As regular readers of DeSmogBlog know, ExxonMobil has been a regular target of bad ink for their continued funding of "think" tanks and industry associations that spread misinformation about the scientific evidence for human-caused global warming.
While Exxon is continuously vilified as the leader of the attack on climate change science, the Koch Foundation is heavily involved in the same type of activity, but receives very little of the bad press.
Anyone want to start www.kochsecrets.org [1]?
As regular readers of DeSmogBlog know, ExxonMobil has been a regular target of bad ink for their continued funding of "think" tanks and industry associations that spread misinformation about the scientific evidence for human-caused global warming.
However, an organization that you may not have heard of is equally guilty of such activities.
The Koch (pronounced "coke") Family of Foundations is run by David and Charles Koch, sons of the founder of Koch Industries, [2] Fred Koch. Koch Industries is the world's largest privately owned company and while it now boasts a diversified portfolio of companies, it cut its teeth in the 1940's as an oil refining company and today produces 800,000 barrels [3] of oil per day through one of its subsidiaries.
While Exxon is continuously vilified as the leader of the attack on climate change science, the Koch Foundation is heavily involved in the same type of activity, but receives very little of the bad press.
Some examples:
The Cato Institute [4] was founded by Charles Koch [5] in 1977, and has received a reported $13.2 million [6] from the Koch Family foundations since 1986. Cato has received $110,000 from ExxonMobil since 1991.
The Heritage Foundation [7] has received $2.4 million [6] from Koch, while receiving $585,000 [8] from ExxonMobil.
The Reason Foundation [9] has received $2.2 million [6] from Koch, while receiving $381,000 [10] from ExxonMobil.
The Competitive Enterprise Institute [11] received $666,000 [6] from Koch, while receiving a whopping $2 million [12] from ExxonMobil.
And the list goes on, but the media and NGO spotlight remains heavily focussed on the funding activities of the publicly traded oil company, while the private one remains, for the most part, private. We here at the DeSmogBlog are just as guilty of focusing most of our attention on the activities of ExxonMobil, as are many others. And why not. With ExxonMobil publicly disclosing its funding activities on an annual basis, they make an easy target.
In the Fall, 2006 the Royal Society in the UK issued a public letter [13] demanding that ExxonMobil discontinue its think tank war on climate science and this demand was met with a small measure of success [14]. ExxonSecrets.org, [15] operated by Greenpeace, has done amazing work as well in this area. Such efforts are to be commended. However it is imperative that when it comes to such things we do not put on our Exxon blinders to the exclusion of all others.
To that end I have registered the website domain name www.kochsecrets.org [1] if anyone is interested.