisely the type of fuels that Koch-owned Flint Hills Resources produces.
As Koch Industries notes on its website: "[This legislation] would be particularly devastating for refiners that use heavy Canadian crude oil because the policy seeks to discourage or even prevent the U.S. from benefiting from this essential, reliable resource."
Republican friends elected
For the time being, it appears the Koch brothers have little to worry about. Every attempt so far to enact a national low carbon fuel standard has been scuttled by intense fossil fuel lobbying, sometimes with the "support" of the Canadian and Alberta governments.
And the last midterms elections produced a Republican stronghold generally hostile to the very idea that climate change is even a problem, much less one that should be addressed.
Koch wields considerable influence in this new political environment, especially on the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, where it contributed $279,500 to 22 of the panel's 31 Republicans, the largest donation of any oil and gas player.
Already, the Republican majority in the House voted to cut all American funding for the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, one of the lead organizations studying global warming.
And the House Energy Committee continues to push legislation that would eliminate the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's authority to regulate greenhouse gases.
The rationale for such an attack was laid out in a Wall Street Journal op-ed last December, co-authored by Energy Committee head Fred Upton (a Michigan Republican), and Americans for Prosperity leader Tim Phillips.
They called the EPA's plans to reduce America's carbon emissions "an unconstitutional power grab that will kill millions of jobs -- unless Congress steps in."
Last week, Democrats on the energy panel introduced amendments that would have forced their Republican colleagues to acknowledge that global warming poses major environmental threats.
All 31 Republican members declined to vote in favour of the amendments, claiming instead that the science around climate change "is not settled."
Kochs backed Wisconsin's anti-labour governor
Koch Industries has not restricted its growing political activism to Washington.
In Wisconsin, early versions of the state's Clean Energy Jobs Act contained a low carbon fuel standard. But state policymakers dropped that provision last May, possibly a result of nearly $400,000 in Koch lobbying (not to mention pressure from the Alberta and Canadian governments).
The Koch brothers appear to have also played an instigating role in the Wisconsin labour protests. Their company was one of the biggest funders of Republican governor Scott Walker's election campaign. Walker, once in office, proposed spending cuts targeting union benefits and bargaining rights, causing a massive public backlash.
Americans for Prosperity executives reportedly encouraged the labour showdown even before Walker was sworn in. The group is now working with policymakers and activists in Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania to slash their union spending.
While all this was happening, Americans for Prosperity was coordinating a public relations campaign to kill cap and trade in New Hampshire.
The Republican-dominated legislature had proposed a bill ejecting New Hampshire from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a 10-state coalition attempting to combat climate change.
During the lead-up to the vote, Americans for Prosperity paid for automated phone calls to citizens across the state, urging them to support the bill. It passed recently with a wide margin, effectively terminating New Hampshire's long-term climate change plan.
And that's not all, wrote AFP's Phil Kerpen afterwards. "In the process, it could deal the death blow to cap and trade both regionally and nationally."
That'd be a huge win for Koch Industries, which wouldn't have to worry about the high emissions caused by refining Alberta oil sands crude, at least until the next clean energy law was proposed.
In the meantime, the Koch brothers hope to consolidate political control over not just Congress, but the White House too. Watch for their hand in the next presidential election, where the Kochs plan to raise $88 million to advance a conservative agenda.
Tomorrow: An insider's account of how the Canadian and Alberta governments attempt to neutralize opposition within Congress to Keystone XL. ![[Tyee]](http://thetyee.cachefly.net/ui/img/ico_fishie.png){kind=small}
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Frank
2 years ago
Geoff
Great article
Jeffrey J.
2 years ago
Public Policy For Sale
For Sale to the highest bidder. That is how North America is now run. It also explains the rise of authoritarianism in Canada and the US. People are disempowered as second class citizens. Corporations are first class. When there is a chance to join a war, autocrats like Harper rush to join the 'fun', sending jets to bomb the Arabs like boys with their toys.
Is this reversible? There is little evidence to think so. Welcome to Saudia Arabia of the north. A petrostate just like all the others.
Excellent coverage.
Fiat lux
2 years ago
But this is all "wealth
But this is all "wealth creating foreign investment" and who can complain about such great men, or question their "job creating" actions ?
Our politicians and economists certainly won't, as it wouldn't be "business friendly".
It would be interesting to know how much they have donated to the "conservatives" in Alberta and to Stevie's new glasses to cover up his eyes and raise his popularity ?
And how long before the world comes to grips with the simple fact that wealth can not be created, only taken ?
This is the funniest part.
Ed Deak.
bfearn
2 years ago
Just another obscene...
example of people who have grabbed far too much for themselves manipulating the system so that they can have even more!!
cityzen
2 years ago
Tyee: the only news that matters
Too bad relevant articles like this never make it to mainstream media.
It seems humanity is doomed to suffer under one set of tyrants after another. In a rational world, these two would be convicted of crimes against humanity for the harm they're inflicting on so many people alive now, and all those who will suffer from climate change in the future. Look at those pictures and know that that is what evil looks like - unimaginably more dangerous than one like Charles Manson. Yet with their polished teeth and conservative-hair-helmets, those pics will appeal to a large proportion of Americans unfortunately, who'll only see the face of their fellow Tea Party folk, or their local bible-thumpin' preacher.
I wouldn't be surprised if the Koch's insidious lucre hasn't also somehow supported the rise of the Harper regime in Canada. With the American policy to support dictatorships in oil-rich nations abroad in order to keep prices and supply stable (versus democracies which seem to reduce oil supply), it's not unimaginable that Americans are similarly funding the fall of democracy in oil-rich Canada...after all, isn't a government guilty of contempt for democracy called a dictatorship?
Jack113
2 years ago
Koch Brothers
The Koch brothers are fascists that think all governments should be run for their personal profits.
The funded the Wisconsin union busting governor for a promise to get no bid contracts.
The Koch family started their criminal life by joining the Nazi party and supporting the Nazi war machine. They were so corrupt even for Nazis that one of the family was arrested by the S.S. and imprisoned.
After their stint with Nazism they immigrated to the Soviet Union and joined the communist party and eventually slimmed their way to America.
http://jack113.net/kochfamily.html
Jack113
2 years ago
Elections
We need to look at who is funding political campaigns and stop voting for the criminals that support these crooked corporations. We have the vote and all we have to do is start using it the right way to take back our country.
Mooney
2 years ago
Bankrolling Harper too?
I wonder if this is the same bunch bankrolling all the negative ads we're seeing on T.V.?
morechatter
2 years ago
Who loves the Ruling Class
I get the feeling it is real lonely on top. You would be hard pressed to find people in favor of the group. The Ruling Class is doing all the thinking around here.
Free, free at last is the message sold, only to be trapped in untold debt. You to can be free of government is the message being told. Only to find "bureaucrats" up the ying yang when it comes to getting anything down. And what about the wars that haven't been paid for yet, much less won. They sure know how to fail an economy and still come out ahead. While the average citizen is wondering how they will kept up with the growing cost of stuff, and lets not forget taxes who can? The Ruling Class, because they have the average free, free at last taxpayer picking up the tab.
Did the US, president violate the Constitution with the Lybian attack? The Republicans are convinced he did.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, 1920 (Missouri v. Holland) the presidents, Congresses, and judges can't be bound by the U.S. Constitution regarding matters that the people who wrote and ratified it could not have predictted so lots of wiggle room.
Donman47
2 years ago
Soros
Will you lefries investigate the Great Socialist, and his contributions to democracy?
Illahie
2 years ago
Slaying the Sky Dragon
I am currently reading "Slaying the Sky Dragon, Death of the Greenhouse Gas Theory".
It is a fasinating read. It looks like this climate change nonsense was developed by the Club of Rome in the 1970's with their "limits to growth"
Fiat lux
2 years ago
Ill..... We used to have
Ill..... We used to have -45 for weeks, here in the Cariboo. The last time we had -40 for any length of time was in '95 that killed the eggs of the tent caterpillars and saved our aspens. It was too late for the pine beetles.
We used to have wonderful displays of Northern Lights, haven't had any for many years. Can't even remember the last time.
The Club of Rome is basically a business organization, why would they try to say anything against wealth creating, in other words, resource exploitation based global warming.
Who is the guy who wrote the book and who published it? The Fraser Inst, or the "conservatives" ?
As far books are concerned, there have been millions of books praising Hitler's racial theories, Stalin's dialectics and Mao's Cultural Revolution and his Red Book. By "scientists"
I don't know where you live, but out here in the boondocks the effects of global warming are all around us every day.
Ed Deak, Big Lake.
freebear
2 years ago
Koch Suckers!
Libertarians!
Without some form of collective organization; their businesses would be threatened by each other, and would result in a capitalist mafioso system. Instead of Nations fighting wars; it will be business interests fighting each other directly.
Capitalists need the protection of the state to ensure they don't kill each other; as well as befuddle the masses to allow the scheme to happen under our noses!
Frank
2 years ago
Donman47
I read his book, he puts his money into vehicles that will advance his particular bailiwick which is something called "open societies".
Based on what I read his desire for more openness, transparency and democracy seem alright to me and I don't see how he personally would benefit, unlike the Koch brothers whom I assume you support?
Do you have a different view of Soros?
Illahie
2 years ago
Fiat Lux
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Limits_to_Growth
Dr. Tim Ball
Dr. Claes Johnson
Dr. Martin Hertzberg
Joseph A. Olson
Alan Siddons
Dr Charles Anderson
Hans Schreader
Jon O'Sullivin
Stairway Press is Publisher
ISBN 978-0982773413
I live in Nanaimo
Donman47
2 years ago
Frank
You bet, he is a dangerous man, who needs Big State governmnts so his financial business and speculation can be worked to the max.
Frank
2 years ago
Donman47
He doesn't advocate big government, he advocates open and transparent government.
I don't see how that is dangerous.
As for the way he makes his money, I would think it would be easier for him if government was as transparent as its been. After all, he's already made it.
Fiat lux
2 years ago
Ill,,.....I don't give a
Ill,,.....I don't give a sweet damn about what any politician or scientists says, especially the ideologically warped kind, there are a thousand scientists testifying for opposing sides in every court case all over the world, every day, but what we can see and experience in our own area and it is bloody awful, when we see the millions of dead pines killed by the beetles and animal life that doesn't belong here.
I can quote you the names of hundreds of scientists and scientific organizations who keep on warning about the effects of global warming, also every day.
Except the "conservative" growth promoters, of course. The growth of what and how far ?
It is quite obvious that you can't see the effects on the coast. This year we had and still have a lot snow, thank goodness, we needed it very badly for the forests and grass, but the coldest we had were -30 for a few morning hours, and this is now the norm.
I think, it was in '84, when we had -53.
Ed Deak.
Happenings
2 years ago
The Kochs
Well, we lost the oldest Canadian company to the US so no surprise that it is an American company yet again profitting from Alberta oil and Canadian resources.
Someone told me that the US is the "best democracy that money can buy". Guess this proves the point. It is most unfortunate that the mainstream media never prints this kind of informaiton. Americans and Canadians alike know very little of what is really going on. We use the term 'democracy' very loosely these days.
Sidney Ball
2 years ago
Limits to credibility?
Ah yes, Illahie,the climate change deniers never give up, no matter how much evidence is staring them in the face. But, the thoroughly discredited Tim Ball and his team of merry industry-funded deniers? Even the right-wing website that was the only place left publishing his nonsense has scrubbed all of his writing.
http://www.desmogblog.com/canadafreepress-apology-weaver
morechatter
2 years ago
I don't give a flying dragon
Fact: Automobiles are guilty of air pollution and wasted energy. The impacts are felt all over the world. You don't even have to drive a car to be negatively affected. Legislation to address air pollution is foggy, and air quality continues to be a major concern all over the globe. As for energy, world leaders need to come up with solutions for the ever increasing thirst for oil that dosen't involve fighting wars.
The book,"Slaying The Dragon," which is under $10 is not dispelling Global Warming but the direct causes.
It is an interesting read but offers no solutions while encouraging increased carbon waste.
There was another Oil spill in the Gulf this week which is responsible for 20,000 penguin deaths. Along with the death of the lobster industry in that area, which the people are totally dependent on.
realisticman
2 years ago
Oil, Oil, Oil
Interesting to read the comments from Dilma Rousseff, the president of Brazil, just before her meetings this week with prisident Obama.
(She became a socialist during her youth, and following the 1964 coup d'état joined various left-wing and Marxist urban guerrilla groups)
"Speaking in a newspaper interview just before Mr Obama's arrival, she made what seemed a clear sales pitch, asking “which other country in the world has the oil reserves that Brazil has, that is not at war, that does not have an ethnic conflict, which respects contracts, has clear democratic principles and vision, is generous and in favour of peace?” "
Could have been speaking about Canada.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/8393292/Obama-says-US-to-be-major-purchaser-of-Brazilian-oil.html
“We want to work with you. We want to help with technology and support to develop these oil reserves safely, and when you’re ready to start selling, we want to be one of your best customers,” Obama told a group of business leaders Saturday. “At a time when we’ve been reminded how easily instability in other parts of the world can affect the price of oil, the United States could not be happier with the potential for a new, stable source of energy.”
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/151127-overnight-energy
realisticman
2 years ago
Coal, Coal, Coal
"The Interior Department on Tuesday rolled out plans to allow expanded coal production on federal lands in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin, marking the second time in two days the agency has touted its actions to expand domestic fossil-fuel development.
Tuesday’s announcement comes on the same day that Interior approved another deepwater oil-and-gas drilling permit and follows Monday’s decision to green-light a Shell Oil deepwater exploration plan.
The Obama administration is seeking to highlight its commitment to U.S. energy production at a time when allegations of undue restrictions have become a pillar of GOP political messaging.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, in announcing the coal plan Tuesday, touted the need for an “all-of-the-above” energy approach — the same phrasing Republicans employ when calling for more oil, gas, nuclear, coal and renewables development.
"There’s no place in the country that captures this all-of-the-above approach quite like Wyoming,” Salazar told reporters on a conference call, noting oil-and-gas development in the state as well as its major coal production.
Interior said Tuesday it would hold four coal lease sales — covering 7,441 acres — over four months, beginning in May, and offer tracts estimated to contain 758 million tons of low-sulfur coal. "
March 22, 2011
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/151297-interior-touts-support-for-coal-oil-amid-gop-attacks
realisticman
2 years ago
Gas, Gas, Gas
"March 22, 2011 7:00 AM
A PLANNED liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant near Kitimat represents the only real hope of reducing natural gas bills for northwestern residents, says Skeena NDP MLA Robin Austin."
http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_north/terracestandard/business/118303954.html
"As a result of the disastrous earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the world’s third largest economy is most likely to rely on imports of spot market liquefied natural gas (LNG) ..."
March 21, 2011
http://resourceinvestingnews.com/14229-rising-gas-prices-to-follow-japan-disaster.html
Wind and solar, maybe one day..
realisticman
2 years ago
Global Warming On Hold...
March 21, 2011
"A San Francisco superior court judge has put California's sweeping plan to curb greenhouse gas pollution on hold, saying the state did not adequately evaluate alternatives to its cap-and-trade program. ...
Legislation has been introduced in Congress backing carbon fees over cap-and-trade systems, and a carbon tax is enjoying widespread support in British Columbia, where it is offset by cuts to other taxes. "
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2011/03/california-global-warming-program-put-on-hold.html
bicycleboy
2 years ago
Does it matter?
Why has this become a web debate on global warming, pollution, fossil fuel extraction...can't you just look at that there picture of the Koch brothers and figure out they are on the side of all that is dank and nasty about the human race? I mean, look at them. Would you buy a used planet from these greasy hucksters?
Marysue52
2 years ago
It's TAR Sands--not oil sands
Here it is again--corporatespeak and euphemisms watering down the horror and the facts. TAR SANDS, not oil sands. Go there. Breathe it in. Try adn see through it on a clear day. Go downstream to Fort Chip and get cancer like everyone else there. It's not nice stuff. It's not oil of olay. It's not OK. It's tar sands. Be brave. Say it.
Camero409
2 years ago
Marysue52
You're absolutely right. It was never referred to as "oil sands" when I was younger, it was called "Tar Sands" and so it should remain known as.
As for the Koch suckers, well jail looks like a good place for them. I say send them there with a jar of petroleum jelly.
Conductor274
2 years ago
Harper
If Harper ever gets a majority government Canada will be ruined. He'll destroy every social program that exists including medicare, seniors care programs, unemployment benefits and he'll go after all pension plans as well. Harper is the most dangerous politician Canada has ever elected. He is a Fascist.
G West
2 years ago
Global warming on hold?????
Don't think so - what is happening is that the bat-shit crazies who believe the denial bullshit are being outed.
http://tinyurl.com/4lqh9xf
What a bunch of over the hill turkeys and retired weathermen!
realisticman
2 years ago
Over the Hill Turkey Crazed Deniers ?
Judge Halts California Greenhouse Gas Cap and Trade Program
SAN FRANCISCO, California, March 22, 2011 (ENS) - A San Francisco Superior Court judge has halted implementation of California's cap and trade program to reduce climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions, ruling that the state did not adequately evaluate alternatives.
Judge Ernest Goldsmith sided with six environmental justice groups and seven individuals who sued to block the cap and trade program by the California Air Resources Board, ARB. ..."